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Dr. Frankie J. Kelly, Instructor/Staff Accompanist at UNO and professionally-trained orchestral clarinetist, is an experienced performer at the national and international levels. She is highly regarded for her lyricism and virtuosity.  In the 1980's she performed with orchestras in Mexico City.  These include the Opera Orchestra of Bellas Artes, the OFUNAM, the State of Mexico Symphony, and the Mexico City Philharmonic.  In addition, she appeared as soloist during the prestigious Cervantino Festival and twice as a member of the summer festival orchestra "Mineria".  From her principal chair with these various orchestras, she was invited on several occasions to appear as concerto soloist performing the Mozart and Weber concertos.  As an artistic leader in a capital city and a place that values classical tradition, she became a part of the international community and therefore worked with many others to link people, groups, and students to projects both in Mexico and the United States. 

 

Upon returning to the United States in 1989, she has divided her time as artist/teacher/scholar, first completing her DMA at the University of Illinois, then spending one year at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as part of their music department's chamber music artist-in-residency program, and finally taking on the role of university professor/colleague.  In every scenario she has promoted international exchange with Latin America by concentrating on her real-life experience through the invaluable contacts she maintains and by ultimately expanding on those interests through visits and performances in Honduras (Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula) and Costa Rica (San Jose).  Those exchanges and their significance are still positively impacting the music programs at the University of Southern Mississippi and at Southeastern Louisiana University.

 

In Louisiana she performs as called upon by all of the important professional organizations in the state, including the Lake Charles, Rapides, and Baton Rouge Symphonies,  Jefferson Performing Arts, the New Orleans New Music Ensemble, and as recitalist for area churches and their various series.  At UNO, she coaches and performs with the graduating instrumental and vocal students.  In the summer, she assists with study abroad programs.  In addition, Dr. Kelly currently serves as the Coordinator of Phi Beta Delta.

 

Research credits include numerous grants, a CD recording produced by the American Composers' Forum, a second in progress to be produced by Centaur Records, and online articles as well as an entry in the New Grove's Dictionary of Music.  Her CD recording, "Tapestry: New Music from the Americas", is available through the American Composers Forum, amazon.com, and Eroica Records.  Since its release in 2000, it has been reviewed in the Clarinet Magazine, Sequenza 21, and 21st Century Music.