bio

Originating from the shores of West Michigan, Amy Zuidema (they/she) is an experimental clarinetist, improviser, intermedia composer, & educator based in Orange County, California.

Their work is deeply introspective, weaving together personal poetry, field recordings, imagery, trauma-informed practices, and innovative approaches to sound to create immersive sonic narratives that frame moments of presence in real time. Through an embodied improvisational practice, Amy explores the fluid, often nonlinear and fragmented nature of identity and the emotional processes involved in navigating complex trauma. Their work illuminates the relationships between timbre, memory, perception, and emotional experience, engaging sonic space as a site for meaning-making, processing, & connection.

Amy is an active soloist, collaborator, and guest artist who has performed and presented new works and research across the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, and Mexico. Amy is a proud Royal Global Artist and will begin their PhD in Integrated Composition, Improvisation, and Technology at the University of California, Irvine this fall.

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After years of classical training and six years of service as a clarinetist with the 338th Army Reserve Band in Detroit, Michigan, Amy shifted their focus toward artistic creation and social advocacy. Funded as a Frank Huntington Beebe Scholar in the Netherlands, they pursued advanced studies in contemporary bass clarinet performance and completed their master’s thesis, “Cultivating Emotionally Safe Spaces for Creativity and Innovation.”

Amy’s clarinet mentors include Fie Schouten (pupil of the late Harry Sparnaay), Dr. Richard Faria, and Dr. Gary June. She has also worked with renowned clarinetists Michael Lowenstern, Evan Ziporyn, Ernesto Molinari, & Shizuyo Oka.

Amy has been featured as a performer and creator at festivals including The Bang On A Can Summer Festival, Darmstädter Ferienkurse, Ensemble Evolution, SPLICE Institute, International Clarinet Association Conference, & European Clarinet Congress. They have presented as a guest artist & speaker at Brown University, Oberlin Conservatory.

From 2019–2021, Amy served as both a Graduate Assistant (2019–2021) and Lecturer of Music (2021) at Ithaca College, where they taught clarinet to future educators and private students.