David Griffiths, clarinet
David Griffiths is a member of two of Australia’s leading chamber music ensembles, the Australia Ensemble@UNSW and Ensemble Liaison. He also holds the position of Senior Lecturer in Music (Clarinet) at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, the University of Melbourne. A passionate educator and performer, he has presented masterclasses and workshops in Asia, Europe, United States, the Middle East and Australia.
As a soloist he has appeared with the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, Australia Ensemble@UNSW, Shanghai Radio Orchestra, Macau Orchestra and the Monash Academy Orchestra.
As a member of Ensemble Liaison, he curates and performs an annual three-concert series at the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall at the Melbourne Recital Centre which is currently in its 14th season. He has also performed with the New Zealand, Goldner, Tinalley, Arcacia, Flinders and Australian String Quartets, the New York Wind Soloists, and the Southern Cross Soloists. He has collaborated with many leading artists including Nemanja Radulović, Ray Chen, Anthony Marwood, Henning Kraggerud, Emma Matthews, Cheryl Barker, Peter Coleman-Wright, David Jones, Paul Grabowsky, Tony Gould, and has appeared at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville, Port Fairy Festival, Lucerne Festival and the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan.
An avid supporter of new Australian compositions, he has commissioned and premiered many works by composers such as Paul Stanhope, Ross Edwards, Stuart Greenbaum, Elena Kats-Chernin, Ian Munro, Gordon Kerry, Felicity Wilcox, Mary Finsterer, Paul Grabowsky and Tony Gould.
He has held positions as Associate Principal Clarinet with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Principal Clarinet of the Macau Orchestra and Principal Clarinet of the Shanghai Radio Orchestra. He has appeared as Guest Principal clarinet with all of Australia’s major symphony and opera ballet orchestras along with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. He was also Co-Principal of the 2000 National Repertory Orchestra (US), acting Principal of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Malaysian Philharmonic and has performed with the New World Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the China Philharmonic, the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra.
Some recent highlights include a performance of John Adams’ Gnarly Buttons Clarinet Concerto with the Australia Ensemble@UNSW, a collaboration with accordion virtuoso James Crabb and a performance of Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet and Concerto at the 2017 3MBS Mozart Marathon.
David’s recordings with Ensemble Liaison of Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time for the Melba Recordings label and Trios of Brahms, Beethoven and Bruch for the Tall Poppies label have won high praise from critics around the world.
Originally from Armidale NSW, Australia, he studied at the Canberra School of Music with Alan Vivian before completing his Master of Music from the Manhattan School of Music under the direction of Alan Kay, David Krakauer, Charles Neidich and Ricardo Morales. He is a Backun Clarinet performing artist.