Dr. Natalie Szabo joined the faculty at Chicago State University in August 2020. In addition to leading the history sequence, and clarinet and flute studio, her primary teaching responsibilities include performance class, aural skills, keyboarding skills, world music, and woodwind methods. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Roosevelt University, The Chicago College of Performing Arts where she studied with Carol Lee Smith. She has also completed a Master of Music degree from Florida State University where she studied with Frank Kowalsky. She later returned to Florida State University from 2013-2016 to complete her Doctor of Music degree in Performance while studying with Deborah Bish.

 

Dr. Szabo has performed as a clarinetist with numerous orchestras and other professional ensembles including The Arkansas Symphony, The Carolina Philharmonic, The Charlottesville Symphony, The Destin Philharmonic, The Florence Symphony, The Long Bay Symphony, The Lynchburg Symphony, The Tallahassee Symphony, and The National Panama Symphony, to name a few. Szabo has performed throughout the U.S. and internationally, including in Panama, the Netherlands, Tanzania, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France and Canada.

 

In addition to performance Dr. Szabo is also a certified public-school teacher and prior to receiving her doctorate had taught orchestra and band in the Chicago Public School system. She has also had the opportunity to teach at multiple higher education institutions including Coastal Carolina University, Elgin Community College, Sweet Briar College, and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She has previously written classical music reviews for Fanfare Magazine: The Magazine for Serious Record Collectors and the International Clarinet Association. She is an active member of the International Clarinet Association, the College Music Society, Illinois Music Association, and the National Association for Music Education.