About

David Angelo is a Boston-based clarinetist, improviser, and teacher interested in presenting the music of our time to the largest possible audience.  He considers “music of our time” not only works written in the immediate past, but also those written in the distant past that, when contextualized, still have enormous relevance today.

In his effort to encourage and be a part of the growth of new music, David has taken part in the premieres of over 90 pieces by composers of a variety of aesthetics, nationalities, sexual orientations, and gender identities.  He has commissioned new chamber and solo pieces, and has engaged in community outreach geared at presenting these new works to audiences less accustomed to hearing them.

David has performed with members of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), and Fifth House Ensemble, and has played in Sound Icon, the New England Philharmonic, the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Guerilla Opera, Berklee’s Society of Composers Ensemble, and Eureka Ensemble.  In 2018 David toured with Ambient Orchestra, performing an arrangement of David Bowie’s last album Blackstar for solo cello and ensemble.  Additionally, he has been a guest performer of Harvard University’s Music Department, and the University of Hartford’s Community Division.  He has played on MIT’s 88.1 WMBR as a soloist and chamber musician several times. He can also be heard on 90.9 WBUR Boston’s sounders. He has worked with various visiting artists at the Boston Conservatory, including Louis Andriessen, Claire Chase, Tony Arnold, Eric Mandat, and Nico Muhly.

In the summer of 2014, David traveled to Italy as a participant in the Master d’Arezzo festival, playing in a production of La Bohème.  In 2015, he returned to Italy to participate in the Cortona Sessions for New Music where he was named first prize winner of the Cortona Sessions Contemporary Performance Competition.  In the summer of 2016, David attended the fresh inc. new music festival, where he had the opportunity to perform a solo at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Additionally in the summer of 2016, David attended Composer’s Conference at Wellesley College, as part of the newly formed Contemporary Performance Institute.  There, under the direction of Fred Sherry, he performed many landmark 20th century chamber works. In the summer of 2017, David attended the Lift Clarinet Academy and the Toronto Creative Music Lab, in addition to returning to the Cortona Sessions, and the Contemporary Performance Institute. In February of 2018, David premiered “Bass Cathedral,” a concerto for clarinet and wind ensemble by Sid Richardson.  In the summer of 2018, he attended the Summer Institute of Contemporary Performance Practice held at New England Conservatory.

Interested in improvisation as a medium to generate new music and performance, David is a founding member of the Southpaw Trio, a group primarily interested in improvisation. He has also collaborated with several dancers in the Boston area, in an effort to create multi/non-disciplinary works.

David recently completed a Master’s Degree in Contemporary Classical Music Performance at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, studying with Michael Norsworthy.  He has previously studied with Jonathan Cohler, Richard Nunemaker, and Andre Dyachenko.