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BIOGRAPHY

I’m a clarinetist and educator based in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a career that spans orchestral performance, chamber music, solo recitals, and teaching. Since 2012, I’ve served as Solo Bass Clarinetist and Utility Clarinetist with the San Francisco Symphony. Previously, I held principal clarinet positions with the Oakland, California, Modesto, and Monterey symphonies. I’ve also performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Ballet, Skywalker Ranch motion picture orchestras, Chautauqua Symphony, and the Sun Valley Music Festival.

Bio
As a chamber musician, I’m a member of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble and regularly perform with the Sierra Chamber Society and in the San Francisco Symphony’s chamber music series.

My honors include the Grand Prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, First Prize at the Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competition, and First Prize in the International Clarinet Association’s Young Artist Competition. I’ve appeared at festivals and programs such as the Marlboro Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Center, and the National Repertory Orchestra. A highlight of my early career was recording Rhapsody in Blue and EbonyConcerto as a fellow with the New World Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas. That recording was released on RCA Victor Red Seal’s New World Jazz.

I earned both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where I studied with Franklin Cohen, principal clarinetist of the Cleveland Orchestra.
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Ensembles

CONSERVATORY &
UNIVERSITY TEACHING

San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Professor of Clarinet and Woodwind Chamber Music

 

The University of Oregon School of Music and Dance
Assistant Professor of Clarinet

 

Stanford University
Lecturer, Clarinet 

UC Davis

Lecturer, Clarinet

EDUCATION

Degrees: BM and MM, the Cleveland Institute of Music - student of Franklin Cohen 

 

Undergraduate Studies: CSU Long Beach and University of Nevada Las Vegas

© 2025  JEROME SIMAS   |   Site by DIG510

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