About

Janet Rarick has enjoyed a diverse career as an oboist, performer, and educator. She has traversed the worlds of symphony, opera, ballet, and chamber music, as well as early childhood and advanced university education. As Associate Professor of Music Career Development at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, she coaches chamber music, teaches classes in professional development and performance skills, and directs outreach activities. She is the program administrator for SSM’s Music Career and Skills Enhancement Courses, offering a variety of courses for performance majors in the master’s degree program. Ms. Rarick directs JUMP! (Just For U Music Program!), a student-run and faculty-mentored outreach program that produces concerts in the Greater Houston Area. Additionally, she is the faculty advisor for two student-led programs at SSM, guiding students to broaden their career perspectives and hone leadership skills: New Art/New Music performances at the Moody Center for the Arts and The Sviatoslav Richter Fund for Music Outreach. Serving the arts, Ms. Rarick has been a career advisor at Chamber Music America’s annual conferences. She is a member of Young Audiences of Houston’s Education Committee and was a panelist at The League of America Orchestras 2024 annual meeting discussing Skills You Need for Orchestra Success. She is the creator of Navigating Music Careers, a Rice University online resource that explores many aspects of building and maintaining a successful career in music. As an ATI-certified Alexander Technique teacher, Ms. Rarick teaches classes in the technique for SSM students and Rice University undergraduates. In the summer, she offers introductory AT classes at the Music Academy of the West and at the Interlochen Center for the Arts 1-Week Intensives. Beginning her professional career in Minneapolis, Ms. Rarick was a founding member of the Aurora Wind Quintet, performing regularly in the Twin Cities and giving many educational programs for young people under the auspices of the Minnesota Orchestra. After moving to Houston, Texas, she became the Principal Oboist of The Texas Chamber Orchestra. She was a core member of the Houston Ballet and Houston Grand Opera Orchestras for over 20 years and collaborated with SSM faculty members in many chamber music recitals at Rice. During this time, she performed at various music festivals throughout the U.S., including the Marlboro Music Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, and the Park City Chamber Music Festival.

Research topics

• Art
• Art history
• Humanities
• Cartography
• Medical education

Selected publications

• Shepherd Careers Forum ’07: Final Report

  Rice Digital Scholarship Archive (Rice University) · 2007-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  University hosted a groundbreaking forum on careers in music performance: Convening Student Perspectives and Creating New Models for the 21st Century on the weekend of October 12-14, 2007*.The purpose of the forum was to explore how using a national student leadership forum could encourage acceptance of new career models within our educational system and within their community.The forum represented the first collective action taken by a select number of premier music education institutions to bring national attention to the need for new ideas on how young musicians can be prepared and encouraged to meet the challenges of the 21 st century.The outcomes revolved around three intersecting areas, all components of "a life in music": Life Skills, Creative Performance/Engagement and Business Skills.In working toward that end, discussions at the forum focused on the following: How young non-traditional ensembles can get started in the profession New trends in audience engagement and presentation of live classical music How schools of music can work together with their communities to support young artists who embark on careers that are serving new audiences, but are outside the mainstream How our schools can better respond to our students' need for business and entrepreneurial skills Why a National Forum on Careers in Classical Music?Our rapidly changing times are challenging the traditional models and the artists who work within the field of classical music performance.Globalization, fast-paced communication, and shifts in cultural trends all contribute to questions about the directions in which careers in classical music are headed.An innovative forum for students from sixteen of the nation's top schools of music provided the opportunity to explore and embrace new ideas regarding the field of music performance.Within this cultural milieu, new research tells us that student perceptions about music careers are significantly influenced by their interaction with their peer groups.Music students still view traditional careers in orchestras, chamber music and solo playing as the primary models for success in the profession."Other" performance models such as teaching artists, composite careers, and alternative career paths may be overlooked simply because they are unfamiliar, don't have a high public profile, or carry the same cachet.This may limit the thinking of many talented young musicians in finding their own best career path, as well as limit the dissemination of the art form in today's society.

  Publisher

• FACULTY AND GUEST ARTIST RECITAL BENJAMIN KAMINS, Bassoon ERIC HALEN, Violin (guest) JANET RARICK, Oboe PAUL ELLISON, Double Bass THOMAS JABER, Harpsichord Wednesday, October 4, 2006 8:00 p.m. Lillian H. Duncan Recital Hall

  2006-10-04

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• 30th Anniversary Celebration Concert 1: a program of works by guest composers George Burt and Ellsworth Milburn, and by Paul Cooper and Eugene Kurtz, Friday, October 27, 2006 8:00 p.m. Lillian H. Duncan Recital Hall

  2006-10-27

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• FACULTY AND GUEST ARTIST RECITAL LEONE BUYSE, Flute JANET RARICK, Oboe MICHAEL WEBSTER, Clarinet THOMAS LEGRAND, E-flat Clarinet BENJAMIN KAMINS, Bassoon KAREN PIERSON, Bassoon (guest) BRUCE HENNISS, Horn (guest) ROBERT MOELING, Piano Wednesday, February

  2005-02-02

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• CHAMBER MUSIC RECITAL Thursday, March 11, 2004 8:00 p.m. Lillian H. Duncan Recital Hall

  2004-03-11

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• FACULTY AND GUEST ARTIST RECITAL ERIC HALEN, violin (guest) JANET RARICK, oboe BENJAMIN KAMINS, bassoon THOMAS JABER, harpsichord PAUL ELLISON, double bass A CONCERT OF BAROQUE MUSIC Wednesday, January 29, 2003 8:00 p.m. Lillian H. Duncan Recital Hall

  2003-01-29

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• FACULTY AND GUEST ARTIST RECITAL BENJAMIN KAMINS, bassoon ERIC HALEN, violin (guest) JANET RARICK, oboe (guest) THOMAS JABER, harpsichord PAUL ELLISON, double bass JEFF ROBINSON, bassoon (guest) ALL-BAROQUE PROGRAM Tuesday, February 27, 2001 8:00 p.m. Lillian H. Duncan Recital Hall

  2001-02-27

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• CHAMBER MUSIC RECITAL Thursday, January 31, 1991 8:00 p.m. in the Shepherd School Recital Hall

  1991-01-31

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• Faculty Recitals

  University of North Texas Digital Library (University of North Texas) · 1990-04-13

  other

  Guest and faculty chamber recital performed at the UNT College of Music Concert Hall.

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• CHAMBER MUSIC RECITAL Monday, January 29, 1990 8:00 p.m. in the Shepherd School Recital Hall

  1990-01-29

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Frequent coauthors

• Benjamin Kamins

  8 shared

• Paul Ellison

  4 shared

• Thomas Jaber

  3 shared

• Eric Halen

  3 shared

• Michael Webster

  3 shared

• Randall C. Griffin

  2 shared

• Ludwig van Beethoven

  2 shared

• William Ver Meulen

  2 shared