"In Sequenza IX, clarinetist Andrea R. DiOrio riveted our attention from the first moment, unleashing a cluster of quick notes that, although hushed, blossomed in the hall.  Bursting with lavish coloratura flights and quiet, long notes, Sequenza demands a virtuoso clarinetist, and DiOrio effortlessly filled that role. Her tone was powerful and rounded whether leaping to clarion high notes or sinking into mournful depths.

The piece is episodic, and DiOrio managed to pour meaning into the silences that separate its explosive outbursts. We waited breathlessly, not knowing what to expect but never losing the sense of a through line, an underlying architecture holding the piece together."

~ Wynne Delacoma, Chicago Classical Review, October 2019

photo credit: Forrest Strong LaFave

Andrea is an active freelance clarinetist and private teacher in the Chicagoland area.  Over the last 15 years Andrea has performed over twenty operas with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.  She has also performed with these great orchestras:  Grant Park Orchestra, Quad City Symphony, Chicago Sinfonietta, Chicago Opera Theater, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Ravinia Festival Orchestra, Chicago Philharmonic, Lake Forest Symphony, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, South Bend Symphony Orchestra, Las Vegas Philharmonic, da Corneto Opera Orchestra, Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra, Champaign-Urbana Symphony, Rockford Symphony Orchestra, and Illinois Symphony Orchestra.  Andrea performed bass clarinet with the Quad City Symphony for the 2007-2008 season, and she performed as a partial season substitute on 2nd Clarinet with the Grant Park Orchestra for the 2009 festival.

In addition to her orchestral work, Andrea is the Director of Operations & Marketing and clarinetist of mixed chamber ensemble, Picosa.  The ensemble consists of flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano and is in residence at North Central College, and Elmhurst University.  In it's 7th seaons Picosa is postponing performances until 2021, but we are having fun making videos.  Check out our "Composer Conversations" videos on Youtube. Picosa is committed to performing virtuosic chamber music while showcasing Chicago composers and rising musicians.

Andrea is a past core member of the Chicago Clarinet Ensemble.  This is a wonderful group of clarinetists seeking to bring great music and artists to Chicago.  Andrea is also the former clarinetist and Artistic Administrator of the MAVerick Ensemble.  She performed and premiered many contemporary chamber music compositions all throughout Chicago.

Andrea has recently joined the music faculty at Elmhurst University & Aurora University and is looking forward her new students Fall 2020!  Andrea has been the clarinet instructor at North Central College in Naperville since 2010.  She is very dedicated to the NCC Clarinet Choir and also enjoys teaching the clarinet/saxophone portion of the Woodwind Techniques course.  Andrea teaches Music Apprecation for Benedictine University’s College of Liberal Arts.  Andrea also has a clarinet studio at her home in Naperville.   She has held clarinet teaching positions in the music deparments of Benedictine University and Loyola University Chicago.  

As a passionate teacher and clinician Andrea was fortunate to be chosen to present "A New Twist on Clarinet Methods" as a clinic at the 2014 Illinois Music Educators Conference.  In May 2014 the same clinic was presented as a webinar for the National Association for Music Educators (NAfME).  She is a saught after clinician and has worked with students of all levels in the Chicagoland area.

During the summer Andrea has the privilege to be Director of  the PreCollege Clarinet Camp at ISYM (Illinois Summer Youth Music) at the University of Illinois.  It is a wonderful week of solos, lessons, lunches drawing on reeds, practicing, silliness, performances, learning, practicing, laughing, masterclasses, reeds, practicing, trios, questions, clarinet choir, and much much more!  

Her professional memberships include, the International Clarinet Association, College Music Society, Music Teacher's National Association, and the National Association for Music Educators.  From 2013-2016 she served as co-Vice President of Programs for the Naperville Chapter of ISMTA and also the President of the West Suburban Joint Board of ISMTA.

Andrea studied clarinet with Charlene Zimmerman, J. David Harris, Russell Dagon, and John Bruce Yeh.  She earned her Master of Music degree in performance, from Northwestern University, and her Bachelor of Music degree with honors, in performance, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Andrea feels very fortunate to have had such great teachers and mentors, and she is delighted to have the opportunity to pass on what she has learned to all of her students.

Andrea resides in Naperville with her husband, Tony, and their 2 year old, Penelope.  She has a whippet lab named Sousa who loves the clarinet.  She has many hobbies including: all things sewing and crafty, raising Monarch caterpillars, Butterfly/Pollinator gardening, photography and swing dancing.