Denise Gainey

Past President

Denise A. Gainey is Professor of Clarinet and Instrumental Music Education and Associate Chair of the Department of Music at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is a Backun Artist/Clinican, a Légère Reeds Endorsing Artist, a Silverstein PRO-Team Artist, and has served as an Educational Recording Artist for Carl Fischer Music. Gainey is the Immediate Past President of the International Clarinet Association after having served as Secretary of the Board for two terms and President.

She came to UAB after a nine-year tenure as Assistant Professor of Clarinet and Coordinator of Music Education at Mars Hill University in Mars Hill, North Carolina, where she was a member of the Asheville, Kingsport, and Hendersonville Symphonies, as well as a member of the Missouri Chamber Orchestra in Columbia, Missouri. Gainey is a sought-after clinician and recitalist throughout the United States and performs regularly with the Amicitia Duo and the UAB Chamber Trio. She served as the clarinet specialist for the Denton Independent School District in Denton, Texas, from 1991-1993, and was a middle school
band director in Pasco County, Florida, for five years.

Gainey has compiled and edited a collection of clarinet solos, Solos for Clarinet, published by Carl Fischer in 2001 (as Denise Schmidt), and published a book on the pedagogical methods of master teacher Kalmen Opperman, Kalmen Opperman: A Legacy of Excellence, in 2018. Gainey’s recent CD releases include The Secret Exit (Naxos American Classics), Play Pretty (Amicitia Duo, Potenza Music), and Many New Trails to Blaze (UAB Chamber Trio, Ravello Records). She received the Bachelor of Music Education from Florida State University, the Master of Music in Clarinet Performance from The University of North Texas, and the Doctor of Musical Arts in Clarinet from The University of Kentucky.

Gainey’s major teachers include Kalmen Opperman, James Gillespie, Frank Kowalsky, and Fred Ormand.