Theresa Lams
Clarinet/Bass Clarinet
Theresa has been an active performer and teacher in the Chicago area since 1997. As a performer, she enjoys playing clarinets, saxes and flutes as well as singing with various classical, jazz and rock groups, such as Badass Gumbo and Cloud Gate Rhythm. She also plays woodwinds in many orchestra pits for community musicals all over the Chicagoland area. She just closed Willy Wonka in Wheaton, and Little Shop of Horrors in Deerfield is next! She received her bachelor of music degree from Western Michigan University in music performance and education (double major) and her masters degree from Indiana University, Bloomington, in music performance with a jazz cognate. Theresa has served as the director of bands at Bessie Rhodes Magnet School in Skokie and Roosevelt High School in Chicago; instrumental instructor at Dawes Elementary; horn and band instructor at DayJams Chicago; adjunct professor of jazz and woodwinds, as well as instrumental coordinator, at Oakton Community College; woodwinds, sectional and advanced placement theory instructor at Niles West High School; and vocal and general music instructor at Kingsley and Edison Elementary Schools. She currently teaches privately at Prospect High School, as well as in Grayslake. Honors include induction in the National Honor Roll’s Outstanding American Teachers and Who’s Who Among American Teachers and Educators. She is a regular solo/ensemble and band festival judge, and has served as a judge for junior high IMEA.