The University of Florida Clarinet Ensemble is comprised of 18 graduate and undergraduate students from the University of Florida School of Music and is directed by UF Professor of Clarinet, Mitchell Estrin. Established in 1999, the ensemble has performed in concert throughout the United States and Europe. A fully-balanced clarinet choir, the ensemble has performed on ten occasions at the Vandoren Clarinet Ensemble Festival in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, East Lansing, Champaign-Urbana, Mobile, Greensboro, and Rochester. The ensemble has performed feature recitals at the International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest in Kansas City, Washington D.C., and Atlanta.
Recent highlights include performances at Michigan State University, the University of Illinois, and a concert tour of Germany and France. The choir has performed for the University of Florida 150th Anniversary Celebration, Society of Composers Region IV Annual Conference, University of West Florida, Florida Music Educators Association Annual Conference, Walt Disney World, and in many local public schools. The ensemble has performed fundraisers for several non-profit organizations including the Ronald McDonald House and the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
The University of Florida Clarinet Ensemble performs a wide variety of repertoire that spans from the standard literature for clarinet choir to contemporary premieres of new arrangements and commissioned works by Paul Basler, Anthony Brackett, Russell Brown, Daniel Coe, Michael Deall, Matt Johnston, Chan Ji Kim, Thomas Nelly, Paul Richards, Kyle Rowan, James Paul Sain, Chris Sharp, and Matthew Sexton. The ensemble has recorded and released four critically acclaimed CD recordings, Christmas Clarinets (2016), Clarinet Choir Classics (2012), Wind in the Reeds (2006) and Clarinet Thunder (2009).