Allyson McKoon

Allyson, widely known as Ally, started her musical journey at six years old when she joined her elementary school chorus. From there, she participated in every musical opportunity that was afforded to her. Church and school musicals were a constant in her younger years. At nine years old, Ally started piano lessons with a local high school pianist and continued her piano journey with her elementary school music teacher, Karen Moseley. When she was entering middle school, Ally decided to join band, where she fell in love with playing the clarinet. Conveniently, Ally’s piano teacher also played clarinet, so she started studying clarinet with Ms. Moseley as well (and later studied with Staci Culbreth). From there, Ally would go on to hold a principal spot in her high school band, make her district and county honor band every year, hold a co-principal spot in the Metropolitan Atlanta Youth Wind Symphony and Lagrange Symphony Youth Orchestra, and eventually make All-State band in high school. Ally also had the honor of serving as drum major for her high school band for two years as well as holding leadership in the Redcoat Marching Band. All of this combined made her fall more in love with music. When it was time for Ally to choose her major, she knew that music was the only right decision. She is a double music major in music education and composition and has played in the UGA Wind Symphony and Wind Ensemble as well as served as the clarinetist for many small ensembles and the Atlanta Contemporary Music Ensemble. She will finish her final semester of college as a student teacher in the fall