Why I Chose Backun
My Backun clarinet invites me to explore the musical world with uncompromising quality and undeniable style.
About
Morgan Nilsen is an international touring artist and clarinet teacher located in San Francisco, California.
Nilsen is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, earning a Bachelors of Music degree in classical clarinet performance and a diploma in Ethnomusicology.
Nilsen performs wirelessly with her Backun Protégé clarinet on festival stages across the nation. She plays in ensembles of the following genres: Klezmer, Balkan, Turkish, Colombian Cumbia, Iranian classical, and Assyrian music.
Nilsen performs with some of the top global music ensembles in the country: La Misa Negra (Colombian Cumbia), Inspector Gadje Brass (Balkan music), and Electronic Dance Music project Balkan Bump.
She can be found recording movie soundtracks to playing music in museums bringing art instillations to life. She has been heard on radio stations in Iran and Bulgaria, toured with Tunisian rockstar McRai, and was flown to London’s British Museum to play with the Assyrian Music Ensemble. Nilsen cycles to 8500 feet elevation, bringing her clarinet to play a Bosnian wedding gig in the Tahoe National Forest, to playing Indian Weddings in southern California. Nilsen is dedicated to respectfully learn and happily share these clarinet styles.
Nilsen studied with Kenneth Grant, David Sapadin, Jon Manasse, and then continued her studies across the globe. She learned from masters of traditional Epirotika music in a mountainous village in Greece to the Cumbia clarinetists in the Barranquilla, Colombia Carnaval. She currently learns from Ismail Lumanovski (Macedonia/NY).
She has performed in Thailand, Mexico, Colombia, the United Kingdom, Turkey, and 49 of the US states. Nilsen captivates audiences at live shows, by running across stage with her gold plated Backun clarinet, Shure wireless setup, and Ismail Lumanovski model CYN pickup in the Backun New Traditional Barrel. She uses the Fatboy for classical gigs, and the MoBa for recording sessions.
Nilsen has taught privately in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past 10+ years and loves her students!
