“Vinasco is a virtuoso in every sense of the word, but is an understated virtuosity that is always in service of the music”.
The Clarinet
Javier Vinasco
Colombian clarinetist Javier Asdrúbal Vinasco Guzmán has specialized in the performance of Latin American music, an effort which is available in his 20 solo albums, one of them which was nominated to the Latin Grammy.
In his more than 50 performances as soloist with relevant Latin American orchestras, as well as in recitals in Japan, Europe, and the Americas, he has performed multiple premieres by Latin American composers, including several works dedicated to him.
In 2020, he founded Clarinete Mestizo, an educational digital platform to promote the music for clarinet from Latin America.
Mr. Vinasco earned a Doctor in Music degree from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, which he obtained with the Alfonso Caso Medal, the highest distinction of this university. He is the Colombian National Chairperson at the International Clarinet Association and a Yamaha, Cero Records and Légère Reeds Artist.
Dr. Vinasco has been a member of the Bogota Philharmonic, Valle Symphony and Eafit Symphony Orchestra. He has also been guest principal clarinetist with the City of London Sinfonia, the Sinfónica del Estado de México and Parnassus Symphony in San Francisco.
He has won on four occasions the Colombian Ministry of Culture’s calls for proposals in the categories of composition, record production and creation and virtual circulation, as well as the musical performance competitions of the Bogota Philharmonic Orchestra, the Colombia Symphony Orchestra, and the El Dorado organization of Buenos Aires (Argentina).
As a professor, Dr. Vinasco has taught for several years at universities like Pontifical Javeriana, De Los Andes, Colima, Cali Conservatory, and Eafit, where he was Head of the Music Department.
He has given master classes at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Indiana University, University of Maryland, Duquesne University, Shenandoah Conservatory, Lawrence University, Virginia Tech, UNAM, El Sistema, Universidad de Brasilia, Universidad Católica del Perú, different universities in Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia, among many others.
In 2023, he joined the University of Northern Colorado as Associate Professor, Director of Latinx Music. That same year, he was invited by the Ministry of Culture of Colombia to be part of a three-person team responsible for designing written, video, and audio materials on initiation in the clarinet, to be distributed free of charge throughout the country.
In addition to his doctorate studies, Vinasco holds a Master of Music degree from UNAM, a Clarinet Diploma from the Ottorino Respighi Conservatory (Italy), and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the Universidad del Valle (Cali, Colombia). Among his main clarinet teachers are Luis Humberto Ramos, Francesco Belli, Roberto Mantilla, and Emilio Montoya.
Javier Asdrúbal Vinasco 