Clarinetist Gary Dranch, a specialist in new and contemporary music, obtained his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1981. Dranch has devoted his career to promoting new compositions for clarinet and enlarging its repertoire. As a native New Yorker, Dranch returned home to embark on a freelance career, performing and championing new music compositions with NYU’s Contemporary Players, The New Repertory Ensemble of New York, The American New Music Consortium, The Forum For New Music at NYU, and with North/South Consonance, performing at The Loeb Center, Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, and LaMama, among other contemporary new music venues. Dranch has commissioned and performed works by Elliott Schwartz, Hank Johnson, Peter Hazzard, John Bavicchi, Douglas Anderson, and Martin Ducharme. An active organizer, promoter, producer, and performer of chamber music programs, he presented “Gary Dranch and Friends” for more than 25 years in recitals of chamber music featuring the clarinet at The Donnell Library and The Bruno Walter Auditorium. He also formerly served on the board of directors of the Bennington Chamber Music Conference of the East. Dranch presented his New York debut recital at Merkin Concert Hall in November 1990, and was favorably reviewed in Strings (Spring 1991).
Dranch has appeared as soloist with orchestras in New York, Europe, and South America, where he has also given master classes in clarinet. Dranch was a faculty member at “AMEROPA,” a chamber music festival in the Czech Republic for several years. Dranch was also an invited performer to the International Clarinet Association in Vancouver. He was featured on an album entitled “The Brazilian Concerto” which was in the nomination list for the 2001 GRAMMY® awards in the category “Best Soloist with Orchestral Accompaniment.” Dranch’s first solo CD, released on the MSR Classics label in November 2006, is titled “The 20th Century Clarinet Concerto” [MS1180] and contains the clarinet concertos of Paul Hindemith, John Bavicchi, and Daniel Wolff. The Clarinet journal’s March 2007 review concluded: “I recommend this recording as a worthy addition to the contemporary clarinetist’s audio library… there is something for everyone here, and then some. Gary Dranch is supremely adept at handling the technical and musical challenges that arise in these works.” Another release, “Tomorrow Will Be Today,” features Dranch performing the title work as well as Peter Hazzard’s “Three Scenic Moods,” Opus 75, for Clarinet and Piano Quintet. It was released by BKJ Publications in September 2008. He recently recorded Douglas Anderson’s Piece for Clarinet and Tape which was released on Ravello Records and was favorably reviewed. He is a published author with an article in The Clarinet [Volume 36, Number 4, September 2009] entitled: “The Genesis of a (Double) Clarinet Concerto.” Dranch is principal clarinetist with The Greenwich Village Orchestra, where he has performed since 2000. He regularly performs with The Lehman Orchestra and The Lehman Concert Band (C.U.N.Y.), The Westchester Band, and The Bronxville Pops Concert Band.
