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Michael Norsworthy
An acclaimed soloist and widely sought-after chamber music collaborator,
clarinetist MICHAEL NORSWORTHY has emerged as one of the most gifted artists
of his generation.
Michael Norsworthy’s performances have taken him to distinguished concert venues throughout the United States and Europe, including Vienna’s Musikverein, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Philharmonie Hall, New York City’s Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Metropolitan Opera and Miller Theatre, Boston’s Jordan and Symphony Halls, St. Louis’ Sheldon Concert Hall, Festival Casals de Puerto Rico and the Aspen Music Festival. Recent seasons have included world premieres of works written for him by Michael Finnissy, Chris Dench and Pozzi Escot, domestic and international recital tours, radio appearances on Boston’s WGBH, recordings for the Mode, Gasparo, Canteloupe and Cauchemar labels and performances with leading contemporary music groups, including Klangforum Wien, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Columbia Sinfonietta, Fromm Players at Harvard, Boston Musica Viva, Callithumpian Consort, Ensemble 21 and Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. He has also given a series of East Coast recitals with pianist Marilyn Nonken, recitals on the West Coast with pianist Tyson Deaton, with the composer, a Boston performance of the music of Magnus Lindberg and a performance of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with the Kalistos Chamber Orchestra, in honor of the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
A dedicated and persuasive champion of the music of our own time, Michael Norsworthy has given premieres of over 100 works in collaboration with composers Harrison Birtwistle, Elliott Carter, Chris Dench, Pozzi Escot, Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Finnissy, Lukas Foss, Hans Werner Henze, Magnus Lindberg, Ralph Shapey and Marc Anthony Turnage, among many others.
As soloist, Michael Norsworthy has performed an extensive repertoire of concerti, ranging from Mozart to Ferneyhough, with the Columbia Sonfonietta, Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, Callithumpian Consort, NEC Contemporary Ensemble, Pottstown Symphony, Soria Chamber Players, Southern Illinois Symphony and Symphony Pro Musica, while audiences have heard his numerous recitals in Boston, Cambridge, Chicago and St. Louis. He has also collaborated with Tony Arnold, Patrick Demenga, Stephen Drury, Aleck Karis, John Zorn, the Borromeo String Quartet, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Conductors he has worked with include Boulez, DePriest, Knussen, Levine, Milarsky, Muti, Robertson, Ozawa, Tilson Thomas and many others.
Michael Norsworthy is the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions, among them: The John Cage Award, Borromeo String Quartet Guest Artist Award and Southern Illinois University’s Chancellor’s Research and Creativity Award, grants from the Yvar Mikahashoff Trust for New Music, St. Louis Artist Presentation Society and St. Botolph Club Foundation, as well as a fellowship from the Aspen Music Festival.
Michael Norsworthy holds advanced degrees from New England Conservatory and Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and has attended Michigan State University. His teachers included Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr, Eric Mandat, Kalmen Opperman and Richard Stoltzman. Beginning with the 2005-2006 season, he is artist in residence at Harvard University with the Harvard Group for New Music; in the fall of 2006, he begins service on the faculties of both The Boston Conservatory and Columbia University. Mr. Norsworthy also maintains a respected private studio for advanced students in the Boston area.
Michael Norsworthy plays on Buffet Clarinets and mouthpieces by Kalmen Opperman. He is a performing artist for Buffet Crampon, the Parisian firm that is the world's oldest and most distinguished clarinet maker. For more information see he website at www.michaelnorsworthy.com.
RECENT REVIEWS
"Norsworthy was a dramatic performer, with beautiful tonal nuances.”
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
“There's nothing clarinetist Michael Norsworthy won't play: from
Mozart to Carter to world premieres. His work in Michael Finnissy's new
concerto [Giant Abstract Samba] for clarinet (written for Norsworthy)
was stunning: his star is clearly on the ascendant.”
New England Bay Windows
“Norsworthy demonstrates amazing tone in each of the clarinet’s
registers, his melodic lines are sinuous and simply beautiful, and his
crescendos are subtle and effective.”
Northeast Performer
“[Norsworthy] met the pieces head on with inventive and musically
expert renditions. It was an astonishing performance.”
The Boston Globe
“I have known and worked with Mr. Norsworthy for about five years
now. He is, in my view, one of the world’s best clarinet players.
I would be, in conversation, even more laudatory and say ‘greatest’
because his personal and professional generosity also single him out as
of particular significance to composers and other proponents of New Music.
Few musicians have the reserves of enthusiasm and knowledge that Michael
Norsworthy has. He has, incidentally, all the virtuosity you could want
too.”
Michael Finnissy, Composer
“I first heard Michael Norsworthy play my music at Harvard in April
2006 and I was immediately impressed by his musicality, his technical
abilities and his capacity to make even the most difficult music sound
spontaneous. I am pleased to recommend him as a player.”
Magnus Lindberg, Composer
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