Michele zukovsky biography

Michele Zukovsky (née Bloch) is an American clarinetist and longest serving female woodwind player in the history of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, serving from 1961 at the age of 18 until her retirement on December 20, 2015.
She went on to become the orchestra's longest-serving female woodwind player and by the time she retired in December 2015, she had played under five of the.
Michele Zukovsky is an American clarinetist and longest serving female woodwind player in the history of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, serving from 1961 at the age of 18 until her retirement on December 20, 2015.

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When clarinetist Michele Zukovsky auditioned for the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1961, she hadn’t a clue that this decision would set her on a rewarding and unconventional course for her entire career.

At a mere 18 years old, she became the orchestra’s principal clarinetist, prompting her to leave her studies at the University of Southern California ten weeks into her first year. She went on to become the orchestra’s longest-serving female woodwind player and by the time she retired in December 2015, she had played under five of the orchestra’s major directors: Zubin Mehta, Carlo Maria Giulini, André Previn, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Gustavo Dudamel.

Since that time she’s invested her energy in teaching both privately and at institutions, namely Azusa Pacific University, Citrus College, and the Pasadena Conservatory of Music, all the while maintaining a busy schedule with guest masterclasses. The recent pandemic shifted her pedagogical outlets into the virtual realm, yet this has only offered the ever-versatile musician a chance for further expansi

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Michele Zukovsky

Biography

Michele Zukovsky, adjunct professor, winds and percussion, is principal clarinetist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She has appeared frequently at the Hollywood Bowl and the Los Angeles Music Center, and she has been a guest soloist with orchestras throughout the world. She toured with Pinchas Zukerman in Australia and, in June 1991, she gave the world premiere of John Williams’ Clarinet Concerto with the Boston Pops. Ms. Zukovsky performs regularly at the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Chamber Music Society concerts and she has participated in a number of premieres with the New Music Group series. She collaborates with a number of chamber ensembles, most notably the Angeles Quartet. She has appeared at James Levine’s Ravinia Concerts in Alice Tully Hall, Concerts at the Y, at the Mostly Mozart Festival and with the Lincoln Center Chamber Players.

Visit Michele’s website at michelezukovskyclarinet.com

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Los Angeles Philharmonic Principal Clarinetist MICHELE ZUKOVSKY has appeared many times as soloist with the Philharmonic, both at the Hollywood Bowl and at the Music Center. She has been a guest soloist with many orchestras around the world, including the world premiere performance of John Williams’ Clarinet Concerto with the Boston Pops. Zukovsky also performs regularly at the Philharmonic’s Chamber Music Society concerts, and she has participated in several premieres as a soloist with the orchestra’s New Music Group.

She has collaborated with a number of chamber ensembles, most notably the Angeles and the St. Petersburg String Quartets, and she appears frequently in New York with the “Concerts at the Y,” Ravinia, Lincoln Center, and “Mostly Mozart” ensembles. Zukovsky is active as a teacher of master classes throughout the world, and she is currently on the faculty of the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. She studied clarinet with her father, Ka