About Renae
Clarinetist
Renae Dishman (they/she) is a clarinetist and archaeologist from Oak Ridge, Tennessee. They began playing clarinet in 5th grade with their local homeschool concert band, continuing both with this band as well as a regional youth orchestra throughout middle and high school. Renae also played and competed as a Great Highland bagpiper for over a decade, traveling throughout the American southeast as a soloist and band member. Today, they love getting to work with and perform the music of living and contemporary composers and have premiered music by acclaimed composers including David Dzubay, Unsuk Chin, George E. Lewis, Hildur Gudnadóttir, and more. A versatile musician, they regularly play music written for opera, musical theater, ballet, wind band, chamber ensemble, and symphony orchestra. Renae received a bachelor’s degree in Clarinet Performance at Indiana University with Howard Klug and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Clarinet Performance with Gábor Varga at the same institution.
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When not playing the clarinet, Renae enjoys pursuing a career in Greek archaeology, having earned a bachelor’s degree in Classical Art and Archaeology at Indiana University. Still very much a dinosaur/mummy kid at heart, they love spending their summers digging and teaching in Greece. Most recently, this includes serving as a supervising and teaching staff member in Ancient Corinth, Greece, with the Lechaion Harbor and Settlement Land Project. When not getting their hands dirty, they spend time researching ancient music and Greek funerary practices. They will be continuing on with their studies to earn a Ph.D. in Classical Archaeology in the near future. Beyond research and teaching, Renae hopes to help make archaeology more accessible and approachable to a wider audience, so others can learn to love archaeology as much as they do.
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Aside from music and archaeology, Renae loves spending time with her senior kitty, Serabi, and spouse Graydon. Having grown up in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, they love getting outside and going for walks, visiting nature areas, fishing, hiking, and spotting local wildlife. New adventures are a highlight of Renae’s life, including cooking new recipes, going for road trips, visiting unfamiliar places, and learning different languages. Other fun facts about Renae include: their favorite color is gray, followed by red; their favorite food is spaghetti; they love playing word games, like Boggle and crossword puzzles; and Renae has a black belt in karate.