Grammy-nominated composer and clarinetist Derek Bermel, was recently appointed Artistic Director of the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.  Also Director of Copland House’s Cultivate and Composer-in-Residence at Mannes College, he was 2009-13 Artist-in-Residence at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study.

Clarinet soloist appearances have included his own critically acclaimed concerto Voices, revisited with orchestras including the American Composers Orchestra, Carnegie Hall; BBC Symphony; Los Angeles Philharmonic, and at the Beijing Modern Music Festival.  Founding clarinetist of the Music from Copland House ensemble, Bermel’s chamber music performances have taken him to concert halls across the globe, and wide-ranging collaborations include those with Wynton Marsalis, Paquito D’Rivera, Philip Glass, Sir James Galway, Gustavo Dudamel, Luciana Souza, Mos Def, and Stephen Sondheim.

Commissioners include the Pittsburgh, National, Saint Louis, New Jersey and Pacific Symphonies, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, eighth blackbird, the Guarneri and JACK String Quartets, violinist Midori, ASKO/Schoenberg Ensemble and Veenfabriek (Netherlands), among others.

He studied composition with Louis Andriessen, William Albright, Henri Dutilleux, and William Bolcom, clarinet with Ben Armato and Keith Wilson, and ethnomusicology with many world folk music masters.   His many honors include the Alpert Award in the Arts, Rome Prize, Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships, the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Academy Award, and residencies at Yaddo, Tanglewood, Aspen, Banff, Bellagio, Copland House, Sacatar, and Civitella Ranieri.

More information can be found at his website: www.derekbermel.com