Ron Samuels

“a highly captivating musical presence”The Los Angeles Times“performs skillfully and stylishly with verve and impressive musicianship”Fanfare“rare beauty of performance”American Record GuideRon Samuels was appointed 2nd clarinetist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra by the eminent conductor Mariss Jansons at the start of the 2001-02 season. Previously, he served as principal clarinetist of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra for sixteen years and as a guest principal clarinetist with the Minnesota Orchestra during their 1996-97 season.A native of San Francisco, Ron has enjoyed a richly varied career as a symphonic musician, chamber music and concerto soloist, and as a collegiate professor and master class clinician. He graduated from the University of Southern California where he studied with Mitchell Lurie and where he has frequently returned as a guest lecturer. A year after graduation, he won an audition for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, a post he held for six seasons.In addition to appearances on chamber music and recital series throughout the United States, Ron has been a featured soloist with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra on several occasions, as well as with the San Diego Symphony, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Eureka (CA) Symphony and the Plymouth (MI) Symphony Orchestra. He has recorded contemporary chamber music for Opus One Records, Hearts of Space Records, and a solo CD for KOCH International Classics featuring an all-French program and highlighted by the world-premiere recording of an early 19th-century concerto by Charles Duvernoy. During his years in Los Angeles, he also participated in soundtrack recordings for the motion picture and television studios of Universal, Warner Brothers and Columbia.Ron has championed the music of several contemporary composers and has participated in performances, on recordings, and as part of consortiums of several new-work commissions. Among these have been Anthony Iannaccone’s Concertante for clarinet and orchestra for which he gave the American premiere; William Albright’s Quintet for clarinet and strings; John Harbison’s Concerto for oboe, clarinet and orchestra; and most recently, David Stock’s Sea of Reeds written for the Pittsburgh Reed Trio, a chamber ensemble which Ron co-founded.Currently on the faculty of Duquesne University, Ron has been a guest lecturer at the University of Michigan and the Interlochen Arts Academy, and he has given master classes at several schools including the Universities of Southern California, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Louisville, Central and Eastern Michigan Universities, Bowling Green State University, California State University at Humboldt and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.During the summer, Ron performs in the Robert Marcellus-endowed principal clarinet chair of the Peninsula Music Festival in Fish Creek, Wisconsin. Ron has also been the principal clarinetist of the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Colorado Music Festival and the Santa Fe Opera.Other musical pursuits have included the publication of articles for The Clarinet – Journal for the International Clarinet Association and de Klarinet – Dutch Journal for Clarinetists. In addition, Ron was a production assistant on clarinetist David Shifrin’s Delos recording, A Brahms/Schumann Soirée.He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife Freya, who is a freelance cellist and Director of Chamber Music at Duquesne University’s City Music Center, and their two children Melanie and Darren.Ron Samuels is a Buffet Crampon USA performing artist.