Sean Osborn's Clarinet Bio


Winner of the 2017-18 American Prize in Instrumental Performance, Clarinettist Sean Osborn has performed on four continents since his recital debut at the age of seventeen at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Appointed over nearly 300 other applicants to a position with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 1989, Mr. Osborn was the youngest clarinetist in the history of the Met. He has also performed as guest Principal Clarinet with the New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Seattle Symphony , and the American Symphony Orchestra. His performances and compositions have been positively reviewed by dozens of organizations, including The New York Times, the The Boston Globe, and Gramophone.

Touring North America, Europe, and Japan, Mr. Osborn has performed live on numerous radio stations, including WNYC, KUOW, and KING radio, as well as being presented in recital on WHYY, WIAA and nationally on NPR's Performance Today to name a few. Sean is a top prize winner in the YoungArts Competition and in 1984 was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts. He is also the only person in history to with the International Clarinet Society's Performance(1986) and Composition(2017) Competitions. He has participated in numerous festivals, such as Marlboro, Seattle Chamber Music, Zagreb Biennale, Pacific Rims, Colorado, and Aspen, as well as recording for Sony Classics, London, Deutsche Grammaphon, CRI, and others.

A frequent chamber musician, Mr. Osborn has collaborated with many world-class musicians, including James Levine, Donald Weilerstein, James Ehnes, Richard O'Neill, Richard Stoltzman, Anne-Marie McDermott, Jeremy Denk, Adam Nieman, Milan Turkovic, members of the Tokyo, Colorado, Calder, Rimsky-Korsakov, Avalon, and St.Lawrance String Quartets, and members of nearly every major world orchestra. Also a new music specialist, Sean has presented premiers of many composers, including John Corigliano, John Harbison, Phillip Glass, John Adams, Michael Daugherty, Chen Yi, Jennifer Higdon, and Chinary Ung.

A student of Stanley Hasty at the Eastman School of Music, Mr. Osborn is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Interlochen Arts Academy where received its highest honor - the Young Artist Certificate, while studying with Dr. Frank Kowalsky. In 1999 he received his Master's Degree from Southern Illinois University, where he studied clarinet with Dr. Eric Mandat and composition with Dr. Frank Stemper. He has also given numerous master classes throughout the world, including those at The Eastman School of Music, Rice University, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, and The Manhattan School of Music. From 2006-2009, Sean taught clarinet and chamber music at the University of Washington.

Mr. Osborn is also an award-winning composer, and has written two Symphonies, a Trumpet Concerto, Oboe Concerto, Trombone Concerto, Wind Serenade, Piano Quartets, Wind Quintets, Reed Trios, Sonata for Eb Clarinet (or Violin) and Piano, and many other works. His pieces have been performed by faculty of the Juilliard School and members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony, Marlboro Music Festival, and the American Saxophone Quartet to name a few.


feanor33@comcast.net

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