Phillip O. Paglialonga

“a phenomenal musician… our next prodigious clarinet performer and pedagogue”

The Clarinet • December 2015

Clarinetist Phillip O. Paglialonga has quickly emerged as one of the leading performers and pedagogues of his generation. His book, Squeak Big: Practical Fundamentals for the Successful Clarinetist was published by Imagine Music Publishing and has garnered significant praise from leading clarinetists including prominent members of the orchestras in Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle, as well as stellar reviews in several major publications.

As a performer he has appeared on four continents and regularly appears throughout North America and abroad. His performances have been heard on National Public Radio, the CBC in Canada, TGW in Guatemala, CBMF in Cuba, as well as several other regional radio and television stations. He has visited dozens of universities to present recitals and classes, and is regularly invited to perform at venues around the world.  Recent highlights include performances at Bellas Artes Guatapé, ClarinetFest,  ClariBogotá, ClariMania, College Music Society, Cranbrook Concert Series, Festival Internacional de Música Alfredo de Saint Malo, Fiesta de los Clarinetes, International Double Reed Society, Society for Electro-Acoustic Music, Thailand International Clarinet Academy, Tutti New Music Festival as well as concerts in China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, France, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Malaysia, Panama, Spain, Thailand, Trinidad and the United Kingdom.

His latest recording, In a Time of War, is with pianist Richard Masters and was released by Heritage Records. The new album includes works by John Ireland and Sergei Prokofiev.

With oboist Nora Lewis, and bassoonist Eric Van der Veer Varner, he was a founding member of the PEN Trio, a chamber ensemble passionate about performance, education, and scholarship. From 2010-2019 the ensemble premiered, and promoted numerous new works and gave concerts, master classes, and entrepreneurial workshops throughout the United States and in over a dozen countries. In September 2019, Summit Records released Found Objects: New Music for Reed Trio. The album includes new works, written expressly for the PEN Trio, by composers William Bradbury, Jenni Brandon, M. Shawn Hundley and Aleks Sternfeld-Dunn.

As an orchestral musician he has been a member of the Haddonfield Symphony, Sarasota Opera Orchestra and the Walt Disney World Orchestra.  He has also appeared with numerous other orchestras including the: Charleston Symphony (SC), Chicago Civic Orchestra, Concertante di Chicago, Dallas Opera, Dallas Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony, Kalamazoo Symphony, New World Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic, Richmond Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, and Windsor Symphony (Ontario). He has also participated in numerous summer festivals including the National Repertory Orchestra, the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, and Lake George Opera in Saratoga, New York.

Currently Dr. Paglialonga serves as Associate Professor of Clarinet at the University of North Texas. He is an artist for both Buffet Crampon and Gonzalez Reeds.