Natalie Groom

Biography

Dr. Natalie Groom is a clarinetist, educator, composer, and arts manager in Maryland where she is the clarinet professor at Towson University. Showcasing “rich, fluid, and colorful tone and skilled technical ability” (International Clarinet Association Journal), a few of Natalie’s performance career highlights include being a concerto soloist with the White Mountain Symphony Orchestra and performing at The Kennedy Center, AMP by Strathmore, New World Center, The Anthem, Phillips Collection, Austrian and Spanish Embassies, and Goethe-Institut. She has toured China with the Fred Fox Wind Quintet and performed with the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet, Annapolis Symphony, Annapolis Opera, and Tucson Symphony.
 
Natalie particularly loves where chamber music intersects activism—in 2018, Natalie and soprano Jennifer Piazza-Pick founded Whistling Hens® to perform and commission music by women composers and create a financially and artistically equitable future for women in music. In 2022, Whistling Hens released their debut album, Reacting to the Landscape, a “masterfully accomplished album that showcases the dynamic prowess of both the performers and composers while also highlighting women writers” (International Alliance for Women in Music Journal). In 2023/2024 season, they were featured in Classical Singer Magazine, served as guest clinicians at Washington National Opera Institute at The Kennedy Center, and received the inaugural Iranian Female Composers Association Award with composer Mojgan Misaghi and the International Alliance for Women in Music Programming Award.
 
Natalie has been published numerous times in the International Clarinet Association journal, and she is co-inventor of the new single reed micrometer, Reed Mapper®, on which she wrote her dissertation. In addition to giving masterclasses and presentations across the country, she has conducted numerous clarinet choirs and taught clarinet and chamber music at the University of Maryland, College Park and University of Arizona. In 2024, she has been recognized for her inventive and explorative teaching with three Towson University Scholarship of Teaching and Learning grants focused on the use of innovative classroom technologies and developing OER resources. Learn more at www.nataliegroom.com.