Associate Professor of Clarinet – University of Tennessee Knoxville
“I have been using LefreQue Sound Bridges since 2017. I love how they allow me to project and tune with ease at every performance. I use 8-sets of solid silver on my Bb and A clarinets. For me, they allow me to expand my tone whilst retaining center and focus at all dynamic levels. When I feel my instruments vibrate as I play, I know my clarinets are fully resonating and providing me every opportunity to create colors and enhanced nuance in my music making. The vibration subtly transfers to my teeth and I can feel the immediate response of the reed as it begins to vibrate allowing me to hear intonation tendencies in all dynamics, registers, and ensemble sizes. My clarinets feel alive and that in turn provides me with peace of mind and a deeper connection to my music making!”
Lauded for his “enchanting rich warm tone”, and “assured technique,” Vic Chávez, Jr. has quickly risen to prominence as one of his generation’s premiere clarinetists. An active soloist, chamber musician, pedagogue, and orchestral musician, Vic has mesmerized audiences with his stunning performances and collaborations. He has performed in major venues throughout the United States such as Carnegie Hall (New York City) and Symphony Hall (Chicago), with additional performances and presentations in China, Ireland, Costa Rica, France, Spain, Tanzania, Belgium, South Korea, Thailand, and Taiwan. His performances have been broadcast nationally on NPR’s syndicate, Performance Today, and locally on WUOT 91.5 FM, Knoxville.
As an orchestral clarinetist, Vic holds tenured positions as third/bass clarinetist with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra (appointed by Maestro Aram Demirjian); and principal clarinetist with the Symphony of the Mountains in Kingsport (appointed by Maestra Cornelia Laemmli-Orth), Tennessee and the TriCities Opera Company in Binghamton (appointed by Maestro John Mario Di Costanzo), New York. He has also performed with the world-renowned Cleveland Orchestra, as well as the Waco Symphony Orchestra, Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra, Erie Chamber Orchestra, and Belton Symphony Orchestra. In June of 2017, Vic performed his Carnegie Hall debut in Weill Recital Hall with pianist Dr. Joong-Han Jung as part of their group, Víjon Duo.
As an active member of the International Clarinet Association, Vic was the sole Artistic Director for ClarinetFest 2019 hosted on the University of Tennessee Knoxville. The conference attracted more than 1700 attendees, over 500 performers, over 70 vendors, 31 clarinet choirs, and holds a Guinness World Record for the World’s Largest Clarinet Choir assembled. Previous ICA ClarinetFest presentations and performances include Seoul, South Korea 2026; Dublin, Ireland 2024; Ostend, Belgium 2018; Orlando, Florida 2017; Lawrence, Kansas 2016; Madrid, Spain 2015; and Baton Rouge, LA 2014. Additional performances included the College Music Society Conference and the North American Saxophone Alliance. He has worked with Clarinets for Conservation in Moshi, Tanzania, teaching and advocating for greater awareness and preservation of African Blackwood (mpingo) used to make clarinets.
As an educator, Vic has been invited to present masterclasses at the following international institutions: China Conservatory of Music, Beijing, China; Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand; and the Kask Conservatory in Ghent, Belgium.
He has also presented masterclasses/recitals at various acclaimed musical institutions within the United States such as the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, Indiana University, University of Michigan, DePaul University, the CCM – Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, Vanderbilt University, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music amongst others.
Vic’s teaching has been praised as dynamic and thoughtful with clear objectivity while working to preserve clarinet pedagogical tradition at the highest level. In 2014, he joined the faculty at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, as is the associate professor of clarinet at the Natalie L. Haslam Music Center’s College of Music. Vic has taught/collaborated at the COJAC – California Central Coast Orchestra & Jazz Academy in Salinas, California, the Nief-Norf Contemporary Music Festival and the internationally renowned Round Top Festival Institute in Texas. Additional festivals include the Big Ears Festival and Klarinetstage.
In 2006, Vic was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Lusk Fellowship, allowing him to study in Paris, France, under the tutelage of Guy Deplus (Paris Opera and CNSMDP). While in Paris as a Fulbright Scholar, Vic conducted his research in pedagogy, performance practice, and literature.
As a student, Vic earned various prizes as a performer: twice at the El Paso Artists Guild Concerto Competition; twice Division Winner at the Entergy Young Texas Artists Competition; winner of the Baylor University Concerto Competition; Division Winner the International Sorantin Concerto; DePaul University Concerto Competition; and the Round Top Festival Concerto Competition. He attended the Brevard Music Festival, Blossom Music Festival, and Round Top Music Festival and earned degrees from Baylor University-BME, DePaul University-MM, and The Eastman School of Music-DMA. His primary pedagogues include Larry Combs (former principal of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra), Guy Deplus (former principal of the Paris Opera and professor of the Conservatoire Nationale de Music de Paris), Kenneth Grant (Principal of the Rochester Philharmonic/Eastman School of Music), Jon Manasse (Principal of the American Ballet Theatre Orchestra/Metropolitan Opera), Julie Deroche (DePaul University), Dr. Richard Shanley (Waco Symphony/Baylor University), Dan McKelway (Cleveland Orchestra), Alan Olson (Victoria Symphony), and Vin Richards (El Paso Symphony Orchestra).
Vic is a LefreQue Artist, D’Addario Educational Artist, and Buffet Crampon Artist.
