BIOGRAPHY
Described by the Saint Louis Beacon as an artist “with grace, authority, and seamless virtuosity”, American clarinetist Andrew George has found a home in Atlantic Canada’s music scene since 2013. Performing in many various roles like Principal Clarinet in Symphony New Brunswick, woodwind doubler in musical theatre and jazz band pits, and as a member of the Tutta Musica Orchestra and the Saint Mary’s Community Band, Andrew is happily exploring the limitless facets of New Brunswick’s lively music world. In 2020, he was selected as the winner of the NextGen Performing Artist Award and will be playing Weber’s Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in f minor with the Saint Andrews Festival Orchestra at the 34th Gala Festival Concert under Hok Kwan. He has also been chosen to play a concerto with Symphony New Brunswick during their 2020-2021 season and will be performing the Canadian premiere of Martin Kutnowski’s “En la mar hay una torre”.
In addition to onstage as an orchestral musician, Andrew can be found performing around the province in his chamber ensemble of clarinet and strings, Port City 5. With a commitment to creating a multisensory concert experience mixing all types of music genres and audiences, they are equally as comfortable putting on an exciting show in a crowded bar as they are centre stage in a concert hall. In the past year alone, they have presented, amongst many others, a mashup of Brahms and Radiohead, a newly-arranged full transcription of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, and a Prohibition Era speakeasy concert featuring arrangements and original cocktail pairings all designed by Andrew.
On top of performing, Andrew is also an avid teacher and coach and has been the resident Clarinet Teaching Artist for Sistema New Brunswick’s Saint John Centre since his arrival in 2013. Over the years, he has worked closely with the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra and the Saint John Youth Orchestra in the roles of clarinet sectional coach, woodwind coach, orchestra librarian, and arranger, having all levels of the youth orchestra programs performing his arrangements each season. As a private instructor, students in his studio have been very successful, being named Provincial Champions by the New Brunswick Competitive Festival of Music, winning opportunities to play solo concertos with orchestra, and continuing on to pursue music performance in university.
Andrew began his music education at a young age on the violin but was quickly taken by the clarinet and started his formal training under Saint Louis Symphony clarinetists James Meyer and Scott Andrews. He then continued his studies in Canada, receiving a Bachelor of Music Performance with Distinction from McGill University and an Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory, studying with principal clarinetists Robert Crowley and Joaquin Valdepeñas, respectively. Since then, Andrew has had the opportunity to perform as an orchestral musician throughout the United States, Canada, and South Korea, as well as develop his own clarinet pedagogy aimed at very young elementary school musicians. Recently, he has also completed a Bachelor of Education in Music Education at Memorial University, where he was chosen to be the inaugural recipient of the Dean's Leadership Award in Education.
When he’s not teaching or practicing, Andrew can probably be found locked away in his basement somewhere in between brewing up his latest batch of experimental beer, testing out new tin whistle ornament patterns, and analyzing his powerlifting technique.