DEBORAH PITTMAN is a classically trained clarinetist, ceramicist, performance artist and writer. A native New Yorker (Brooklyn in da’ House), Pittman is Professor Emeritus of clarinet and studies in American Music at CSUS Sacramento, where she taught from 1991 to 2013.
Deborah moved to Sacramento in 1981 to play second and bass clarinet with the Sacramento Symphony (1981-1990). Prior to landing on the West coast, orchestral positions have taken her from the Brooklyn Philharmonic to the Dance Theatre of Harlem and from the Mexico State Symphony to the orchestra pits of Broadway.
After leaving the Sacramento Symphony, she began her teaching journey and to explore other outlets for artistic expression.
Deborah’s pottery studio is located at the Brickhouse Gallery and Arts Complex, where she creates one of a kind ceramic art.
“I devoted many decades of my life to the clarinet. It was my first love and it has taken me to some wonderful places. I discovered writing soon after I started teaching classes at UC Davis, and the joy of playing with clay during the summer of 1994. While the clarinet has a beautiful voice, writing and creating ceramic vessels speak my truth in a completely different way. They tell the stories that cannot be told through music.”
— Deborah Pittman