Carmen Izzo

Born in Chicago, Carmen Izzo has been heard in a variety of concert halls across the country and internationally. He currently serves as Principal Clarinet of the Boise Philharmonic and Assistant Principal/Bass Clarinet of the Las Vegas Philharmonic. Additionally, Carmen serves as adjunct clarinet instructor at The College of Idaho and Northwest Nazarene University.

In 2018, Carmen was a guest artist for the Matsumoto Performing Arts Center’s full production of Stravinsky’s “L’Histoire du Soldat,” touring Japan under the auspices of director Kazuyoshi Kushida. Previously, Carmen has served as Principal Clarinet of the Central City Opera Orchestra, and Guest Principal Clarinet of the Auckland Philharmonia in Auckland, New Zealand. From 2011 until 2014, Carmen was Co-Principal Clarinet of the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra in Nishinomiya, Japan. During this time, he performed over 100 concerts annually with a group of internationally selected young professionals. He was selected by Artistic Director Yutaka Sado to appear in recital in 2014 and has been seen numerous times on television in the classical music program “Daimei no Nai Ongakukai”.

Carmen has served as a guest player with the Pacific Symphony, Quad Cities Symphony, Music of the Baroque, Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, Kyushu Symphony Orchestra, Macao Orchestra, Sun Valley Summer Symphony, and Virginia Symphony. At the 2008 ClarinetFest, Carmen was the winner of the International Clarinet Association’s annual Orchestral Audition Competition. From 2006 until 2008, Carmen was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Carmen received his Master of Music degree from the University of Southern California and his  Bachelor of Music from DePaul University. His primary teachers include Julie DeRoche, Yehuda Gilad and Larry Combs.