He is a clarinettist born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, who comes from a family where his five siblings are all distinguished musicians and all studied at the Escuela Libre de Musica. He took further studies at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and earned his Artist Diploma at Indiana University.
He joined the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra as Principal Clarinet when he was 21 years old and in 2003 became Principal Clarinet of The Philadelphia Orchestra. He has performed with the orchestra as a soloist many times, with his debut in 2004, and the orchestra commissioned Jonathan Leshnoff’s Clarinet Concerto for him.
A much sought after orchestral and chamber musician and soloist he is the Principal Clarinet of both the Saito Kinen Festival Orchestra and the Mito Chamber Orchestra after having been invited by the conductor Seiji Ozawa. He has also performed with the Berlin Philharmonic, after an invitation from Sir Simon Rattle, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the Flemish Radio Symphny, the Indianapolis Symphony, New York Philharmonic and the Seoul Philharmonic.
His work as a chamber musician has seen him performing in the MET Chamber Ensemble series and at the Chamber Society Music Society of Lincoln, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. Ensembles he has played with include the Juilliard Quartet, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, the Leipzig Quartet, the Miro Quartet, and the Pacifica Quartet.
He was nominated for a Latin Grammy Award with the Pacifica Quartet and recordings he has performed on include his own French Portraits and he is featured on Archduke Rudolph: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano/Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano, Contrasts – Bartok Violin Works and Beethoven: Symphony No. 5/Mozart: Clarinet Concerto with the Mito Chamber Orchestra. Other recordings include BPO Live in Concert by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, The Brahms Trio Vol. 1 by the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 “Pathetique”/Dumka by The Philadelphia Orchestra, American Chamber Music by the Seattle Chamber Music Society, Arioso by the United States Marine Band, Stravinsky: The Soldier’s Tale by the Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Players, Next by Vanessa Williams and Clarinet Fest 95 by various artists.
In the field of musical education he has been a faculty member of Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance and given numerous master classes. He has also given online clarinet since 2012. lessons.
He performs here…
Sources:
- http://ricardomorales.com/bio/
- https://www.philorch.org/your-philorch/meet-your-orchestra/musicians/ricardo-morales/
- https://clarinet.org/interview-with-ricardo-morales-and-genesio-riboldi/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_Morales
- https://columbussymphony.com/musicians/cso/profile.dT/ricardo-morales
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/3824287-Ricardo-Morales-2
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/3824287-Ricardo-Morales-2?type=Credits&filter_anv=0
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ricardo-morales-mn0002226366/credits
- https://boyer.temple.edu/about/faculty-staff
- https://artistworks.com/clarinet-lessons-ricardo-morales