Thomas Martin

Thomas Martin is associate principal clarinetist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and principal clarinetist of the Boston Pops Orchestra. Martin began his professional music career as a clarinetist, saxophonist, and flutist at age 13, performing with several big bands and combos in his native Wisconsin. He later attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where he studied clarinet with Stanley Hasty and former Boston Symphony Orchestra clarinetist Peter Hadcock. Through his association with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops, Martin has worked with most of the world's leading conductors, soloists, and entertainers. Outside of the BSO and Pops, he maintains an active schedule as a soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. His performance of the east coast premiere of Elliott Carter's Clarinet Concerto at Tanglewood in 1998 was highly praised; he performed that work again at Tanglewood in 2008 as part of that summer's Carter Centenary Celebration. His performances with the Boston Pops included a 100th anniversary tribute to Benny Goodman in June 2009; he also gave the American premiere of Carter's Poems of Louis Zukofsky with soprano Lucy Shelton as part of the 2009 Festival of Contemporary Music at Tanglewood; and he appeared as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in August 2010 performing Leonard Bernstein's Prelude, Fugue and Riffs for Clarinet and Jazz Ensemble with Robert Spano conducting. In May 2010 he performed with the Hawthorne String Quartet at the Prague Spring Music Festival, where he also gave the premiere of a new clarinet sonata composed for him by Sir André Previn, with the composer at the piano.