Charles West
Charles West is an orchestral and chamber
clarinetist and soloist, performing solo recitals or concertos throughout
the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia. He appears regularly on
the programs of international gatherings of clarinetists, and he has
recorded repertoire which ranges from the most standard of sonatas to the
most avant-garde, on labels including Klavier, Wilson Audiophile, Centaur,
CRI, Crystal, and he is heard on a 1993 Grammy Award winning Telarc CD.
West holds the Doctorate and three other university degrees, has been a
Fulbright Scholar, and he has served as Treasurer of the International
Clarinet Society. He was instrumental in merging the present-day
International Clarinet Association from two previously separate entities,
and he was elected to the first Presidency of that organization. His
career has included ten years as Principal Clarinet of the El Paso
Symphony Orchestra, twelve as Principal Clarinet of the Flagstaff Festival
Orchestra and one as Principal in the Peruvian National Symphony
Orchestra, and teaching positions in three North American universities,
with guest professorships in South America, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the
People's Republic of China. West has been Conductor of Orchestras at
Virginia Commonwealth University, and has served as conductor or
adjudicator of bands and orchestras throughout the U.S. He is Conductor of
the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra, Director of Orchestral Activities,
Professor of Music and Coordinator of Winds & Percussion at VCU, and
artist-clinician for the Boosey Hawkes-Buffet Crampon Corporation.
Playing Buffet Festival and R-13 clarinets, most of
West's recorded and public performances are on the
Pyne M and Bn mouthpieces, with 66 millimeter
Pyne 1+ barrels and his own handmade reeds
