Javier Vinasco

Colombian clarinetist Javier Vinasco has made Latin American music central to his work as a performer, recording artist, and educator. He has recorded more than 170 works by over 80 Latin American composers and appeared as a soloist with orchestras across the region on more than 60 occasions. He has commissioned and premiered new works for clarinet, and his performances include appearances at ICA ClarinetFest in South Korea, Japan, Canada, and the United States. In 2008, he was nominated for a Latin Grammy in the Best Tango Album category.

Vinasco is Associate Professor of Music at the University of Northern Colorado, where he teaches clarinet and directs the Latinx Music program. He also serves as Associate Director of Hispanic-Serving Institution Initiatives. Previously, he taught at Universidad EAFIT in Medellín, where he chaired the Music Department and coordinated the Master of Music program, as well as at the University of Colima in Mexico and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and Universidad de los Andes in Colombia. He has given masterclasses at Indiana University, the University of Maryland, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and the National Autonomous University of Mexico, among other institutions.

He founded ClariSax, an international clarinet and saxophone festival in Medellín, and Clarinete Mestizo, a platform dedicated to Latin American clarinet music. Vinasco holds a doctorate in music from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, which awarded him the Alfonso Caso Medal. He is a Yamaha, Wurlitzer, and Légère artist and has previously been an artist for Buffet Crampon, Vandoren, and D’Addario.

A longtime ICA member, Vinasco has served as National Chairperson for Colombia since 2010.