Draft:Joaquin Valdepenas

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Joaquin Valdepeñas is an American-Canadian clarinetist who is most well-known for having been the principal clarinetist for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Early life

Valdepeñas was born in Torreon, Mexico, where he lived until the age of eight.After spending four years living in Tijuana, at the age of twelve, he moved with his mother to Anaheim, California, where he lived for the rest of his adolescence.

Education

Valdepeñas began playing the clarinet as a seventh grader at Fremont Junior High School., though he initially had a desire to play the trumpet, with Valdepeñas commenting, "By the time they got to the V's, they were out of trumpets. So I got clarinet instead". Valdepeñas continued to play the clarinet while attending Anaheim High School Although Valdepeñas did not own a clarinet and borrowed one from the high school, he showed talent and each year would move further into the forefront of the school's band.

After graduating from high school in 1973, he began to take private clarinet lessons for a brief period of time. He then enrolled at California State-Fullerton, where he continued studying the clarinet in the school's music program. It was here that he met Kalman Bloch, who became Valdepeñas' mentor and urged him to apply to the music program at Yale University. Valdepeñas graduated from Cal State-Fullerton in 1978 with a Bachelor of Music Performance. He went on to earn a Master's Degree from Yale University, where he studied with Keith Wilson and studied conducting with Otto-Werner Mueller. He was also the assistant conductor of the Yale Contemporary Ensemble.

Valdepeñas spent the next three years studying clarinet and conducting at the Aspen Music Festival and School, where he worked with clarinetists Richard Waller and conductor Murry Sidlin.

Music career

During the second year of his studies at Yale, Valdepeñas auditioned for a position on the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. In 1980, Valdepeñas won the position of principal clarinet at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, a position he held until 2022, when he retired from the orchestra.

In addition to his position at the Toronto Symphony, Valdepeñas served as the woodwind coach and conductor for the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra from 1986 to 1998 and conducted several times for the Toronto Symphony. Valdepeñas is also the co-founder of the Amici Chamber Ensemble, a Canadian chamber music ensemble which was founded in 1988. Valdepeñas remains as a faculty and resident conductor for the Glenn Gould School in Toronto; he also continues to be an artist-faculty member at the Aspen Music Festival and School, having served there since 1984. Valdepeñas has performed alongside distinguished artists that include Yo Yo Ma, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Joshua Bell, Gil Shaham, and Pinchas Zuckerman. He also worked with Glenn Gould on the historic recording of Wagner's Siegfried Idyll. A passionate chamber musician, over the course of his career, he has collaborated with a range of string quartets from around the world and has performed with other symphonies, including the Buffalo Philharmonic and the BBC Welsh Symphony, performing both as a soloist. Valdepeñas has recorded frequently, including the Mozard Clarinet Concerto with the English Chamber Orchestra, as well as with the ARC Ensemble and Amici Chamber Ensemble. During his career, he has taught many clarinetists who would go on to hold positions in orchestras around the world, including Afendi Yusuf, principal clarinetist of the Cleveland Orchestra.(https://www.cleveland.com/musicdance/2017/08/cleveland_orchestra_announces_30.ht ml) Valdepeñas is the recipient of two Juno Awards (https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/home-and-garden/decor/why-this-is-a-juno-award-winning-mu sicians-favourite-room/article15613343/, [1]). He has also received three Grammy nominations (https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/musical-moment-listen-to-the-tso-s-principal-clarinetis t -perform-the-first-movement-from-stravinsky/article_1ffd2e9f-6b3a-526b-abeb-6e97a9399b48.html, [2]). In 2019, his musical career was recognized at the Vision & Visionaries awards held by California State-Fullerton. (https://news.fullerton.edu/2019/03/vision-visionaries-honors-outstanding/)

Discography

• Music in Exile Vol. 1: Chamber Music by Paul Ben-Haim, Chandos, CHAN10769 (2013) On the Threshold of Hope - Chamber Music by Mieczyslaw Weinberg (2006) Berio: Sequenzas I-XIV for Solo Instruments, Sequenza IXa for clarinet (2006)
• Crumb: Vox Balaenae, Federico's Little Songs for Children, 11 Echoes of Autumn, American Classics (2006)
• Musique de Chambre Francaise (2004)
• Right Through the Bone: Chamber Music of Julius Röntgen (2007) Chan: Majestic Flair, Sound of Sound (2000)
• Schubert: Lieder (2000)
• Ravel: Melodies (2008)
• In Brahms' Apartment (1998)
• Hetu: Concertos (2000)
• Walter Kaufmann - Chandos, ARC ensemble (2020)
• D'Indy - Bruch: Clarinet Trios (2005)
• Spohr: 6 German Songs, Op. 103 - Fruhling: Trio, Op. 40 (2000) Amici - Amici Chamber Ensemble (1995)
• Contrasts - Amici Chamber Ensemble (1997)
• Szymon Laks, Chandos, ARC Ensemble (2017)
• Jerry Fitelberg - Chandos, ARC Ensemble (2015)
• Aria Fresca, Quartetto Gelato (1998)
• Beethoven: Trio, Op. 38 & Quintet, Op. 16 (1995)
• Presenting... Joaquin Valdepeñas, Clarinet, Musica Viva (1987) The Glenn Gould Edition, Sony Classical, SMK52650 (1994)
• Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time (1995)
• Chan: Majestic Flair (2000)
• MESSIAEN, O: Quartet for the End of Time, Theme and Variations, 8.554824 (2001)
• Schumann: Fairies (2000)
• Oskar Morawetz: Vocal Works (2012) Chemins de L'Amore (Les) (2000)

References

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Categories:

• Living people
• Clarinetists