clarinetist + composer + poet
clarinet
I’m a clarinetist based in San Francisco. I work across classical and contemporary repertoire, with close attention to the audience’s experience through creative clarity.
I have performed with ensembles like the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and many more.
Currently, I am a clarinetist with the Magari Ensemble, collaborating with artists in projects that cross disciplines and rethink the concert experience. Chamber music and new music have deeply shaped how I listen: to other players, to the room, and to the piece in time.
My approach is grounded in a physical, practical relationship with the clarinet. I aim for sound that is warm but direct. Structural coherence, vulnerability, and spontaneity can all be manifested through exact movement.
“His tone production was rich, his musical diction effortless.”
FRANK KOWALSKY, clarinetist
composition
I compose music inspired by poetic Romantic repertoire, particularly Schumann and Brahms.
The common thread in my music is rapid genre interplay. The second movement of Symphony No. 3 in D major is a traditional, humorous scherzo, while the atonal third movement evokes sustained violence and desolation seen in 20th-century music.
Texture tells the story, whether its for chamber ensemble, orchestra, or interdisciplinary projects. Each piece is a space to explore relationships: between instruments, between people, between now and then.
“[Cameron] demonstrates a great individuality when going musically beyond”
LAWRENCE DAHER, conductor
“The music [he writes] is simple, but not plain… progressive but sentimental”
DON DRABNER, composer
+
poetry
I am grateful to Trestle Creek Review for publishing my poetry and hosting readings.
My two notable collections Lies I Believed and Re are both are available interactively in the poetry tab.
This poetry deals with themes of inheritance, internal grief, and child-like joy. By using space, these entities are laid bare. The poems are deeply influenced by the great naturist Romantic poets, like Wordsworth and Keats.
about
performed with…
San Francisco Symphony
San Francisco Ballet
San Francisco Chamber Orchestra
San Francisco Philharmonic
Bangkok World Orchestra
Spokane Symphony
Seattle Wind Symphony
Magari Ensemble
Marin Oratorio
Wenatchee Valley Symphony Orchestra
(and others)
Artists include Michael Tilson Thomas, Demarre McGill, Garrick Ohlsson, Awadagin Pratt, Lara Downes, and many more.
awards from…
MusicFest Northwest Young Artist Contest – First Place
Jefferson Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Contest – Finalist
Columbia Basin Outstanding Clarinetist Award – Winner
CW Concerto Contest – Winner
MFNW Chamber Division – Second Place
educated by…
San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Professional Studies Certificate in Bass Clarinet
San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Master of Music
Central Washington University, Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance
Former teachers include Carey Bell, Jerome Simas, Jeff Anderle, Joseph Brooks, Yann Ghiro.
how + why
Saying “yes, and…” reminds us that there is only one canon. Of course Haydn, of course Homer, and, of course, whatever you make too. I want to be a part creative acts attentive to texture of the moment, as well as those which celebrate the wisdom of the past.
Embracing the relationship between the past and present deepens our understanding of ourselves. Dedicating to both with passion and precise practice is the civic duty of all performing artists.
