Clarinetist Play to Help Sustain The Growth of Clarinet Making

Come out for an evening of enjoyable clarinet music at PianoForte located at 1355 S Michigan Avenue in Chicago on Friday February 7th at 7pm to hear Lisa Canning and Ember Miller play some great clarinet music, while supporting a worthy organization who has a mission dear and near to those of us who play musical instruments made from Grenadilla wood.

About Clarinets For Conservation

Founded in 2010, Clarinets for Conservation provides an interdisciplinary approach to sustainability through music education. The clarinet is derived Tanzania’s national tree, the Mpingo, also known as African Blackwood and Grenadilla. The tree is of great value to artists, furniture makers, and hardwood carvers all over the world, but the high demand has threatened future sustainability of the tree. Students of the program serve a vital role in educating their families and community members about the importance of protecting natural resources.

Clarinets for Conservation believes that every individual child can make a lasting impact in their community with the right guidance. Education is a bridge for success! We seek to bridge the principles of education, cultural connectivity, and conservation.

About Ember Miller

Ember Miller is currently the Adjunct Professor of Clarinet at the College of Lake County and serves on the private music lesson faculty at Libertyville High School, Lake Forest High School, Mundelein High School, and Vernon Hills High School. Ember fell in love with the clarinet the second she held one in her hand and since that moment has completely immersed herself into the classical music world.

Ember has a Bachelors Degree in music performance from Michigan State University where she studied with Caroline Hartig as well as a Masters in music performance and literature from Northwestern where she studied with Steve Cohen. After graduating Ember spent her time freelancing throughout the Midwest and performed with orchestras such as the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra, Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Kankakee Valley Symphony Orchestra, and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. She quickly decided that the freelance and audition world wasn’t for her and found a surprising passion in sharing her love for the clarinet with students.

The Ember Miller Clarinet Studio is compromised of approximately 60 talented students. Her students currently earn the top chairs in the premiere ensembles in ILMEA district and state competitions, Midwest Young Artists Conservatory, and the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. She has helped lead them to win national competitions and college scholarships. Her students are filling some of the most competitive college clarinet studios in the country.

Ember is currently serving her seventh year as the Principal Clarinetist in the Chicago Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and performs as the Eb and/or bass clarinetist with the Lake Shore Symphony Orchestra. She also loves performing chamber music in beautiful Chicago apartment living rooms with her closest friends, as music should be played. In her spare time, she loves walking her two French Bulldogs, traveling, experiencing Chicago with her boyfriend, Luke, and visiting family in Indiana and Kansas. Ember is thrilled and grateful for the opportunity to perform with her fabulous friend, Lisa Canning.

About Lisa Canning

Lisa Canning is a professional clarinetist, and an entrepreneur. With a love for the arts, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation she has been involved in creating and delivering products, services, and education to entrepreneurs for over 30 years to find access to the resources they need to succeed.

As a graduate of Northwestern University and Interlochen Arts Academy, Lisa built her first business from her dorm room at the age of 17 and has been building, and helped others build businesses ever since. Lisa's current ventures include Lisa's Clarinet Shop, Sana Sells and IAEOU, her not for profit devoted to help the under-served.

In 2002 Canning was the Recipient of The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) Women Business Owner of The Year Award in Chicago. This venture was also recognized by Music Trade Magazine as a Top 200 retailer for over 10 years.

Her newest venture, Sana Sells is an affordable momentum building outsourced sales/digital marketing company helping business owners fill in their own gaps to grow faster and find investment. Her clients range from conference hosts, to online education providers, to apps to consumer products.

Lisa remains a fierce advocate for the creative industries and has spoken on this subject both in the US and abroad. Some speaking engagements include PNB-NAPEO: 1st U.S. Maghreb Entrepreneurship Conference., U.S. State Department, Algiers, Algeria; World Leaders Forum: Judson University, Elgin, IL, Creativity and Entrepreneurship following President of The United States George W Bush; and The 6^th Annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit by invitation of the White House in Kenya Nairobi.

Lisa also has worked to build curriculum to help others grow as entrepreneurs. In 2014 Lisa was recognized by The United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship® (USASBE) and the White House by President Obama for her innovative education to help entrepreneurs thrive. (Dec 2014, Elgar Publishing) The New Paradigm: Creatives and Arts Entrepreneurs, Morris, M (ed.) Annals of Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy.

As a clarinetist, Ms. Canning takes great pleasure in helping her customers find the perfect instrument through her clarinet shop. As a performer she has performed with members of Chicago, Milwaukee, Florida and National Symphony Orchestras, as well as The Lyric Opera. She was a founding member of The Pilgrim Chamber Players in Highland Park for 10 years and also performed earlier in her career with The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and The Civic Orchestra. Her only CD features the works of Donald Draganski.

Lisa is grateful for this opportunity to perform with her friend Ember Miller as well as to donate the proceeds from this concert to a very worthy organization doing meaningful work. To learn more about Lisa go to: LisaCanning.com