Clearly Clarinet Teachers & Instructors

Judi Altstatt, Director of Clearly Clarinet Camps

Judi Altstatt, Director of Clearly Clarinet Camp and formerly, Clarinet Solutions, is an accomplished and dedicated musician currently serving as the Director of Bands at Haggard Middle School, where she leads the best-students-anyone-could-ever-ask-for to consistently achieve superior ratings in Concert and Sight Reading Contests and to perform frequently for many school and community functions. 

In addition to her work at HMS, Ms. Altstatt continues to nurture the growth of many students through masterclasses, CCC and her private lesson studio. Many of her band and private students have earned prestigious recognitions, including All Region/All State placements and Superior and Outstanding awards at Solo and Ensemble Contests. Her students' accomplishments extend beyond school, with many pursuing further musical studies and performance opportunities in esteemed ensembles such as GDYO, LSWO, becoming music educators and professional musicians.

Ms. Altstatt is an active performer as well, currently holding the position of 2nd Clarinet in the Allen Symphony. She has also served as Bass Clarinet in the orchestra and has been an integral part of the organization, having served on the Board of Directors for the Allen Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. She remains a frequent performer in the Dallas area.

Outside of her musical career, Ms. Altstatt is a proud mother to two wonderful grown sons and enjoys the company of her three beloved pets—Radar, Benny, and Sadie. In her free time, she enjoys camping, hiking, reading, painting, and folk music. Always seeking to make life richly enjoyable, Ms. Altstatt values family, creativity, and exploring new ways to add joy to her life and the lives of those around her.

Chastine Hofmeister, clarinet instructor & ACCA director

Buffet-Crampon performing artist, Chastine Hofmeister, enjoys an exciting career as an orchestral musician, soloist, pedagogue, and writer. She is currently the Principal Clarinetist of the Allen Philharmonic and Clarinet Professor at Collin College. She also holds positions at the Longview Symphony Orchestra, Monroe Symphony Orchestra, Irving Symphony, and San Angelo Symphony. Chastine is an avid performer and has also had the pleasure of recently performing with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Opera, Louisiana Philharmonic, Plano Symphony, Dallas Chamber Symphony, Dallas Winds, Abilene Philharmonic, Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra, Midland-Odessa Symphony, East Texas Symphony, Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra, South Arkansas Symphony. She was previously Acting Principal of the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas. Other exciting recent projects include performing in Vail, Colorado with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for the Bravo! Vail music festival, a tour with the Dallas Winds to Chicago to play at Midwest Band Clinic, solo recitals at ClarinetFest, and recording for a video game soundtrack coming out in 2025! 

Chastine is an avid writer and blogger and has recently published articles in The Clarinet Journal, The Clarinet Online, and Pan Pipes Journal. Her blog was recently named as one of the “20 Best Clarinet Blogs, Websites, and Influencers to Follow” by Feedspot. Chastine also maintains a large private studio and is a sought-after clinician, recently giving a large master class at the Texas Bandmaster’s Association as their featured woodwind clinician to thousands of students.

Chastine studied at the University of North Texas where she was a performance scholarship recipient and a member of the North Texas Wind Symphony and Chamber Orchestra. During her time with the Wind Symphony, she recorded with the Klavier label and GIA educational projects. Her primary teachers have included Greg Raden, Chris Runk, and Rena Feller. Chastine has participated in master classes with distinguished performers including Yehuda Gilad, Ixi Chen, Richie Hawley, Chris Pell, Donald Montanaro, Robert Spring, and Anthony Gigliotti. She has performed in several music festivals including the Bravo! Vail Music Festival, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, and Domain Forget. 

Chastine is a member of the American Federation of Musicians, the International Clarinet Association, the National Federation of State High School Associations, Sigma Alpha Iota Music Fraternity for Women, and Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society. In her spare time, she enjoys running marathons, baking, and gardening. She resides in McKinney, Texas with her husband Jason (a professional horn player), their cockatiel Gustav, and their dogs Grover and Boo.

Josh Kurzweil, clarinet instructor

Josh Kurzweil was named the Director of Bands at McMillen High School in June 2019. Prior to this position, he was the associate band director at McKinney North High School for 16 years. Mr. Kurzweil holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music (2003) from Texas Tech University and a Master’s Degree in Music Education (2013) from SMU.

Mr. Kurzweil directs the Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, and the “Golden Roar” Marching Band. Bands under Mr. Kurzweil’s direction have been awarded superior ratings in UIL Marching, Concert, and Sight-Reading contests and have been named “Outstanding in Class” at various music festivals around the state. Mr. Kurzweil’s students have earned success at the All-Region and All-State level, and earned outstanding performances in solo and ensembles at district contests.

During his undergrad years at Texas Tech, Mr. Kurzweil was a clarinet student of Dr. David Shea and had the privilege of performing with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, and Clarinet Choir. He served as Clarinet Section Leader and Drum Major for the Goin’ Band from Raiderland and performed with the Court Jesters Basketball Band for 5 years. Additionally, he performed with the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra on bass clarinet for three seasons.

Mr. Kurzweil has performed on bass clarinet with the Lone Star Wind Orchestra since their inaugural year in 2006. The LSWO performs a few concerts throughout the year in Dallas. The LSWO has completed multiple recording projects which can be heard on iTunes and Spotify. Mr. Kurzweil serves as a sectional teacher and and has performed in side-by-side concerts with the Lone Star Youth Winds.

Mr. Kurzweil regularly serves as a clinician, concert and sight-reading adjudicator, and solo & ensemble judge.  He resides in Plano with his 2 corgis, Loki and Mobi.

Daisy Miller, clarinet instructor

Daisy Miller is currently a private clarinet teacher for Allen ISD. She has degrees in music  education from Baylor University and East Texas A&M University. Daisy has been private teaching for over 35 years and also spent 5 years as a middle school band director in Plano ISD. Her students frequently earn Superior ratings on solos and ensembles and earn seats in the All-City, All-Region and All-State bands. Besides teaching clarinet, Daisy enjoys singing in her church choir, aerobic dancing and hanging out with her cats, Lula and Luca and her dog Zoey.

Catherine Conlin, instructor
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