Clarinetist Julie Asuma Levene holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Lawrence University, and a Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music. Her teachers have included Fan Lei, David Shifrin, Charles Neidich, and Ayako Oshima. She is a member of the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra/Connecticut Lyric Opera Orchestra, the Wallingford Symphony Orchestra, and the Greater Bridgeport Symphony, and is active as a freelance musician throughout Connecticut. Recently, Julie joined singer/songwriter Sarah LeMieux in the newly-formed Sarah LeMieux Quintet, a “chamber jazz” ensemble which has won Best Jazz Group at the Connecticut Music Awards, as well as Album of the Year for the CD Moments Musicaux. Julie can also be heard on a CD of opera arias by Brian Cheney – Tenor, and a play-along CD for Stacy Phillips’ collection of Easy Klezmer Tunes. Julie is currently on the music faculty at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford and at Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, where she teaches clarinet and coaches chamber ensembles. She also maintains a private music studio at her home in Hamden.