Dr. Shawn O’Connor (she/her) is a jazz woodwind artist (clarinet and saxophone) and educator based out of Indiana. She is a Yamaha Performing Artist and Vandoren Artist Clinician. Dr. O’Connor holds a PhD in Music Education and Jazz Pedagogy from the IU Jacobs School of Music and a MM in Clarinet Performance from the Butler University School of Music. Shawn is an Associate Professor of Music and has served as Chair of the Department of Music and Theatre at Marian University in Indianapolis, where she has taught since 2018.
Shawn has been a guest artist and clinician for the Music for All National Festival, Music for All Summer Symposium, IU Jacobs School of Music Summer Jazz Clinics, Bloomington Jazz Festival, Purdue Jazz Festival, Freddie Hubbard Jazz Festival, Pendleton Jazz Festival, Marian University Jazz Festival, Snider Jazz Festival, ISSMA Jazz Festivals, and guest directed the IJEA All-District Jazz Band.
She has been a featured guest soloist with the Indiana Wind Symphony, the Taylor University Jazz Band, the Pride of Indy Jazz Band, the Symphonic Youth Orchestra of Greater Indianapolis, and the Marian University Wind Ensemble. Shawn’s duo album with pianist Gary Walters, Not Benny’s Goodman, featuring jazz clarinet and piano, is available on Spotify and Apple Music. Shawn plays Yamaha clarinets and saxophones exclusively.
Shawn is the founder of and lead alto player with Boss Pitches, the premiere all-womxn big band of the Midwest, and is a member of the Wave Mechanics Union prog-jazz ensemble. She directs the Swing Shift Indy big band and the 65th Street Klezmorim klezmer band, and performs with her trio, the Shawn/Shawn Redemption, and quartet, the Shawn O’Connor Quartet, regularly.
Shawn plays the Yamaha YCL-CSGIII/L Bb clarinet, the YCL-CSGII/HA A clarinet, and the YAS-62II Alto Saxophone.