Clarinetist Rié Suzuki joined the faculty of the University of Central Florida (UCF) in the fall of 2024 as Assistant Professor of Clarinet. In this role, she offers an extensive range of instruction, including applied clarinet lessons, clarinet studio seminars, music forums, woodwind techniques, woodwind ensembles, and instrumental chamber music. She also directs the UCF Clarinet Ensemble and hosts the annual UCF Clarinet Workshop.

A native of Japan, Dr. Suzuki made her Tokyo debut after winning the prestigious Japan Clarinet Association Emerging Artists Recital Series while studying at Musashino Academia Musicae. She has since established an international career as a soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, orchestral performer, and educator, appearing in venues across Asia, Europe, North America, and Central America.

Dr. Suzuki is a tenured member of The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and serves as principal clarinet of the Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra. She has also performed with notable ensembles including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Ballet, Opera Philadelphia, The Philly Pops, the Princeton Festival Opera Orchestra, and the New Jersey Opera Festival Orchestra. As a passionate chamber musician and an advocate of new music, she co-founded the Eastwinds Quintet, the New Horizons Chamber Ensemble, and the Tripod Trio. Recent solo highlights include performing concertos with the Rowan University Wind Ensemble, co-premiering the wind ensemble edition of Jonathan Leshnoff’s Clarinet Concerto “Nekudim,” and playing Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds with the Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra.

Her notable collaborations include a recital series with the Poulenc Trio, a U.S. Embassy-sponsored tour in Central America with Liberty Winds, and a concert tour in China. She has appeared at prominent festivals such as AIMS in Graz, Austria, Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, the Aspen Music Festival, the Princeton Festival, and the Sarasota Music Festival.

Dr. Suzuki's performances have been broadcast on WQXR in New York, WRTI in Philadelphia, and at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Her recordings are featured on labels such as Capstone, New World, Centaur, Naxos, and Warner Brothers, with her latest release, Threes by Maurice Wright, issued in 2020 on BCM&D Records.

She earned her doctoral degree from The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, where she was a two-time recipient of the Peabody Career Grant and Orchestral Fellowship. Her principal teachers included Loren Kitt, Robert Coleman, and Yuji Murai, with additional chamber music mentorship from Samuel Sanders and Mark Sparks.

Before joining UCF, Dr. Suzuki was on the faculty at Rowan University, where she was honored with the 2024 AFT Adjunct Faculty Award for Excellence in Academic Instruction and was a finalist for the 11th Annual Ovation Award for Inspiration and Outstanding Leadership in Music Education.

For more information, visit www.riesuzuki.com and follow @rie9548.