Alain Damiens (born 1950 in Calais) is a French classical clarinetist.
After studying clarinet at the Conservatoire de Calais, [1] Alain Damiens studied with Ulysse Delécluse at the Conservatoire de Paris and obtained his first prizes (clarinet, chamber music). He received a scholarship to the National Music Camp Michigan in the United States, where he studied clarinet, chamber music and orchestra.
He was solo clarinet at the Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg and at « Pupitre 14 » (Amiens). In 1976, by artistic choice, he joined the IRCAM (clarinet in B flat, small clarinet in E flat, basset horn, bass clarinet) conducted by Pierre Boulez. He was the performer of pieces by contemporary composers, notably Philippe Fénelon, Franco Donatoni, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Vinko Globokar.
His mastery of the clarinet designated him for the premieres of numerous reference works in contemporary music: Boulez' Dialogue de l'ombre double [2] (1985), Carter's Concerto pour clarinette [3] (1997), En Trio by Gilbert Amy...
Holder of the Certificate of Aptitude, he was a professor at the Conservatoire de Strasbourg until 1977 then at the Conservatoire de Paris with Michel Arrignon. Since 1977, he has been a clarinet teacher at the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional d'Aubervilliers [4]
He shares his expertise in master classes in France and around the world (Canada, Brazil, Chile, Sweden...).
He has experimented with a "variable volume clarinet mouthpiece" [5] on several pieces.
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