Arranger and multi-reed musician from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, who started out on the clarinet, flute and saxophone, and was playing professionally at thirteen years of age. He attended the Eastman School of Music and the Paris Conservatory and studied clarinet with Guy Deplus, Peter Hadcock, Stanley Hasty, and William Osseck.
In 1984, he became a member of the Boston Pops and Boston Symphony Orchestra. Other groups with whom he has worked include the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the Concord Chamber Players, the Hawthorne String Quartet, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Walden Chamber Players.
He was a featured soloist of the Boston Pops in 1997 when he performed the Clarinet Concerto of Artie Shaw on PBS’s Evening at Pops.
In 1998, he gave the east-coast premiere of Clarinet Concerto by Elliott Carter at Tanglewood and reprised it during the Carter Centenary Celebration in 2008. He and Lucy Shelton delivered the world premiere of Carter’s “Poems of Louis Zukofsky” at Tanglewood in 2009.
On 28th May 2010, he premiered Sir Andre Previn’s Clarinet Sonata at the Prague Spring Music Festival, with the composer at the keys. He was the guest soloist of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in June 2010 when they performed Aaron Copland’s Clarinet Concerto at Smetana Hall.
On 15th August 2010, he was one of the featured soloists of the BSO at Tanglewood where they offered up Leonard Bernstein’s Prelude, Fugue and Riffs for Clarinet and Jazz Ensemble.
He was back at Ozawa Hall on 26th August 2011 when members of the BSO interpreted his arrangement of George Gershwin’s Three Preludes for Clarinet, Harp and String Trio.
On 14th November 2011, he teamed up with the Hawthorne String Quartet for the world premiere of Previn’s Clarinet Quintet at Symphony Hall.
Recordings on which he appears include: America, Chris Botti in Boston, Holiday Pops, My Favorite Things: A Richard Rodgers Celebration and A Splash of Pops with the Boston Pops; Chris Brubeck: Danza del Soul/Michael Gandolfi: Line Drawings/Lukas Foss: Central Park Reel; Clarinet Day 2007; Keisuke Wakao Plays Mozart/Bach/Britten/Prokofiev; Martinu: Chamber Music With Flute; Le Monde du Serpent with Douglas Yeo; and, Reinecke: From the Cradle to the Grave.
In the field of music education, he has served on the faculties of the Boston University School for the Arts, the New England Conservatory of Music, and the Tanglewood Music Center.
He performs clarinet here…
Sources:
- http://necmusic.edu/faculty/thomas-martin?lid=2&sid=3
- http://iwwf.org/martin.htm
- http://www.yeodoug.com/publications/le_monde_du_serpent/le_monde_du_serpent.html
- http://www.worldcat.org/title/clarinet-day-2007/oclc/233841116
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KALIS3E2ZjY
- http://www.andre-previn.com/e_news_on_stage_10.html
- http://gonewengland.about.com/library/bltanglewood2010.htm
- http://www.cduniverse.com/classical.asp?performer=Thomas+Martin+[Clarinet]
- http://berkshireonstage.com/2011/08/14/porgy-and-bess-beethovens-ninth-jazz-and-food-festivals-cap-bso-tanglewood-2011-season/
- http://articles.boston.com/2011-11-13/ae/30394872_1_classical-music-chiara-string-quartet-20th-anniversary
- http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/thomas-martin/2901336
- http://www.waldenchamberplayers.org/Images/WCP_201112_web.pdf