Among the most distinguished classical artists of his generation, clarinetist JON MANASSE is internationally recognized for his inspiring artistry, uniquely glorious sound and charismatic performing style.
Jon Manasse’s current season is highlighted by continued touring with pianist Jon Nakamatsu, giving performances throughout the United States as the acclaimed Manasse/ Nakamatsu Duo. He appears as guest soloist with the Manassas Symphony Orchestra and, with Trio Solisti, collaborates on the world premiere of Kevin Puts’ Living Frescoes, presented by California’s Chamber Music Monterey Bay.
Jon Manasse's solo appearances include New York City performances at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts' Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall, Hunter College's Sylvia & Danny Kaye Playhouse, Columbia University, Rockefeller University and The Town Hall, debuts in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Osaka and concerto performances with Gerard Schwarz and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, both at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall and at the prestigious Tokyu Bunkamura Festival in Tokyo. With orchestra, he has been guest soloist with the Augsburg, Dayton, Erie, Evansville, Naples and National philharmonics, South Korea’s Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, Canada’s Symphony Nova Scotia, the National Chamber Orchestra and the Alabama, Annapolis, Baltimore, Bartlesville, Bozeman, Dubuque, Florida West Coast, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Jackson, Missoula, Oakland East Bay, Pensacola, Princeton, Richmond, Roanoke, Rogue Valley, Seattle, Stamford, Silicon Valley and Wyoming symphonies, under the batons of, among others, Peter Bay, Leslie B. Dunner, Peter Leonard, Daniel Meyer, Michael Morgan, Eckart Preu, Glenn Quader, Matthew Savery and Lawrence Leighton Smith. Of special distinction was Mr. Manasse’s 2002 London debut in a Barbican Centre performance of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with Gerard Schwarz and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.
During the 2009-2010 season, Jon Manasse gave the world premiere performances of a major new work commissioned for him - Lowell Liebermann’s Concerto for Clarinet & Orchestra. Music Director Neal Gittleman led the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra in concerts that were recorded for commercial CD release. Subsequent performances included those with the symphony orchestras of Chappaqua, Evansville, Juneau, Las Cruces, North State (CA), Roanoke and the University of Massachusetts.
An avid chamber musician, Jon Manasse has been featured in New York City programs with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Walter Reade Theatre (on Lincoln Center's "Great Performers Series"), The Sylvia & Danny Kaye Playhouse and Merkin Concert Hall; at the Aspen Music Festival, Caramoor International Music Festival, Colorado Springs Music Festival, Newport Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival and France’s Festival International des Arts, as well as the chamber music festivals of Bridgehampton, Cape and Islands, Crested Butte, Georgetown, St. Bart’s, Seattle and Tucson. He has also been the guest soloist with many of the leading chamber ensembles of the day, including The Amadeus Trio, Germany’s Trio Parnassus and Trio Solisti, as well as the American, Borromeo, Colorado, Lark, Manhattan, Moscow, Orion, Rossetti, Shanghai, Tokyo and Ying string quartets.
Jon Manasse is also principal clarinetist of the American Ballet Theater Orchestra and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra. In 2008 he was also appointed principal clarinetist and Ensemble Member of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in New York City. As one of the nation's most highly sought-after wind players, has also served as guest principal clarinetist of the New York Pops Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and New Jersey, Saint Louis and Seattle Symphony Orchestras, under the batons of Gerard Schwarz, Zdenek Macal, Jerzy Semkow, Robert Craft and Hugh Wolff. For several seasons, he was also the principal clarinetist of the New York Chamber Symphony. Mr. Manasse has been a guest clarinetist with the New York Philharmonic in concerts conducted by Valery Gergiev and André Previn, and, during the 2003-2004 season, served as the principal clarinetist of The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, performing under the batons of Artistic Director James Levine and, among others, Andrew Davis, Valery Gergiev and Vladimir Jurowski.
Jon Manasse has six critically acclaimed CDs on the XLNT label; although now out-of-print, they continue to be sought after by clarinetists and collectors alike. Currently available is his recording of Lowell Liebermann’s Quintet for Clarinet, Piano and String Trioon KOCH International. His first pair of CDs with pianist Jon Nakamatsu, harmonia mundi releases of the Brahms Clarinet Sonatas (cited as “Best of the Year” byThe New York Times) and an all-American album, were released to international rave reviews. Concerti by Mozart and Spohr with Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony (2010) and Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet with the Tokyo String Quartet (2012), were also released on harmonia mundi.
Jon Manasse is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he studied with David Weber. He was a top prize winner in the Thirty-Sixth International Competition for Clarinet in Munich and the youngest winner of the International Clarinet Society Competition. Currently, he is an official "Performing Artist" of both the Buffet Crampon Company and Vandoren, the Parisian firms that are the world's oldest and most distinguished clarinet maker and reed maker, respectively. Since 1995, he has been Associate Professor of Clarinet at the Eastman School of Music; in 2007 Mr. Manasse joined the faculty of his alma mater, The Juilliard School, as well as that of Florida’s Lynn University Conservatory of Music.
Jon Manasse and his Duo partner, the acclaimed pianist Jon Nakamatsu, serve as Artistic Directors of the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, an appointment announced during summer 2006.