Michelle Jaluvka is a dynamic music educator, performer, and scholar based in Oklahoma. She is currently an Instructor of Clarinet at Southwestern Oklahoma State University where she teaches applied clarinet and music history. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Jaluvka served as Adjunct Instructor of Clarinet at Oklahoma Baptist University and the University of Central Oklahoma.
Ms. Jaluvka’s performances are distinguished by their focus on contemporary music from living and underrepresented composers. An enthusiastic proponent of chamber music, she is currently a member of the Red Rose Duo with saxophonist Justin Evangelist. The duo strives to expand the body of works available for the instrumentation by commissioning new works, the latest of which was premiered at the 2024 North American Saxophone Alliance. She has also performed at the American Single Reed Summit, the International Music by Women Festival, and the SHE Festival of Women in Music as a soloist and chamber musician. She also performed as a featured faculty artist with Oklahoma Baptist University’s Symphonic Winds in 2022.
Her scholarly work merges music with women and gender studies and has been showcased at the American Musicological Society’s Southwest Chapter Meeting and the Darkwater Women in Music Festival. Her musicology thesis, “Prima Donna Culture and the Tulsa Opera, 1954-1968,” highlights the culture surrounding the women instrumental to the success of the Tulsa Opera both onstage and behind the scenes.
Ms. Jaluvka is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Clarinet at the University of Oklahoma studying with Dr. Suzanne Tirk. Previously, she earned dual Master of Music degrees in Clarinet and Musicology from OU in 2023 along with a graduate certificate in Women and Gender Studies. While at OU, she has served as a graduate teaching assistant for the clarinet studio and as a graduate assistant for recruitment. She graduated summa cum laude from Appalachian State University with a Bachelor of Music degree in Clarinet under the tutelage of Dr. Andrea Cheeseman and Dr. Soo Goh.