Instrument/Department: Clarinet; Ensembles
Joined Hochstein faculty in: 2009
Debbie Grohman has been a clarinet instructor at The Hochstein School in Rochester, NY, since 2009, where she also directs the clarinet choir. She holds a Master of Music degree in clarinet performance from New England Conservatory and a Bachelor of Music Performance from DePauw University, with additional studies in Vienna, Austria, and Zurich, Switzerland. She is the clarinetist with the Telos Trio (telostrio.com), a finalist in the 2016 American Prize Professional Chamber Music Performance Division.
She has soloed with orchestras on more than a dozen occasions and has appeared in recitals throughout the country, including as a guest artist at Chautauqua Institution and on Hochstein’s Spotlight on Faculty recital series. She and her husband, pianist Willie La Favor, placed first runner-up in the 1990 Music Teacher’s National Association Collegiate Artists’ Chamber Music Competition and co-founded the Chautauqua Motet Consort. Since 2009, she has been clarinet coach for the Chautauqua Music Camp.
Before joining the faculty of Hochstein, she taught privately in central Indiana and east Tennessee. Among her students are those who have won seats in NY Area All-State and All-County ensembles, and who have gone on to pursue music studies.
Debbie is also a Presbyterian minister, serving as Pastor at the First Presbyterian Church of Ontario Center, NY, and she enjoys combining her musical and ministerial interests in creative ways. She and her husband delight in performing with their son, Andrew, who is a fine percussionist. Debbie’s many interests include travel, history, and reading/watching British dramas.