BIOGRAPHY
Jerome Simas is Solo Bass Clarinet and Utility Clarinet of the San Francisco Symphony, having been appointed by conductor Michael Tilson Thomas in 2012, and is a member of the Sun Valley Music Festival Orchestra. Also an active chamber musician, he is solo clarinetist with the Bay Area’s Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, collaborates frequently with San Francisco Symphony colleagues in chamber performances at Davies Symphony Hall, and performs chamber music with the Sierra Chamber Society in the East Bay.
Mr. Simas has served as principal clarinetist of the IRIS Orchestra and the California, Oakland, Modesto, and Monterey Symphonies. His engagements with other American orchestras include the San Francisco Opera (as acting Principal Clarinet), San Francisco Ballet, Chautauqua Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, and Naples Philharmonic of Florida. With the San Francisco Symphony, he has performed under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Herbert Blomstedt, Jaap van Zweden, Kurt Masur, Manfred Honeck, Alasdair Neale, and composer John Adams, among others. Mr. Simas’s awards and honors include a fellowship at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida, the Grand Prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, First Prize at the Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competition, and First Prize at the International Clarinet Association’s Young Artist Competition. He has participated in the Marlboro Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, and at the Tanglewood Music Center.
Jerome Simas is featured in Rhapsody in Blue and Ebony Concerto on the New World Symphony’s recording New World Jazz (with conductor and soloist Michael Tilson Thomas, RCA Victor Red Seal). He received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied under Cleveland Orchestra Principal Clarinet Franklin Cohen. Previous teachers include clarinet studies with William E. Powell and Jay Allen.
ENSEMBLES
AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS
Fellow, New World Symphony
Grand Prize, Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition
First Prize, International Clarinet Society Young Artist Competition
Cleveland Institute of Music Alumni Achievement Award
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 - Student of William E. Powell