Described as “…crisp and imaginative…” by the San Francisco Classical Voice, California-based percussionist/educator Christopher Clarino enjoys fostering collaborative relationships between composer and performer. He received degrees from the University of California San Diego (DMA), Stony Brook University (MM) and the Eastman School of Music (BM), studying under Professors Steven Schick, Eduardo Leandro, John Beck and Michael Burritt.

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His doctoral dissertation, “At the Intersection of American Sign Language and the Performer-Percussionist: A Hybrid Practice,” chronicles both the roles of gesture and language in the percussion repertoire, addresses abstraction, gestural iconicity, corporeality and cultural ownership, and documents his efforts at merging ASL and percussion into a new and idiosyncratic genre of interdisciplinary performance art.

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As a percussionist, Dr. Clarino has been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall, Harvard University, Georgetown University, SUNY New Paltz, The San Diego Museum of Art, and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. He has been featured as soloist with the Eastman Wind Ensemble, the USMA Concert Band at West Point, the La Jolla Symphony Chorus, the Fredonia Wind Ensemble and the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra, and has also performed with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Bang On A Can, the Ojai Music Festival, the LA Philharmonic’s annual “Noon to Midnight” marathon concert, the Festival Internacional Cervantino, and Monday Evening Concerts.

 

Dr. Clarino is the owner and instructor of Clarino Music Lessons and currently teaches at Southwestern College and Cuyamaca College. He is featured on albums from New World Records, Neuma Records and Sideband Records.