TEACHERS
José Franch Ballester
International soloist and professor at The University of British Columbia.
The award-winning Spanish clarinetist José Franch-Ballester is considered one of the finest classical soloists and chamber musicians of his generation. He has been acclaimed for his “technical wizardry and tireless enthusiasm” (The New York Times), his “rich, resonant tone” (Birmingham News), and his “subtle, consummate artistry” (Santa Barbara Independent). Winner of a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2008 and a recipient of both the Young Concert Artists and Astral Artists auditions, he is a highly sought-after soloist and chamber musician.
As an orchestral soloist, Mr. Franch-Ballester made his New York debut in 2006 with the St. Luke’s Orchestra at Lincoln Center. He has also performed with the BBC Concert Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Philharmonic, Louisiana Philharmonic, Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, Malaysia Philharmonic Orchestra, and various orchestras in his native Spain.
Mr. Franch-Ballester made his New York recital debut at the 92nd Street Y and has also appeared in recital at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Iowa State University, the Buffalo Chamber Music Society, and the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. He performs regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center both in New York City and on tour, and serves as principal clarinet of Camerata Pacifica, a chamber music collective based in Santa Barbara.
His U.S. festival appearances include the Saratoga Chamber Music Festival, Music @ Menlo, Mainly Mozart, Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Music from Angel Fire, Chamber Music Northwest, and Skaneateles Festival. Abroad, Mr. Franch-Ballester has performed at the Usedomer Musikfestival in Germany, Verbier Festival in Switzerland, Cartagena International Music Festival in Colombia, Kon-Tiki Festival in Norway, and the Young Concert Artists Festival in Tokyo.
Mr. Franch-Ballester is the Artistic Director of miXt, an ensemble of award-winning soloists from the Young Concert Artists roster that he founded in the 2012–13 season. Performing in a variety of configurations, miXt made its New York and Washington debuts in YCA’s series at Merkin Hall and the Kennedy Center. His instrumental collaborators have also included American, St. Lawrence, Jupiter, and Modigliani string quartets.
An avid advocate for new music, he gave the world premiere of Jake Heggie’s Winter Roses in 2004 with mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade at Camerata Pacifica. During the 2011–2012 season, he premiered two new works by Spanish composers: Oscar Navarro’s Clarinet Concerto No. 2 with the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias in Oviedo, Spain, and Andrés Valero-Castells’ Concerto Valencia with the Valencia Orchestra. Franch-Ballester’s commitment to new music has led him to commission and collaborate with contemporary composers such as Kenji Bunch, Paul Schoenfield, Edgar Meyer, William Bolcom, George Tsontakis, Andrés Valero-Castells, Oscar Navarro, and Huang Ruo. He has also been a devoted music educator, building new audiences through countless concerts and educational workshops for young people and community groups.
Performing regularly in Spain, Mr. Franch-Ballester has appeared with the Spanish Radio and Television Orchestra, Valencia Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias, and Vallès Symphony Orchestra. He is the founder of José Franch-Ballester & i amics (“and friends”), a concert series that brings together young musicians from around the world to perform in his hometown of Moncofa and throughout the Valencia region.
Mr. Franch-Ballester’s recordings include a Deutsche Grammophon CD of Bartók’s Contrasts with members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. In 2010, he received the Midem Award for “Outstanding Young Artist,” which aims to introduce the classical recording stars of the future to the industry. José Franch-Ballester & Friends, a chamber music CD released by iTinerant Classics in 2011, features the world premiere recording of a work by Oscar Navarro, alongside music by Brahms, Stravinsky, and Paul Schoenfield. Mr. Franch-Ballester can also be heard on Piazzolla Masterworks, a CD recorded with cellist Young Song and pianist Pablo Zinger featuring works by Astor Piazzolla.
Born in Moncofa into a family of clarinetists and zarzuela singers, José Franch-Ballester began clarinet lessons at the age of nine with Venancio Rius and graduated from the Joaquín Rodrigo Conservatory in Valencia. In 2005, he earned a bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he studied with Donald Montanaro. His mentors also include Ricardo Morales, principal clarinet of The Philadelphia Orchestra.
José Franch-Ballester is represented in the Americas by Sciolino Artist Management. He is a Backun Artist.
Sergio Pires
Principal clarinet of the London Symphony Orchestra and the Musikkollegium Winterthur.
Sérgio Fernandes Pires is recognized as one of the most dynamic and outstanding clarinetists of his generation, captivating audiences around the world as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral performer. Since 2016, Sérgio has served as principal clarinet of the Musikkollegium Winterthur (Switzerland) and, since 2023, as principal clarinet of the prestigious London Symphony Orchestra.
Renowned for his brilliant career as a soloist, Sérgio Pires has performed with major orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Bremen Philharmonic (Germany), the Berliner Symphoniker, the Basel Symphony Orchestra, the Basel Chamber Orchestra (Switzerland), the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, and the Musikkollegium Winterthur, among others.
He has appeared in some of the world’s most iconic concert halls, including the Berlin Philharmonie, Zurich’s Tonhalle, and the Konzerthaus Berlin. His repertoire spans from the classical masterpieces of Mozart and Weber to modern works by Nielsen, Veress, and Penderecki.
He has won more than a dozen prizes in prestigious international competitions, including First Prize at the International Clarinet Competition of Cluj (2017) and First Prize at the Marco Fiorindo International Competition (2012).
Sérgio’s artistic versatility is also reflected in his extensive discography, which includes collaborations with renowned performers and record labels such as BIS, MDG, Genuin, and Avi. His recordings have received excellent reviews from international specialized media.
As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with distinguished artists such as Heinz Holliger, Emmanuel Pahud, Emmanuel Ceysson, Krzysztof Chorzelski, and Radovan Vlatković.
In the field of education, Sérgio Pires has carried out significant teaching work, giving classes between 2019 and 2023 at the University of Minho (Portugal), and currently serving as assistant professor at the Hochschule für Musik der Stadt Basel, in the clarinet studio of François Benda.
His educational commitment extends internationally through masterclasses and pedagogical videos that have surpassed 30,000 views, reaching a diverse audience worldwide.
With a solid orchestral background, Sérgio Pires has been a member of prestigious ensembleshttps://galiciaclarinetfest.com/ from an early age, including the European Union Youth Orchestra and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, and has collaborated with internationally renowned orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Tonkünstler Orchestra.
Born in 1995, he began his musical studies at the age of 8 at the Valentim Moreira de Sá Music Academy in Guimarães, studying with Vítor Matos, later completing his master’s in performance – Soloist with distinction at the Hochschule für Musik der Stadt Basel under the guidance of François Benda.
A Henri Selmer Paris and Silverstein Works sponsored artist, Sérgio Fernandes Pires also serves as a professor at the Mozartgesellschaft Dortmund (Germany).
Arno Peters
Professor at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and soloist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Arno Peters (b. 1980) studied clarinet and E-flat clarinet with Jan Cober and Willem van der Vuurst at the Conservatorium Maastricht, graduating with distinction. He later continued his studies with George Pieterson at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where he once again received his diploma with distinction.
He was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra, the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, and the Nationaal Jeugd Orkest Netherlands), performing under conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Bernard Haitink, and Vladimir Ashkenazy.
Since 2004, he has been a member of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam as a clarinetist (including the E-flat clarinet section). In addition, he currently serves as professor of clarinet at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where he teaches masterclasses and provides training for the next generation of clarinetists.
As a soloist and chamber musician, Peters has performed at national and international festivals and has collaborated with leading artists and orchestras, recording repertoire ranging from the classical tradition to contemporary music.
Shirley Brill
International soloist and professor at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg (Germany).
Shirley Brill’s career took off with a solo performance with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Zubin Mehta. Since then, she has appeared with various international orchestras, including the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin at the Berlin Philharmonie, the Hamburger Symphoniker under Jeffrey Tate, the Prague National Theatre Symphony Orchestra at the Cologne Philharmonie, the Geneva Chamber Orchestra, the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, and the Münchner Symphoniker at the Philharmonie im Gasteig.
Together with her duo partner, Jonathan Aner, Ms. Brill received the 2024 OPUS KLASSIK Award in the chamber music category for their album ROOTS. She has also been a prizewinner at the International Geneva Competition (Switzerland), the International Markneukirchen Competition (Germany), and received a special prize at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich.
Shirley Brill has performed at prestigious international festivals such as the BBC Proms in England, the Festival Radio France in Montpellier, the Schubertiade in Austria, the Davos Festival in Switzerland, and the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival in Israel. In Germany, she has appeared at the Schleswig-Holstein, Rheingau, Heidelberger Frühling, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern festivals. Ms. Brill has collaborated with renowned artists such as Daniel Barenboim, Jonas Kaufmann, Sabine Meyer, Emmanuel Pahud, Janine Jansen, Tabea Zimmermann, the Jerusalem String Quartet, the Fauré Piano Quartet, and the Trio di Clarone.
She performs regularly with pianist Jonathan Aner, with whom she has given concerts in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, the Tonhalle Zürich, the Shanghai Oriental Art Center, and the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn.
After studying in Israel with Yitzhak Katzap, Ms. Brill continued her training at the Musikhochschule Lübeck (Germany) with Professor Sabine Meyer and at the New England Conservatory in Boston with Richard Stoltzman.
She has served as a guest professor at the “Hanns Eisler” Academy of Music in Berlin, as a faculty member at the Barenboim-Said Akademie, and as professor of clarinet at the Hochschule für Musik Saar in Saarbrücken (Germany).
Since October 2021, Shirley Brill has held the position of Professor of Clarinet at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg (Germany).
Selin Gürol
Clarinetista principal de la Orquesta Sinfónica Presidencial.
Born in Istanbul in 1990, Selin Gürol is Principal Clarinet of the Presidential Symphony Orchestra. During the 2025–2026 concert season, she performed as a guest clarinetist with the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet Orchestra. She gave a TED performance in 2022 and appeared as a TED speaker in 2023. She is an official artist and ambassador for Henri Selmer Paris and Vandoren Paris. In recognition of her achievements, she was featured in a question included in the Turkish National Higher Education Institutions Examination (YKS) question bank in 2022.
Alongside her orchestral career, Gürol maintains an active schedule as a chamber musician and soloist. In June 2026, she earned her Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree from the Istanbul University State Conservatory.
Gürol began playing the clarinet at the age of 11 and took her first professional steps at an early age, performing as a soloist with the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra when she was only 15 years old. Since then, she has appeared frequently as a soloist with leading ensembles such as the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra and the Çukurova State Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed with renowned orchestras including the Philharmonia Zürich Opernhaus. Throughout her international career, she has collaborated with distinguished conductors such as Kristjan Järvi, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Marko Letonja, Ralf Weikert, Peter Eötvös, Christian Zacharias, Leif Segerstam, and Kevin Griffiths.
She began her formal clarinet studies in 2001 at the Istanbul University State Conservatory with Ahmet Kara. With the support of Ayşegül Kirmanoğlu and Nusret İspir, she was awarded a full scholarship to study with Selen Özyıldırım at the Bilkent University Music Preparatory School in Ankara in 2007, graduating in 2009. She then moved to France, where she studied with Michel Lethiec at the Conservatoire National de Nice and earned her Bachelor’s degree in 2013, graduating with the distinction Prix de Perfectionnement.
In 2015, she completed her first Master’s degree in Solo Performance at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne, Switzerland, under the guidance of Frédéric Lapin, while also studying Baroque clarinet with Cindy Lin. In 2018, she obtained a second Master’s degree in Orchestral Performance from the Zurich University of the Arts, studying clarinet and orchestral excerpts with Fabio di Casola, Robert Pickup, and Felix Genner, as well as E-flat clarinet with Heinrich Matzener. Between 2017 and 2018, she also studied with Alessandro Carbonare at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy. During her training, she worked and shared the stage with renowned clarinetists such as Romain Guyot, Paul Meyer, and Philippe Berrod.
Gürol has been invited as a soloist to numerous prestigious European festivals. Most recently, she gave masterclasses at ICA ClarinetFest 2024 in Dublin, Ireland, and at the Galicia Clarinet Festival 2024 in Galicia, Spain. During these events, she performed as a soloist with Quartet ConTempo (Dublin) and Banda de Lalín (Galicia), and also served as a jury member in international competitions sponsored by Henri Selmer Paris and Vandoren Paris. In May 2025, she gave a solo recital at the “Antiguas Salinas de Los Cancajos” Concert Hall in La Palma, Canary Islands.
She has received scholarships and awards from highly prestigious institutions, including Musica Mundi (Belgium), Académie d’Été de Nice (France), the Eczacıbaşı Foundation (Turkey), Bruno Schüler-Stiftung (Switzerland), and the Accademia Musicale Chigiana (Italy).
Tibor Reman
Professor at the Berlin University of the Arts and principal clarinet of the Staatskapelle Berlin.
Tibor Reman was born in 1981 in Romania to Hungarian parents. He began his studies at the “Gh. Dima” Academy of Music in Cluj (Klausenburg) and later at the “Franz Liszt” Academy of Music in Budapest. From 2004 to 2008, he continued his training with François Benda at the Berlin University of the Arts.
During his studies, Tibor Reman received numerous awards, including prizes at the “Jeunesses Musicales” International Competition in Bucharest, the “Wiener Classic Prize” International Competition in Semmering, and the Yamaha Woodwind Competition in Germany. He was also a member of the Staatskapelle Berlin Orchestra Academy.
Between 2004 and 2006, he performed regularly with the Budapest Festival Orchestra under the direction of Iván Fischer. Starting in 2007, he became principal clarinet of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim. From 2008 to 2010, he served as associate principal clarinet of the Lower Saxony State Orchestra (Niedersächsisches Staatsorchester Hannover).
Since 2010, Tibor Reman has been principal clarinet of the Staatskapelle Berlin. He is a member of both the Staatskapelle Berlin Wind Quintet and the Pierre Boulez Ensemble.
As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with renowned artists such as Daniel Barenboim, Emmanuel Pahud, Radek Baborák, Mathieu Dufour, Wolfgang Boettcher, Lahav Shani, Denis Kozhukhin, Martin Helmchen, and Mojca Erdmann, among others. His chamber performancesvhave taken him to internationally prestigious venues such as Carnegie/Zankel Hall in New York, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, and the Boulez Saal in Berlin.
In the academic field, Tibor Reman serves as a professor at the Berlin University of the Arts and as a mentor at the Staatskapelle Berlin Orchestra Academy. He has served on juries at international competitions in Italy and Romania and has given masterclasses at universities and music festivals in Portugal, Germany, Romania, Hungary, Latvia, and Spain.
José Luis Estellés
Conductor, clarinetist, professor at Musikene, and chamber music professor at the HfMT Cologne.
He maintains an extensive artistic career that combines his work as a conductor, clarinetist, and educator. José Luis Estellés has appeared as a guest soloist with more than thirty orchestras and ensembles, and as a chamber musician in major halls and festivals in the United States, Mexico, Japan, and throughout Europe, performing alongside prestigious quartets and soloists.
In recent years, his musical collaborations have included string quartets such as Orpheus, Casals, Enesco, Artis-Wien, Delian, Modigliani, Kuss, Arriaga, Yokohama, Kelemen, Jousia, Arditti, and Diotima, as well as pianists such as Sergey Babayan, Colom, Díaz-Jerez, Donohoe, Drake, Forsberg, Fülei, Garvayo, Gililov, Gothóni, and Gutman, among others.
As a guest soloist, he has performed under conductors such as Swensen, Andretta, Marcon, Nesterowicz, Encinar, Pons, Colomer, Foss, Griffiths, Kantorow, Mena, Kalmar, Tabachnik, Martínez, Tchitchinadze, and Davin, among others, and with orchestras as diverse as those of Asturias, Bilbao, Extremadura, Valencia, Granada, Salzburg, Sinfonia Varsovia, the Community of Madrid, JONDE, London Soloists, I Solisti di Perugia, Britten Sinfonia, and more. He was the founder of ensembles such as Grupo Manon and TAiMAgranada, and is currently a member of “Fin du Temps.”
As a conductor, José Luis Estellés has performed in Spain, England, Belgium, Germany, France, Bulgaria, and Mexico, often also taking on the role of conductor-soloist.
José Luis Estellés has regularly given masterclasses around the world, leaving a transformative impact on several generations of musicians in Spain. He has been a clarinet professor at Musikene since its founding in 2001, where he also served as its Artistic Director and Director of Orchestral Studies. Since 2021, he has been professor of chamber music at the HfMT Cologne (Germany). He has also taught in the past at the Sibelius Academy (Helsinki), the Codarts Conservatory – Rotterdam, the University of Alcalá de Henares, and the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Oviedo.
He is frequently invited to serve as a jury member at important international competitions, including the ARD Competition (Munich) and the Aeolus Competition (Düsseldorf).
Juan Ferrer
Principal clarinet of the Galicia Symphony Orchestra and professor at Forum Musikae in Madrid.
Juan Ferrer (Montserrat, Valencia) is one of the most versatile and active Spanish clarinetists of his generation, and the first Spaniard to serve on the jury of the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, as well as in Ghent (Belgium), Versailles (France), the Asia & Oceania Competition in Taipei (Taiwan), Carlino (Italy), Porto, Lisbon, Mexico, Costa Rica, and numerous competitions in Spain, where he has also performed recitals and taught masterclasses. His pedagogical work extends to students from all over the world and to universities across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
This educational activity has recently been reinforced by his invitation to serve as an international professor for the Simón Bolívar Foundation (currently El Sistema), with three annual sessions from the 2017–18 season onward, continuing through 2022, 2023, and now through 2025.
A performing artist for the prestigious brands Buffet-Crampon Paris and Vandoren Paris, Ferrer has been principal clarinet of the Galicia Symphony Orchestra (OSG) since 1994, although his performing career has taken him around the world as a soloist. He has performed concertos by Weber (Nos. 1 and 2), Copland, Mozart, Debussy, Óscar Navarro, and Pacho Flores (the latter dedicated to him), with orchestras such as the Galicia Symphony Orchestra, the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, the Extremadura Symphony Orchestra, the Murcia Symphony Orchestra, the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, the Juan Carlos Landaeta Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Paraguay, among others. As a chamber musician he has performed in Russia, China, Taiwan, Switzerland, France, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Brazil, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Argentina, throughout Spain, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
He has been a frequent guest with the Leipzig Radio Orchestra, the Liceu Opera Orchestra of Barcelona, the Palau de les Arts Orchestra of Valencia, the Catalonia National Orchestra, the RTVE Symphony Orchestra, among many others, working under some of the world’s most renowned conductors: Gustavo Dudamel, Lorin Maazel, Daniel Harding, Sir Neville Marriner, Osmo Vänskä, Gianandrea Noseda, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Peter Maag, James Conlon, Jesús López Cobos, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Dima Slobodeniouk, Christoph Eschenbach, Klaus Mäkelä, Roberto González-Monjas, Juanjo Mena, and Alberto Zedda, among many others.
Invited to serve on juries worldwide, Juan Ferrer is also a professor at Forum Musikae in Madrid, where he teaches master, bachelor, and pre-college programs in performance and research. He also maintains his orchestral activity and teaches regularly with youth ensembles, including the OSG Youth Orchestra, the Basque National Youth Orchestra, the Venezuela Children’s Orchestra, the Simón Bolívar Orchestra, the Juan Carlos Landaeta Orchestra, the Catalonia National Youth Symphony Orchestra, and the Canary Islands Youth Orchestra. He frequently gives masterclasses in Spain, France, China, Taiwan, Italy, Portugal, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Belgium, Russia, and Argentina.
He recorded an album with pianist Daniel del Pino featuring works dedicated to him by internationally renowned composers: Salvador Brotons, Fernando Buide, Eduardo Soutullo, Karolis Biveinis, Octavio Vázquez, Wladimir Rosinskij, and Juan Durán.
Luis Cámara
Vitor Fernandes
Portuguese clarinetist Vitor Fernandes is widely recognized as one of the leading clarinetists of his generation. A Buffet Crampon and Vandoren artist, he is acclaimed for his musical sensitivity, refinement, and technical mastery. As Romain Guyot, Principal Clarinet of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, puts it:
Xocas Meijide
Clarinet and bass clarinet professor at the University of Minho and bass clarinet soloist of the A Coruña Municipal Band.
Born in Lalín (Galicia), he studied with Orentino Sueiro, Joan Enric Lluna, José Luis Estellés, Nancy Braithwaite and Henri Bok. He holds clarinet performance degrees from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and from the Rotterdam Conservatory (CODARTS), as well as a Master’s in Clarinet Performance from the University of A Coruña and a Postgraduate Degree in Clarinet and Bass Clarinet from the Rotterdam Conservatory (CODARTS).
He is considered one of the finest Galician clarinet and bass clarinet soloists, having won several international competitions, including the Foro Internacional de Música de Barcelona, the First Prize of both the jury and the audience at the DeLink Chamber Music Competition in the Netherlands, and the First Prize at the Henri Selmer Bass Clarinet Competition in the Netherlands.
Professionally, he has been invited to perform with ensembles such as the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and the National Orchestra of Catalonia, the Spanish National Youth Orchestra (JONDE), the Galicia Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic of Galicia, the Oviedo Philharmonic, and the Galicia Chamber Orchestra.
As a soloist, he has performed with the Galicia Symphony Orchestra, the Galicia Chamber Orchestra, the Santiago Municipal Band, the A Coruña Municipal Band, the Lalín Band, the Valladares Band and the Silleda Band, among others. He has appeared at major venues such as the Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, L’Auditori in Barcelona, La Pedrera in Barcelona, and in countries including Cuba, Argentina, France, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands and China. He has also participated in the main Galician festivals, such as the Xacobeo Clarinet Fest, Cameralia, the International Music Festival of Galicia and Imagina Sons.
In the field of education, Xocas Meijide is a professor at the University of Minho in Braga, Portugal, and at the International Academy of Galicia. He is also the artistic director of the Xacobeo Clarinet Fest, and has taught masterclasses in Guimarães, Portugal, and in various courses across Galicia, including Bandeira, Valladares, Merza, Lalín, Ferrol, Viveiro and Redondela.
Emilio Alonso Espasandín
Solo clarinet and E-flat clarinet of the RTVE Symphony Orchestra and professor of Clarinet and E-flat Clarinet at the Katarina Gurska Superior Center of Music in Madrid.
Galician clarinetist Emilio Alonso Espasandín (A Coruña) has been, since 2025, a tenured musician with the Spanish Radio and Television Orchestra, where he holds the position of E-flat clarinet soloist. Since 2019 he has also been soloist with the Orchestre National de Cannes (France), currently on leave.
With nearly two decades devoted to orchestral music, he has regularly appeared as guest principal clarinet with the Madrid Symphony Orchestra, the Castilla y León Symphony Orchestra, and the Basque National Orchestra, in addition to collaborating with ensembles such as the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic, the Opéra de Toulon, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, and the Orchestre National de Lille. In earlier stages of his career, he worked closely with the Real Filharmonía de Galicia and the Galicia Symphony Orchestra.
Winner of several national and international competitions, he maintains an active career as a soloist, performing both core repertoire concertos (Mozart, Weber, Nielsen, Françaix…) and contemporary works. He has premiered and collaborated with composers such as Alexandre Kosmicki and Federico Mosquera, and has appeared as soloist with the Orchestre National de Cannes, Camerata Serbica, Real Filharmonía de Galicia, Orquesta Gaos, Santiago Municipal Band, and the Orchestre de la Marine Nationale, among others.
Deeply connected to chamber music, he has taken part in numerous festivals and collaborated with the St George Quartet, the Zemlinsky Quartet, and other European ensembles. He forms a regular duo with pianist Gabriel López, with whom he recorded his first CD dedicated to 20th- century repertoire.
In the educational field, Emilio is professor of clarinet and E-flat clarinet at the Katarina Gurska Higher Center of Music (Madrid). He collaborates regularly with the Galicia Clarinet Academy and is a Guest Professor at the School of Advanced Musical Studies of Galicia. He has given courses and masterclasses in Spain, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Hungary.
He trained in Galicia and Portugal with professors Jesús López, Beatriz López, and António Saiote, also receiving guidance from leading international clarinetists.
Emilio is a Yamaha Artist.
David Griffiths
Professor of Clarinet at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne.
David Griffiths has established a reputation not only for his outstanding performances as a clarinet soloist, but also as a consummate musician, equally distinguished as a chamber musician, recitalist, and leading educator. He is a member of two prestigious Australian chamber music ensembles: the Australia Ensemble@UNSW and Ensemble Liaison. In addition, David holds the position of Associate Director and Professor of Music at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne.
In the concert sphere, David’s recent and upcoming highlights include performances with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, Shanghai Radio Orchestra, Macau Orchestra, and the Real Filharmonía de Galicia.
Chamber music forms a central part of David’s career and, as a member of Ensemble Liaison, he programs and performs in an annual series of three concerts, currently in its 21st season.
Renowned for fostering long-term relationships with leading chamber ensembles, David enjoys collaborating with the American, New Zealand, Goldner, Tinalley, Arcacia, Flinders, and Australian String Quartets, the New York Wind Soloists, and the Southern Cross Soloists.
Career highlights include a performance of Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet with the American String Quartet at the Portillo Festival (Chile); John Adams’s Gnarly Buttons with the Australia Ensemble@UNSW; the Weiland Concerto with the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra; a collaboration with accordion virtuoso James Crabb; Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet and Concerto at the 3MBS Mozart Marathon; and the complete performance of Brahms’s chamber music in a single day at UKARIA, in collaboration with Timothy Young, Svetlana Bogosavljevic, and the Australian String Quartet.
David has also performed alongside many leading artists, including Nemanja Radulović, Ray Chen, Anthony Marwood, Henning Kraggerud, and Emma Matthews, and has appeared at festivals such as the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville, the Port Fairy Festival, the Lucerne Festival (Switzerland), and the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo (Japan).
As an orchestral musician, David has held the positions of Co-Principal Clarinet of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Principal Clarinet of the Macau Orchestra, and Principal Clarinet of the Shanghai Radio Orchestra. He has appeared as guest principal clarinet with all of Australia’s major symphony and opera-ballet orchestras, as well as with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. He has also served as principal clarinet with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and the Malaysian Philharmonic. In addition, he has performed with the New World Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the China Philharmonic, the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra, and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra.
A passionate educator, David regularly gives concerts and masterclasses around the world, from Asia to Europe, the United States (including Carnegie Hall), South America, the Middle East, New Zealand, and Australia.
David’s recordings with Ensemble Liaison of Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time for Melba Recordings, and of trios by Brahms, Beethoven, and Bruch for Tall Poppies, have received high praise from the international press. David is a Backun clarinet performing artist.
“David Griffiths’s clarinet playing was impressive for its breadth and refinement.” — Limelight
Manuel Martínez
Principal clarinetist of the Barcelona Municipal Band and member of Barcelona Clarinet Players.
Renowned for his technical mastery and musical versatility, Manuel Martínez has made his mark as a soloist on prestigious stages such as the Muddy Concert
Hall in Dallas, the Murchinson Performing Arts Center in Denton, the Abbot Concert Hall in Wisconsin, and the Teatro de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. Deeply committed to the promotion of wind band repertoire, he is currently involved in a series of twelve premieres composed especially for him, which will be presented in upcoming seasons with ensembles from around the world.
As an interdisciplinary artist, he has also conceived the project “Sonoro Infinito”, in which he uses technology to explore new sound worlds, pushing the expressive and technical boundaries of his instrument.
He regularly collaborates with internationally renowned composers such as Arturo Márquez, Bernat Vivancos, Joan Magrané, Nubia Jaime-Donjuan, Ernesto Aurignac, and José María Sánchez-Verdú.
As an orchestral musician, he has performed with leading ensembles including the SWR Symphony Orchestra (Stuttgart), Les Dissonances (France), MusicAeterna (Russia), and the Utopia Orchestra conducted by Teodor Currentzis, with whom he frequently records and tours.
Since 2008, he has been based in Barcelona, where he serves as principal clarinetist of the Barcelona Municipal Band and as a member of the acclaimed quartet Barcelona Clarinet Players. Manuel performs on Henri Selmer Paris clarinets and uses Vandoren products in his professional work.
Wolfgang Puntas
Professor of the Municipal Concert Band of Seville, ROSS, and Musikex.
Native of Guillena (Seville), Wolfgang Puntas is professor of the Municipal Symphonic Band of Seville, member of the Orchestra of the Sevillian Zarzuela Company, professor at Musikex (Extremadura Higher School of Music) and at the Higher Center “El Progreso Musical” in Madrid. He released his first album, Wolfgang Puntas and Concert Band – Lactho Drom.
He received the Silver Medal at the Vienna International Music Competition (2020), the First Prize for Musical Performance and the Audience Prize at the 3rd International Competition of the Castilla-La Mancha Philharmonic Orchestra (OFMAN) and was a finalist at the Óscar Navarro International Clarinet Competition.
He is a collaborating clarinet professor with the ROSS and the Extremadura Orchestra, principal clarinet of the Bética Philharmonic Orchestra of Seville, the Bética Chamber Orchestra, and a member of the contemporary music ensemble Nueva Música (Seville). He collaborates with various chamber and symphonic groups, as well as in recording studios in Seville.
He began his studies in San Fernando (Cádiz) with Francisco Lora, and later continued in Guillena with Manuel Vizcaíno, Antonio Calero, and Francisco Pizarro. He completed higher studies with Antonio Salguero and Antonio García Herrera. He has been a member of the Andalusian Youth Orchestra, the Barenboim-Said Orchestral Academy, and the Master’s Program in Musical Performance (Clarinet), receiving masterclasses from Yehuda Gilad, Charles Neidich, Ralph Manno, Matthias Glander, Andreas Sundén, Piotr Smilinsky, Miguel Civera, Dimitri Ashkenazy, Ramón Barona, José Luis Estellés, among others.
In 2015 he completed the master’s in musical performance (specializing in clarinet) at the International University of Andalusia and the prestigious ArtMusic school. He has premiered numerous works for clarinet and wind band, including The Cape Cod Concerto (Paquito D’Rivera), Solo de Concours (Messager), Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A major (K.622) with string orchestra, El Molinero de Subiza, Pag d’Albun (M. Mangani), Clarinettomanía, and various symphonic band arrangements. He has premiered in Andalusia several concertos for clarinet and band, including the Second Clarinet Concerto by Óscar Navarro, Fantasy on themes from Rigoletto, Fantasy on La Traviata, Artie Shaw’s works, and more.
His major recordings include work with the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, as well as albums with artists and groups such as Siempre Así, Pascual González, and Antílopez (recorded between London, Los Angeles, and Seville). He has also recorded soundtracks for films such as Cuando todo está en orden and Hotel Danubio, as well as jingles for Canal Sur Television and radio programs such as La Brújula (Onda Cero) and Las Mañanas de Carlos Herrera.
He regularly teaches courses and masterclasses across Spain.
Gaetano Falzarano
Professor of Clarinet at the G. Martucci Conservatory of Salerno and Artistic Director of the SAMNIUM International Clarinet Competition.
Gaetano Falzarano graduated from the Conservatorio San Pietro a Majella in Naples. He later refined his studies with Jack Brymer and Glen Martin. He won first prize in the audition for clarinet and E-flat clarinet with the opera-symphonic orchestra of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, with which he collaborated from 1992 to 1998.
From 1998 to 2012, he was a permanent member of the Banda della Guardia di Finanza. He has performed under the baton of internationally renowned conductors such as G. Kun, D. Oren, P. Maag, M. Rota, O. Magar, K. Martin, Z. Mehta, K. Nagano, S. Mercurio, and R. Paternostro, among others.
He has been awarded prizes in six national and international competitions. He has made recordings for the labels Edi-Pan (Rome), Kicco Music (Milan), Santa Barbara, Studio & Studio Majors, as well as for the Radio RAI studios in Rome.
Between 2007 and 2010, he served as Artistic Director of the European Youth Symphonic Orchestra of the Valmontone Foundation, with which he recorded a live performance of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A major, K.622.
He has performed — and continues to perform — in some of the most prestigious theaters in Italy, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Germany, New York, China, and Japan.
Since 2013, he has been Principal Solo Clarinet of the Orchestra Filarmonica conducted by Daniel Oren at the Teatro G. Verdi in Salerno.
In 2024, he was appointed Artistic Director of the 13th European Clarinet Congress, held in Salerno from October 30 to November 2. In 2025, he was invited to China as a guest soloist and professor, participating in the festivals of Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Zhengzhou. In 2026, he was invited to serve on the jury of the Ghent Junior Clarinet Competition (senior category), as well as to give masterclasses and perform in the gala concert.
He is currently Professor of Clarinet at the G. Martucci Conservatory of Salerno and Artistic Director of the SAMNIUM International Clarinet Competition. He performs on Vission clarinets, Chedeville Opera mouthpieces, Carbec reeds, and Eddie Daniels ligatures.
Michelle Anderson
Professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver (Canada) and founder of Clarinet Mentors.
Deborah Andrus
Professor of Clarinet at Lehigh University and Kutztown University (Pennsylvania).
Alicia González Permuy
Collaborative pianist at the A Coruña Higher Conservatory of Music.
Born in Lalín (Pontevedra), Alicia began her piano and violin studies at the age of seven. In 1995 she continued her training at the Escola Superior de Música de Barcelona with Albert Attenelle (piano) and Jordi Mora (chamber music), and participated in courses with Irina Zariskaya, Manuel Carra, Almudena Cano, Josep Colom, among others. In 1999 she received a scholarship from the Provincial Council of A Coruña to study at the Brabants Conservatorium in Tilburg, Netherlands, with Ton Demmers (piano) and Jan Gruithuyzen (chamber music), graduating in 2002 with the distinction Summa Cum Laude. She later continued her studies with Jan Wijn and Eugen Indjic.
Her awards include 3rd Prize at the 3rd “Ciudad de Segovia” Competition (1994), the Honorary “End of Intermediate Level” Prize (Lalín, 1996), the “Pianoforte Graduate” Diploma from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London, 1996), 3rd Prize at the 12th International Piano Competition (Berga, 1997), the End-of-Degree and End-of-Studies Honor Prizes (A Coruña, 2001), and the Postgraduate and Master’s Diplomas (Tilburg, Netherlands, 2002), among others.
Alicia González Permuy has developed an outstanding career as a collaborative pianist in masterclasses with renowned clarinetists such as Joan Enric Lluna, Michael Harris, and José Luis Estellés, among others. She has collaborated with the Galicia Symphony Orchestra, the City of Granada Orchestra, and the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra. She has performed in venues such as the Musikverein in Vienna, the Kölner Philharmonie, and the National Auditorium of Madrid, under conductors such as Michail Jurowski, Jesús López Cobos, and Ton Koopman, among others.
As a soloist, Alicia has given recitals at L’Auditori in Barcelona, the Manuel de Falla Auditorium in Granada, and in several countries including Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, and France. She began her solo career with the Brabants Conservatorium Orchestra and performed as a soloist with the Galicia Symphony Orchestra, in addition to recording for Spanish National Radio (RNE) in 2005.
She is currently a collaborative pianist at the A Coruña Higher Conservatory of Music and collaborates regularly with the Galicia Symphony Orchestra, while maintaining an active career as a soloist and chamber musician.
Damián Hernández
Piano repetiteur and international soloist.
Described as an “excellent pianist” and “perfect collaborator” by The Strad and The Clarinet respectively, following the release of two acclaimed recordings, he is a highly versatile pianist who combines his work as a soloist and répétiteur with an active career in chamber music.
Primarily trained by Albert Attenelle and Imre Rohmann, he has received several awards, including First Prize at the 10th Mostra de Música Jove in Barcelona and Second Prize at the 7th Infanta Cristina Competition in Madrid.
He performs alongside highly renowned soloists such as violinists Nancy Zhou, Jesús Reina and Natalia Lomeiko; clarinetists Joan E. Lluna, Josep Fuster, Carlos Casadó, X. Meijide; violist Kyoungmin Park (Berlin Philharmonic); and cellists Rafael Rosenfeld and Norbert Anger, principal players of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and the Staatskapelle Dresden, respectively, as well as Johannes Krebs, A. Luis Quintana, Yuri Zhislin, Michelle Carulli, Alexander Vassilliev, among others.
As a soloist, he has appeared with the symphony orchestras of Ventspils (Latvia), León, Gijón, Oviedo Filarmonía, the Gaia–Porto Festival Orchestra, and the Youth Orchestra of León, performing concertos by Grieg, Scriabin, Mozart No. 27, Chopin No. 1, Brahms No. 2, Rachmaninoff No. 2, and Beethoven’s Emperor, under conductors such as Oliver Díaz, Dorel Murgu, Francisco Valero, Miguel Salmón, among others.
He collaborates as a répétiteur with numerous musical and cultural institutions, such as the Princess of Asturias Foundation, the Botín Foundation, CelloLeón–University of León, University of Oviedo, “Soncello” Competition in A Coruña, AGIC String Competition in Vigo, Llanes String Competition, OSPA, OSG, ESMAE (Porto), ESMUC (Barcelona), among others.
Josep Fuster
Solista en la Orquesta Sinfónica de Barcelona y Nacional de Catalunya y profesor en la ESMUC.
Nacido en Villanueva de Castellón (Valencia), estudió en los Conservatorios Superiores de Valencia y de Barcelona con los profesores V. Romero, J. Talens Sebastià, J. Panyella y J. Tordera.
Es profesor de clarinete y de música de cámara de la Escuela Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC) desde el año de su creación, y de la Orquesta Sinfónica de Barcelona y Nacional de Catalunya (OBC) desde 1993.
Ha sido invitado en diferentes orquestas sinfónicas (Orquesta Nacional de España, New American Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica del Gran Teatro del Liceo, Orquesta de Cámara del Teatre Lliure, Orquesta Camerata Mediterránea, Orquesta de Cadaqués, Orquesta Nacional de Cámara de Andorra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife), con las cuales ha participado en giras de conciertos por Alemania, Francia, Holanda, Italia, Estados Unidos y Japón.
En el ámbito de la música de cámara, es cofundador de los grupos Harmonia Quintet de Vent, Barcelona 216, Diabolus in Musica, Trio Cervelló, Sahan Pillai (viola), Enrique Bagaria (piano) y Kammart Ensemble. Su dilatada trayectoria en este campo ha propiciado la colaboración con numerosas agrupaciones e intérpretes de reconocido prestigio, tales como el Cuarteto Glinka, Cuarteto Quiroga, Orpheus Quartet, Solistas de Ibercàmera y los pianistas Albert Atenelle, Eulàlia Solé, Xavier Dolç, Àngel Puig, Astrid Steinschaden y Dolors Cano, entre otros.
Con Isabel Hernández (piano), ha grabado los CDs Música virtuosa para clarinete y piano, vol. I, II, III y IV, las dos Sonatas de Brahms, y Homenaje a Weber y Rossini.
También ha grabado la obra integral para clarinete del compositor Jesús Rodríguez Picó. Ha estrenado el Quintet de la Sala de Llevant para clarinete y cuarteto de cuerda, de Xavier Benguerel; Clarinet concertino de Jordi Cervelló; Concierto para clarinete “Luces del Alba” de Zulema de la Cruz; y Fantasía para clarinete, cuerdas y pequeña percusiónde Juan Medina, obras que le han sido dedicadas.
Ha realizado diferentes grabaciones para Catalunya Música, RNE, Radio France y la Radio Holandesa, así como para los sellos discográficos Hyades Arts, Stradivarius, Ediciones Moraleda, Anacrusi Contemporánea, Columna Música y Ars Harmónica.
Sus dos grabaciones de los quintetos para clarinete y cuarteto de cuerda de Mozart, Weber, Krommer, Bärmann, Spohr y Reicha con el Cuarteto Glinka han recibido las máximas consideraciones por parte de la crítica internacional.
Josep Fuster es artista de Backun y de BG.