Magic City Clarinet Festival

Artistic Director

A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, BRIAN VILIUNAS is an esteemed clarinetist, conductor and educator, holding the appointments of Associate Professor Music and Orchestra Director at the Samford University School of the Arts in Birmingham, Alabama.

Brian Viliunas received his Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University, subsequently earning his Master of Music from Rice University and his Doctor of Musical Arts from Arizona State University. Earlier, he was a prize winner in the International Clarinet Association Young Artist Competition, later becoming the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship to the Grieg Academy in Bergen, Norway.

As an ensemble member, Brian Viliunas has performed under distinguished conductors Andrew Litton, Lorin Maazel, Carlos Miguel Prieto and Benjamin Zander and with orchestras in Alabama, Houston and Racine. While living in Norway, he played with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Of special note: During his membership in the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, he was principal clarinetist on its DVD recording of Verdi’s Requiem, under the baton of Placido Domingo. Dr. Viliunas was the principal clarinetist of The Phoenix Opera, and currently serves in that position for Arizona Opera.

Conducting full productions of opera and musical theatre, Brian Viliunas’ credits include 1776: The Musical, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Hansel und Gretel, Into the Woods, Jane Eyre, Le nozze di Figaro, A Little Night Music, The Pajama Game, The Pirates of Penzance and White Christmas. He conducted the world premiere of Evan Mack’s The Ghosts of Gatsby, an opera commissioned by Samford University.

Brian Viliunas has issued two CDs: “German & French Clarinet & Piano Classics,” featuring the music of Brahms, Poulenc and Bizet (available from CDbaby and Amazon) and Agents of Espionage, a Potenza Music album, comprised of commissioned scores by Zachary J. Bramble, Mark Lackey and Ryan Springler.

Brian Viliunas is a Buffet Clarinet Artist, performing exclusively on R-13 Greenline clarinets, and an official D’Addario Performing Artist.

Professor of Clarinet

University of Montevallo

Lori Ardovino has been a guest recitalist at numerous colleges and universities, as well as international and national festivals, including the International ClarinetFest, the International Alliance for Women in Music Congress, NACWPI, NACUSA, the Southeastern Composers League, the North American Saxophone Alliance, the College Music Society, and the Alabama Music Educators Association.  Dr. Ardovino received the 2013-14 Alabama State Council for the Arts Artist Fellowship and was chosen as a University Scholar at the University of Montevallo for 2013. She received the Creative and Scholarly Projects Grant from the University of Montevallo in 2013, 2014, and 2017 and was the 2012 recipient of the Escape to Create artist residency in Seaside, FL.  She is an active composer whose works have been performed across the United States, Japan, Norway, Ireland, Italy, and Canada. Her CDs include From A Crack In The Wall – clarinet music by Alabama Composers, Between Walls – saxophone music by Alabama Composers, The LeBaron Trio – works for clarinet, piano, and voice, and Saxophone Music by Living Women Composers.  She is the recipient of several ASCAP awards and has been a finalist three times for the American Prize in Vocal Chamber Music Composition. She is published by Potenza and Cimarron Music Press.  She has written numerous commissions for professional performing groups across the United States.   Her music can be found on many music websites and on her own website, www.loriardovino.com. She is a graduate of Minnesota State University-Moorhead (BM, BA), where she studied with Keith Lemmons; Michigan State University (MM), where she studied with Elsa Ludwig-Verdehr; and the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music (DMA), where she studied with Ron de Kant.  Dr. Ardovino is an Artist/Clinician with Conn-Selmer Company, D’Addario Woodwinds, a Fulbright Specialist. Currently, she is a Professor of Music at the University of Montevallo, where she teaches clarinet, saxophone, and woodwind methods and ensembles.  She is the faculty advisor for the Mu Eta Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota, and the Music Editor for the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors.  She performs with the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra and the Alabama Symphony when needed, and has performed as a woodwind doubler in local theaters and high Schools.  Her chamber ensembles include the  LeBaron Trio, the Meàllo Trio, the Vienna Trio, and the Cahaba Saxophone Quartet.

Dr. Lisa Oberlander is the clarinet professor at the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University. She has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan. Her compact disc Times Like These (Potenza) was released in 2014, and she is a soloist on the 2017 Summit Records disc Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs and Velocity (2005). Her International Clarinet Association conference performances include Ostend (Belgium), Salt Lake City, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Baton Rouge, Reno, and Fort Worth, TX. 

In addition to her debut solo compact disc, which includes the premiere recording of Fred Cohen’s Four Episodes, she also appears on recordings with clarinetist Robert Spring (Dry Heat, 2012, and Dragon's Tongue, 1994). Oberlander has performed with the Phoenix Symphony, Arizona Opera, and the Columbus (GA) Symphony, among others. She has been a featured soloist several times at Columbus State University, performing concertos by Unsuk Chin, Nielsen, Copland, Mozart, Scott McAllister, and Artie Shaw. 

Dr. Oberlander gives masterclasses and performances at many high schools and universities every year, including a weeklong teaching residency at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music. Recent masterclasses include the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division, Lawrence Conservatory, University of Alabama, Arizona State University, University of Dayton, the University of Southern Mississippi, Northwestern University, and Western University (London, Ontario, Canada).  She studied at Arizona State University with Robert Spring and at Indiana University with Howard Klug. 

Sarah Manasreh-Decker is the Assistant Professor of Clarinet at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Previously she served as the Assistant Professor of Clarinet and Music Theory at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point and principal clarinet of the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra and Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra. Sarah is active with the International Clarinet Association previously serving as the editor for The Clarinet [Online] and on the Social Media Committee.

Sarah’s playing has been described as “powerful, rich, and virtuosic.” As a chamber musician, she performs with The Bearstar Trio and The Way Out, a unique group that combines classical musicians with the accessibility of bar music. As a solo musician, Sarah often pushes the boundaries of traditional clarinet performance – engaging in commissions, premieres, and unusual programs – most notably her experimental new music project The Big Black Blotch.

Equity, diversity, and inclusivity in music is a driving force behind Sarah’s teaching and performance. In 2020, she established The Student Coalition for Equity in Music, a student directed group that leads conversations about disparities in the Western Classical Tradition and experiments with accessibility in performance practice. She has been the chairperson for the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity Policy Committee since 2021. She is a fierce advocate for fair representation for composers and performers. Sarah founded and co-hosted the International Clarinet Association’s Clarinet and Community series – a videocast interview platform that explores how community building is achieved through clarinet performance, composition, and pedagogy.

Sarah completed her Doctor of Musical Arts at Michigan State University under the tutelage of Dr. Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr. She earned her Master of Music Performance from the Royal Northern College of Music and her Bachelor of Music Performance from Florida State University. Her primary teachers include Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr, Chris Swann, Deborah Bish, Frank Kowalsky, and Lori Lovato.