The ICA extends its thanks to Luca Saracca, who served as International Vice President from September 1, 2024 to July 10, 2025.
The ICA Board of Directors announces a special election for the position of International Vice President. As defined by the ICA Bylaws, “in the event of Officer resignation, nominations and elections will be held at an emergency meeting of the Board of Directors to fill the office position that has become open.” This meeting took place on July 10, 2025, and the two candidates for International Vice President put forward by the Board of Directors for a vote by the membership are highlighted below. Please refer to their biographical information and personal statements.
Voting is anonymous and instructions for voting will be distributed by eblast on September 1, 2025. Voting will be open to ICA members in good standing for a period of two weeks and will close at 11:59 PST on Saturday, September 15, 2025. Once tallied, the election results will be announced to the membership by eblast.
INTERNATIONAL VICE PRESIDENT
BARBARA BOROWICZ
Barbara Borowicz (Poland) is an international artist and clarinet professor at the Krzysztof Penderecki Music Academy in Krakow. She studied at Accademia Nazionale di Santa Ceclia in Rome with Alessandro Carbonare and at the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna. As a soloist she made her debut with the Opole Philharmonic Orchestra (Poland) and since then she has been regularly performing around the world. She is a laureate of numerous solo and chamber music international competitions. She is well-known from her interpretation of Harlekin by Karlheinz Stockhausen, on which she worked with Suzanne Stephens. Borowicz has a special place in her solo repertoire for Polish music, both contemporary, including compositions written for her, and forgotten literature—she is contributing to the revival of overlooked Polish musical heritage. Among her important recordings is the album Witold Friemann: Works for Clarinet and Piano (DUX1529). She provides master classes worldwide and has been invited as a jury member of numerous international competitions. Borowicz is an artist for Henri Selmer Paris, Vandoren, and Silverstein Works.
STATEMENT
I am very honored to be nominated for International Vice President of the ICA. I currently serve as a country chair of Poland. Recently I had the pleasure to be a jury member of the ICA Young Artist Competition and Research Competition, and I am an active writer of articles for The Clarinet. Since I became a member of ICA, I have observed its growth in membership from different countries and lot of new initiatives enriching our clarinet world. I believe in encouraging cross-cultural exchange, and fostering connections among clarinetists worldwide to ensure the ICA reflects and serves our truly global community. My experience in organizing events (annual competitions, courses, conferences, festivals, including the European Clarinet Congress in Krakow in 2022), coaching approach skills, and being open to working with others, position me to contribute meaningfully to the ICA’s vision. If elected, I will work hard to build strong partnerships, share ideas, and help make the ICA a welcoming and useful place for clarinet players, enthusiasts, and music industry partners everywhere.
LARA DÍAZ
Lara Díaz (Spain) is a clarinet and bass clarinet soloist and teacher. A sought-after performer, educator, and adjudicator, she is a prominent figure on the global clarinet stage, frequently performing, teaching, and serving as a jury member for prestigious competitions. Her performances span major festivals worldwide. Díaz performs both as a soloist and in distinguished chamber ensembles such as Trio Contrastes and Formica’s Age Duo. A passionate advocate for contemporary music, Diaz works with and inspires composers to create works for her and her ensembles. She has led the “Antonio Romero” master classes since 2003. She also serves the International Clarinet Association as the country chair for Spain and on the DEIA committee. Díaz is widely recognized for her contributions to bass clarinet repertoire with her transcriptions. She holds a Ph.D. in Spanish and Latin American literature (University of Salamanca). She was honored with the Salamanca Woman Award in the Culture category (2021).
STATEMENT
I am highly honored to have been proposed as a candidate for International Vice President of the ICA. I currently serve our organization as the National Chair of Spain (since 2019), and as a member of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access committee. I have also enjoyed serving on several ICA Young Artist and High School Competition juries and have performed at many of our ClarinetFest® conferences. In recent years, our association has made great advances to achieve the internationalization of the ICA. Aligned with this vision, I have worked on successfully completing the partnership between ICA and ADEC and AVAL from my current position as the Spanish national chair. We, the members, the partner organizations, and the board, must continue growing and diversifying our membership by following the ICA’s vision of integration and equality. I firmly believe that my traits as a Spanish speaker and as a European citizen will help us to strengthen the connections among all identities in the ICA. My organizational skills and extroverted personality, along with my passion for the ICA, are essential to achieve these goals when serving as the ICA International Vice President. Friendly regards to all ICA members.