Alan R. Kay

Alan R. Kay is co-Principal Clarinetist and a former Artistic Director of Orpheus Chamber Orchestra as well as Principal Clarinet of New York’s Riverside Symphony and the Little Orchestra Society.  He also appears as Principal with the American Symphony and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s.  Mr. Kay’s honors include the C.D. Jackson Award at Tanglewood, a Presidential Scholars Teacher Recognition Award, Juilliard’s 1980 Competition, and the 1989 Young Concert Artists Award with the sextet Hexagon later featured in the prizewinning documentary film, “Debut.”  Mr. Kay is a founding member of Windscape and Hexagon; he appears regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.  His summer festivals include the Yellow Barn and Skaneateles Festivals, and his innovative programming for the New York Chamber Ensemble is a feature of the Cape May Music Festival.  A virtuoso of wind repertoire, Mr. Kay has recorded with Hexagon, Windscape, the Sylvan Winds, Orpheus and numerous other ensembles. His arrangements for wind quintet are available from Trevco Music Publishing and International Opus.  Also a conductor, Mr. Kay studied conducting at The Juilliard School with Otto-Werner Mueller and has conducted orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout the New York City area.  In the past season, he was invited to conduct the Nassau Music Educators Association All-County Orchestra in Long Island and the New York Concerto Sinfonietta in Manhattan.  Mr. Kay taught at the Summer Music Academy in Leipzig, Germany in 2004 and currently teaches at the Manhattan School of Music, Juilliard and Stony Brook University.  He has served on the juries of the International Chamber Music Festival in Trapani, Italy, Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.