Eric Mandat

Eric P. Mandat

Eric P. Mandat, Professor, Distinguished Scholar

Music

Clarinetist, Composer

For more than 40 years clarinetist/composer Eric Mandat has been at the forefront of clarinet
extended performance techniques exploration, particularly multiphonics, microtones, and timbral
modulations. Through his work with these extended techniques, Eric has developed a deeply
personal artistic expression as a performer and composer, and he is recognized worldwide as one
of the foremost authorities on clarinet extended techniques.

Office: Altgeld 214
Phone: 618-453-5828
Email: emandat@siu.edu

Eric enjoys an extremely diverse performance career as a soloist and chamber musician. He tours
regularly as a concert artist, premiering and performing his works throughout the world, and at
international festivals in Europe, Asia, South America, and the United States. For 15 seasons he
was a member of the Chicago Symphony's MusicNOW ensemble, performing under eminent
composer/conductors Pierre Boulez, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and George Benjamin, among others.
As an improviser, Eric was a member of Tone Road Ramblers, an eclectic sextet dedicated to
free improvisation exploration, for more than 25 years. He continues to perform regularly in solo
and small group improvisation contexts. Eric’s ongoing solo improvisation projects with live
electronics have received wide acclaim at performances throughout the United States and in
Europe. The MIT Computer Music Journal lauded Eric’s “ebullient curiosity…infused with
decades of thoughtful improvisational practice, resulting in another unforgettable performance”
in its review of Eric’s improvisation presentation at the 2019 MOXsonic Experimental Arts
Festival.

Eric has received numerous honors and awards for his work as a composer/performer, including
a 2021 Artist Fellowship Award for Composition from the Illinois Arts Council. Eric has been
awarded more than 25 artist residencies at the Ragdale Foundation and at Brush Creek Center for
the Arts. His recent work Parallel Histories: an Excursion for two clarinetists and wind
ensemble was premiered in Jue, 2016 by The President’s Own Marine Band at the U.S. Capitol
in Washington, D.C., with two of his former students, Jay Niepoetter and Jihoon Chang, soloists.
Eric has taught at Southern Illinois University Carbondale since 1981, where he is currently
Visiting Professor of Clarinet and Distinguished Scholar. Eric was the recipient of the 1999
Southern Illinois University Outstanding Scholar Award, the university’s highest honor for
research/creative work. A dedicated and in-demand teacher, Eric has presented recitals, master
classes, and lectures on extended performance techniques at more than 130 conservatories and
universities around the world, and he regularly appears as guest artist at clarinet-specific events
throughout the United States.

Eric received his degrees from the University of North Texas, the Yale School of Music, and the
Eastman School of Music.

Eric Mandat is a Buffet Crampon USA Performing Artist and Clinician. He is also very involved with the SIU Clarinet Studio and Clarinet Choirs.

Clarinet Studio

Who Are We?
The SIU clarinet studio offers students the opportunity to explore a full range of creative activities, in addition to more traditional musical and technical development training. Each student, particularly graduate students, is encouraged to pursue a unique musical path where they can realize and integrate their talents and expertise toward their creative goals. Students bring a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives that we all share and grow with together.
Where Do We Come From?
The clarinetists in our clarinet studio come from all over the United States and abroad to SIU for our unique study opportunities. Just in the past five years, the clarinet studio has had students from Illinois, Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Colombia. Our clarinetists have come to study at SIU from the Eastman School of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, University of North Carolina-Greensboro, Ithaca Collete, University of Texas-Austin, Stetson University, St. Olaf College, University of Alabama, University of Denver Lamont School of Music, SUNY Potsdam, and many other schools.
What Are Graduates Doing?
In addition to successful careers as performers in professional orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout the United States, many of our graduates serve as passionate, dedicated, and innovative teachers and administrators in universities and pre-college schools in the US and abroad, and they have distinguished themselves as bold entrepreneurs in many other aspects of our profession. Our clarinetist graduates pursuing advanced study opportunities have received fellowships/assistantships for doctoral study at major universities, and through prestigious Fulbright fellowships.