About

“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 (USA)

Javier Asdrúbal Vinasco

Colombian clarinetist Javier Vinasco has specialized in the performance of works by Latin American composers, an effort which is available in his 20 solo albums, one of them which was nominated to the Latin Grammy. He has performed multiple premieres including dedicated concertos composed by Andrés Posada, Diego Vega, Marco Alunno, Sergio Delgado, and Miguel del Águila.

Mr. Vinasco earned a Doctorate in Music from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, a degree 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 and Légère Reeds Artist. In 2020, Dr. Vinasco founded Clarinete Mestizo, an educational digital platform to promote the music for clarinet from Latin America.

Dr. Vinasco has performed as a soloist on more than 50 occasions with orchestras in Latin America and 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, Sinfónica del Estado de México, Symphony Parnassus (San Francisco) and has performed recitals in Japan, Europe, and the Americas.

Dr. Vinasco 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 at prestigious universities as Pontifical Javeriana, De Los Andes, Colima, Cali Conservatory, and Eafit, where he was Head of the Music Department. He has taught master classes at Indiana University, University of Maryland, Duquesne University, Shenandoah Conservatory, Virginia Tech, UNAM, El Sistema, Universidad de Brasilia, Universidad Católica del Perú, different universities in Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia, among many others.

In addition to his doctorate studies, Vinasco holds a Master of Music degree from UNAM, a Diploma from the Ottorino Respighi Conservatory (Italy), and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Universidad del Valle (Colombia). Among his main clarinet teachers are Luis Humberto Ramos, Francesco Belli, Roberto Mantilla, and Emilio Montoya.