Musician, educator, and clinician, Dr. Royer, is an Assistant Professor of Music at Marian University in Indianapolis where she directs the jazz ensemble, teaches clarinet and saxophone, is a University Supervisor, and works with pre-service educators in music. She previously served as an Associate Instructor of Music Education at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and served as Adjunct Instructor of Music at IUPUI and at the Butler University School of Music.
Shawn was the clarinet clinician for the Music for All (MFA) National Festival in 2015 and 2017, and for MFA’s Summer Symposium in 2015 and 2019. She presents clarinet and jazz workshops regularly to educators and students at music educator conferences, including at the 2018 OMEA conference and annually at the IMEA conferences, and at high schools and middle schools. She also adjudicates jazz festivals and other music competitions regularly. Shawn is as a Yamaha Performing Artist and Vandoren Artist Clinician.

Dr. Royer placed runner-up in the Sisters-in-Jazz International Collegiate Competition in 2000. Her first solo album, Not Benny’s Goodman, was released in September 2013, and she is featured on two Wave Mechanics Union albums. In 2019, Shawn presented research at the Jazz Education Network (JEN) National Conference in Reno and at the International Symposium on the Philosophy of Music Education in Canada. She co-authored a book review the same year in the Arts Education Policy Review, “A Review of Music Education in an age of Virtuality and Post-Truth,” and published “Rehearsing Ensembles Online” in the Music Educators Journal in 2020.

Dr. Royer holds a Bachelor of Music in Education with a concentration in Jazz Studies from the University of Indianapolis and a Master of Music in Clarinet Performance from the Butler University School of Music. She earned a PhD in Music Education with a minor in jazz pedagogy and specialization in saxophone from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2022.  

Dr. Royer founded and directs the SYO Summer Music Programs, a non-profit organization that offers full symphony orchestra, jazz ensemble, chamber ensembles, handbell choir, and adaptive percussion ensembles to middle school and high school musicians. She is also the Director of the 65th Street Klezmorim and the Swing Shift Indy big band and she maintains an active career performing jazz. Dr. Royer plays Yamaha clarinets and saxophones exclusively. For more information, visit her website, www.shawngoodmanjazz.com.