Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Angela Shankar . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Angela , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I always knew I would be a musician. I started taking dance lessons when I was very young and remember feeling at home within the rhythm and movement. As I grew older, I was fascinated by the intricacies of the rhythms in tap. My dad played the sax and I was in love with the sound, so when I was old enough to choose a musical instrument in school, I chose the saxophone. My band director advised me to start on clarinet instead, which is very common—but then they wouldn’t let me make the switch to saxophone later on! I ended up becoming a professional clarinetist. Had my band director told me to play the trombone that day, I think I would have become a professional trombonist; music has always been part of me in such a meaningful way, the vehicle I chose for expression almost didn’t matter. I did eventually realize my dream of learning the saxophone in my late thirties. (More on that in a bit.)

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a New York City-based musician and teacher, and feel very lucky to wear both hats. Before 2021, I played clarinet primarily in Classical venues. Now, I play flute, piccolo, clarinets, and saxophones and maintain a studio of clarinet students of all ages and ability levels. I’m performing mostly in Broadway shows, but I still play in a variety of styles and venues—from chamber music to the Chelsea Symphony to studio sessions.

The two projects I’m most proud of are 1) the discovery, recording, and publishing of the relatively unknown female french composer Fernande Decruck’s reed trios, and 2) the creation of a chamber music program with The Chelsea Symphony at the Rikers Island Correctional Facility through the NYC Department of Corrections.

Bringing Decruck’s music to light has been a passion project for nearly a decade. You can learn more about her and stream a recording of her reed trios below or on all major streaming platforms. The chamber music project on Rikers came about after I filmed an episode of the Amazon Prime TV series Mozart in the Jungle there. We performed a concert for detainees as part of the episode. It was such a profoundly moving experience that a few of us were inspired to work with the DOC to establish a recurring program in 2016.

I’m also a working mom of three boys. I recall being told when I was pregnant with my first that it was best not to tell anyone because I wouldn’t get called for work. I played a recital with my reed trio a week before I gave birth, and was playing concerts just a few weeks postpartum. I’m inspired everyday by fierce women musicians, and I think the music industry is now finally evolving to better accommodate new moms.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

During the pandemic, I stopped playing clarinet. There were no concerts to prepare for, and quite frankly, I was so exhausted from taking care of three small children that I had no desire to pick it up. After about a year, I dusted the cobwebs off my case and forced myself to take a hard look at my career. When I thought about when I was most happy making music, it was always while I was in the pit orchestra of a musical or opera. There was something magical about playing a small part in the telling of a story that lit me up in a way that nothing else did. It seemed crazy that I was a professional musician working in New York but had never played on Broadway.

Very few Broadway shows have books for just clarinet; the majority of them are written for multiple woodwinds. I called my friend Justin Vance, a multi-woodwind instrumentalist working on Broadaway, and asked him if he thought it was too late for me to completely pivot in my classical career and learn how to play the other woodwinds. He was very encouraging, and told me I could come over anytime to borrow his tenor sax to get started. Not every conversation was so positive. I had a Zoom call with a highly-respected, multi-woodwind instrumentalist to ask for advice on getting started. He told me, without even hearing me play a single note, that I was making a huge mistake. He told me that I was too old, and that it would be too difficult for me as a woman, especially as a mother of small children. I believe he had good intentions, but it was still quite a blow.

Once the initial shock of that conversation wore off though, a fire ignited in me. I started taking saxophone and flute lessons with my dear friends Aaron Irwin and Anna Urrey right away. Just two months later, I saw an audition announcement to be in the orchestra for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring the Rockettes. There was a chair opening up that was mostly clarinet, but also had flute and tenor saxophone. I decided to go for it even though it was only a couple of months away. I have never worked so hard for anything in my life. I poured my entire heart and soul into preparing for that audition, and my husband, kids, family, friends, and teachers were so incredibly supportive during that time. On the day of the audition I was fighting some serious imposter syndrome, but I knew that win or lose, I had prepared to the best of my ability, and I would come out on the other side a better musician for it. When I got the email saying that I had won, I definitely screamed out loud, and I think I cried cathartic tears of joy for a solid 30 minutes!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

When I was in school, my teachers used to say, “if you’re not practicing, someone else is!” From the beginning of my career, I was always pushing myself to go, go, go, and was taught to “never say no” to an opportunity. I definitely experienced burnout at several points in my career, but it wasn’t until recently that I really came to value the importance of rest and stress management. I’ve been incorporating more stretching, yoga, and meditation into my daily routine and it’s made a huge difference in my approach to playing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://angelashankar.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angshankarmusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/angocchionero
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWadgMlr3HA&t=3s
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3EQLyV4CB9bSA15TcemzWZ https://fernandedecruck.com/

Image Credits
Priyanca Rao