About Cally

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Cally Laughlin is a clarinetist based out of Chicago, IL. In addition to her work with Lake Effect Clarinet Quartet, she is principal clarinet of the Racine Symphony Orchestra, the clarinet instructor at York Community High School, and the creator of Cally's Clarinet Channel on YouTube.

Cally was appointed principal clarinet of the Racine Symphony Orchestra in 2021, under the direction of Pasquale Laurino. Prior to her appointment with the RSO, she was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago from 2016-2018. During her time in Civic, she was fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with CSO clarinet coach John Bruce Yeh and prestigious conductors including Riccardo Muti, Christoph Eschenbach, Ken-David Masur, Marin Alsop, Teddy Abrams, Rossen Milanov, Joshua Weilerstein, Nicholas Kraemer, and Erina Yashima, among others. Additionally, she has regularly performed with various regional orchestras, including Quad City Symphony Orchestra and South Bend Symphony Orchestra, among others.

In addition to her work as a performer, Cally loves teaching and has a private studio in Chicago where she teaches both in-person and online lessons to students from all over the world. She is also the resident clarinet instructor at York Community High School. Cally's passion for music and teaching inspired the creation of a light-hearted YouTube channel dedicated to clarinet teaching and repertoire. Several of her videos and articles have been featured by Vandoren in the weekly issue of WAVE.  She has been interviewed by Sam Rothstein as a guest on the podcast “The Candid Clarinetist," and by Sean Perrin as a guest on the podcast "Clarineat."

A native of Granite City in Southern Illinois, Cally moved to Chicago in 2005 to attend college at DePaul University. There she completed both her Master's degree in Clarinet Performance (2011, with distinction), and Bachelor's degree in Clarinet Performance (2009, cum laude). While At DePaul, she studied orchestral, solo, and chamber music repertoire in addition to clarinet pedagogy with both Larry Combs and Julie DeRoche. While Cally's pedagogical ideas have been strongly influenced by her teachers at DePaul, she also had the pleasure of building a strong foundation during her high school years studying with Jeanine York-Garesche (St. Louis, MO).

In her free time Cally enjoys hiking, visiting friends and family, acrylic pouring, spending time with her cat, and traveling the world with her life partner, Dan.