Vanessa Sielert, D.M.A.

Vanessa Sielert is director of the Lionel Hampton School of Music and educational advisor for the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. As a professor in the Lionel Hampton School of Music she has taught courses in saxophone and jazz studies. She has also served as professor of saxophone at the Lionel Hampton School of Music and on the faculties of Pacific Lutheran University, Seattle Pacific University and Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Sielert received a Bachelor of Music in music education and saxophone performance from the University of Idaho, a Master of Music in saxophone performance from Baylor University and a Doctor of Musical Arts in saxophone performance and pedagogy from the University of Illinois. She has studied saxophone with Robert Miller, Michael Jacobson and Debra Richtmeyer.

Sielert has performed with a wide range of performing groups including the Palouse Jazz Project, the Bob Curnow Big Band, the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. As a member of the Millennium Saxophone Quartet, she was a medal winner at the prestigious Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. She has been featured on numerous jazz and classical recordings and most recently released a duo album with pianist Catherine Anderson entitled "duality" in November of 2020. She is currently embarking on a video recording project of two recently commissioned works by Dan Cavanagh and David Faleris. Sielert is a Selmer Performing Artist and Clinician.

As a music administrator, Sielert has led the Lionel Hampton School of Music for five years. During this time, she has partnered the school with the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles as a Grammy Museum University Affiliate and has started the Lionel Hampton/Grammy Museum Collective, a university student ensemble comprised of members from university affiliates. She has also guided the department through major building renovations, to be completed in spring of 2023.

• Saxophone