JEROME SIMAS
Clarinet | Bass Clarinet | Teacher
"A TRULY BRILLIANT PERFORMANCE"
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Clarinetist Jerry Simas’s dynamic and varied career as a performer and music educator sees him equally at home in solo, chamber, orchestral, and classroom settings. He has served as the San Francisco Symphony’s Solo Bass Clarinet and Utility Clarinet since 2012, having been appointed to the position by Michael Tilson Thomas.
PERFORMANCE
In addition to the San Francisco Symphony’s full season concerts, Jerry performs chamber recitals with SFS colleagues at Davies Symphony Hall and with the Sierra Chamber Society. He is solo clarinetist of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble and is a frequent soloist in recitals and concerto settings in the Bay Area and beyond. His honors include Grand Prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, First Prize at the International Clarinet Association’s Young Artist Competition, and featured performances at summer music festivals.
TEACHING
Professor of Clarinet and Woodwind Chamber Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Jerry is also a coach with the renowned San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and mentors community and youth ensembles throughout the greater Bay Area. He brings years of onstage experience, technical expertise, and depth of commitment to private lessons, master classes, audition and chamber coaching, and woodwind sectionals.
“SIMAS MASTERFULLY DEMONSTRATED THAT A BASS CLARINET, WHEN PROPERLY PERFORMED, CAN BE JUST AS EXPRESSIVE AS A CELLO."
San Francisco Examiner
