Ana Catalina Ramírez Castrillo: Clarinet

Ana Catalina Ramírez Castrillo was born in San José, Costa Rica. She had her first experience with the clarinet in her school band in 1992. In 1993 she was accepted in the National Institute of Music of Costa Rica (NIM). There, she studied clarinet with Marvin Araya, principal clarinetist of the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica. In her country, Ms. Ramirez was principal clarinetist of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica for four years, assistant clarinet teacher at the NIM, first clarinet for the National Band of San Jose, Costa Rica, second clarinet for the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica for the 1999-2000 season, and an active chamber musician. In 1999 and 2000 she was a winner of the Costa Rica Young Soloist Competition, appearing several times as a soloist with both the Youth and National Symphony Orchestras of Costa Rica.

In 2000 Ms. Ramirez came to Louisiana to study clarinet with Frankie Kelly at Southeastern Louisiana University. A year later, she continued her studies at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with soloist Jonathan Cohler, where she obtained a Diploma in Music Performance in 2004.

During her stay in Cambridge, she was a winner of the Longy School of Music Honors Competition, a semifinalist of the Young Artist Competition of the International Clarinet Association, clarinet teacher at several schools in the area, and production manager and bass clarinetist for the Brockton Symphony Orchestra in Brockton, Massachusetts.

Ms. Ramirez has performed solo recitals in her native country, the United States, and in Venezuela, where she has performed as a guest artist since 2004. She has performed in master classes for world renowned clarinetists such as Philippe Cuper, Ricardo Morales, Luis Rossi, Wenzel Fuchs, Paquito D’Rivera, Kalman Berkes, Alessandro Carbonare, and Charles Neidich. She also participated in the Sewanee Music Festival, Interlochen Arts Camp, XIX International Orchestra Festival in Murcia, Spain, the 2001 and 2002 International Clarinet Connection in Boston, the Youth Orchestra of the Americas Latin-American tour 2005, and the 38th International Winter Festival at “Campos do Jordão” in Brazil.

In December 2007 she received a master’s degree in Music Education with emphasis in Performance from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, where she studied with clarinetist Michael Sussman. Today, she is principal clarinetist of the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, and teaches clarinet at Mississippi College.

Concert Calendar