Alex Swers

Alex Swers, a senior at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, studies clarinet under Richard Hawkins. He has performed with the Eastern Music Festival Orchestra under the baton of Gerard Schwarz and has been involved in various ensembles at Oberlin, including the orchestra's tour to Carnegie Hall. Alex was a finalist in Oberlin's Senior Concerto Competition and served as principal clarinet in Oberlin’s Fall 2021 opera, Handel’s Acis and Galatea. He has also performed numerous contemporary pieces, including five world premieres. As a chamber musician, Alex has performed works for woodwind trios and quartets, wind quintets, and clarinet and strings. In 2022 and 2023, he participated in the Eastern Music Festival and the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute in 2021. Throughout his musical studies, he has worked with Boris Allakhverdyan, Chad Burrow, Paul Cigan, Richie Hawley, Lin Ma, Kathleen Mulcahy, Shannon Scott, Kristen Sheridan, and Anthony Taylor.