Kelley Rogers Niiyama

Kelley Rogers Niiyama has appeared across the United States and in Japan as a recitalist, chamber musician, orchestral musician and musical theater pit orchestra player. She has shared the concert stage with many notable performers including Ray Charles, Arturo Sandoval, and Dominic Spera. A veteran of wind ensemble playing, she has worked with preeminent conductors including Ray Cramer, William Revelli, and Stephen Pratt.

Ms. Niiyama has appeared with several orchestras including the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Pine Bluff Symphony Orchestra, many Indiana University orchestras, the Lafayette Symphony, and Muncie Symphony orchestra. Ms. Niiyama has held the principal position with the Bloomington Pops Orchestra since 2006; she also plays principal with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, where she serves as President of the Board of Directors. Kelley appeared as soloist with the University of Central Arkansas Symphony Orchestra as winner of the 2002 Concerto Competition.

With the mission to promote large-scale orchestral works in a compact format featuring the variety and flexibility of tone color only available in the clarinet family, Kelley has partnered with her husband, Hidetaka Niiyama, to create Ensemble Enigma. Maestro Niiyama creates transcriptions and inventive arrangements for the ensemble, which consists of 5 to 6 clarinetists. The ensemble has delighted audiences throughout southern Indiana with their live performances and is currently embarking on their first recording project this year. The forthcoming CD will feature full arrangements of Elgar’s Enigma Variations and Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht.

Niiyama has been active as a teacher of clarinet for more than 20 years. She taught clarinet at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music and clarinet and saxophone at the former Community Music School of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. She currently is the Clarinet Specialist at Columbus North High School and maintains a thriving, international private clarinet studio using Skype to teach students in Korea. Niiyama has taught master classes in the United States (most recently at Indiana University and DePauw University) and throughout the Chiba prefecture in Japan. Niiyama is a regular guest instructor at Indiana University.

Niiyama has been interested in the scholarly study of all periods of music history. To this end, she has presented lectures and lecture/recitals at several venues including the College Music Society, where she presented a paper on the connection between the Jewish synagogue and Byzantine liturgical traditions. Keeping her love of music history alive, Ms. Niiyama teaches Music Appreciation at Ivy Tech's Franklin and Columbus campuses.

Ms. Niiyama studied clarinet with James Campbell and Howard Klug at Indiana University, where she earned the Master of Music degree in Clarinet Performance and is currently completing the Doctor of Music degree in Clarinet Performance. She also studied historical clarinet at Indiana University’s Early Music Institute with Eric Hoeprich. Kelley earned the Bachelor of Music degree in Clarinet Performance from the University of Central Arkansas where she studied with Kristina Belisle-Jones and Maureen Hurd Hause. Ms. Niiyama also studied with Tina Ward and George K. Mellott.

D.M. (in progress) Indiana University, M.M. Indiana University; B.M. University of Central Arkansas.