Juan Olivares
Principal Orchestral Clarinetist
Canada
He began his musical career in jazz, folk, and improvised music, and later developed his formal training in classical music. He completed a performance diploma with Joaquin Valdepeñas at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music and a master’s degree in performance with Richie Hawley at Rice University. While in Houston, he was the curator and artistic advisor of New Art/New Music, a multimedia art gallery series and toured to the Dominican Republic as soloist and clinician of the Festival Clarinetissimo.
Most recently, his love for the combination of musical genres in contemporary music led him to a DMA degree at the University of Toronto. As a doctoral candidate, his research articulates the intersection between contemporary classical music and entrepreneurship. He co-directs the Contemporary Music Ensemble at the Faculty of Music, and teaches clarinet pedagogy.