Benjamin Baron

Biography

The New York Times praised Clarinetist Benjamin Baron’s performance with the Locrian Chamber Players for “having evoked sounds of nature” and recommended that audiences “listen for the lone clarinet” in the Encores production of The Light in the Piazza. His solo recording for Naxos and Chamber Orchestra of New York was lauded by American Record Guide for “clean, incisive clarinet playing”, while The New York Sun described his Messiaen Quatuor pour la fin du temps as “played with reverence.”

Baron has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and made his Carnegie Hall solo debut playing Copland’s Clarinet Concerto to a sold-out audience in Weill Hall. He has been guest principal clarinet with the American Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, New York City Opera Orchestra, Westchester Philharmonic, and Orchestra Lumos. Additional highlights include performances with New York City Ballet Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, American Composer’s Orchestra, New York Pops, American Ballet Theater Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, and Brussels Philharmonic. Baron has toured Europe with the London Winds and throughout Japan playing the concertos of Mozart and Weber, including at Suntory Hall in Tokyo. He has performed on nearly a dozen Broadway productions, most notably serving as principal clarinet for the revival of Leonard Bernstein’s On the Town and the critically acclaimed cast album.

Baron has written two books for GIA Publications, The Audition Method for Clarinet, Volumes 1 and 2. According to The Clarinet Journal, these books “offer a systematic approach to the standard repertoire and to the audition process itself”, “collect, demystify, and put onto the printed page many of the concepts and tricks of the trade”, and concludes that “they are a lasting contribution to our literature…destined to appear on every clarinet student’s stand.” Their success has led to an expansion into a series for more orchestral instruments, with the release of The Audition Method for Violin with David Kim, along with versions for flute, bassoon, and trombone expected in the coming year.

Currently the Woodwind Department Coordinator at Montclair State University, Baron previously taught as Adjunct Associate Professor at CUNY – Lehman College. He has been a guest at many schools, often facilitated through his artist relationships with Buffet Crampon Clarinets and D’Addario Reeds. He earned his doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music, receiving additional degrees from Yale University, Arizona State University, and the Royal Conservatory of Belgium which was funded through a fellowship from the Belgian – American Educational Foundation. 

More information can be found at www.benjaminbaron.com.