Shaniee Kennedy

Mrs. Shaniee Kennedy, a first-generation college student raised by her great-grandmother, completed her BM in Music Education and Clarinet Performance at CSU Northridge, where she studied with Dr. Julia Heinen and competed for the Miss California Icon Organization, winning the title. Named CSUN's Outstanding Graduating Senior Finalist, she attended LEAP (Leadership Excellence Accelerating Potential) and later returned multiple times as a Life Coach at UCLA. During this time, she also worked as a camp counselor at the Ronald McDonald House Charities Camp for Good Times, supporting children with pediatric cancer. As the assistant conductor of the CSUN Youth Orchestra, Mrs. Kennedy furthered her studies at the University of Maryland, The Catholic University of America, and the University of Georgia in the Clarinet Academy of America. She also won the Miss America local title of Miss Malibu Coast, competed at Miss California, and received both the Talent Award and the Highest Academic Achievement Award.

Mrs. Kennedy earned her Master's degree in clarinet performance at UCLA under Gary Gray and has traveled throughout the United States to promote scholarships and her platform, "Keeping Quality Music Education in California Schools and the Importance of Live Music." Her advocacy efforts during Music Advocacy Day at the State Capitol led to a unanimous vote to pass three Senate Bills for rewriting new state standards for music education. She was selected to deliver the commencement speech for the Inaugural Herb Alpert School of Music at UCLA and was awarded the Dean’s Medal. Mrs. Kennedy performed for five years as a member of the all-female clarinet quartet, Four Play Clarinet, garnering over 6 million views on YouTube. She is a Buffet Crampon Artist, sponsored by Beaumont Music, and plays on various Buffet Crampon instruments including the Legende Bb Clarinet, R-13 A Clarinet, Tosca Bass Clarinet, and E11 Eb Clarinet.

Currently, Mrs. Kennedy serves as the clarinet professor at The Master's University, as well as the Orchestra, Choir, and Music in Film Director at Lindero Canyon Middle School. Within the same district, she initiated a string program at the Mariposa School of Global Education. She continues to teach, conduct, perform, record, and advocate for music education, having completed teaching credential courses at Mount Saint Mary’s University in the Science of Education. Mrs. Kennedy has returned to UCLA during past summers as an educational mentor for LEAP. She is married to freelance oboist Jason Kennedy, with whom she shares a life of music and performance. Together, they cherish their time with their daughter and pet cat, Samson, and are happily expecting their second baby girl in the new year.