Clarinetist David Brooke Wetzel has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States and in the UK. He has also appeared with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, the Fox Valley Symphony (WI), and various festival orchestras around the US. Equally at home with both classical and cutting edge contemporary music, Dr. Wetzel's concert programs demonstrate the limitless possibilities of his versatile instrument--from Mozart and Beethoven to virtual high-wire acts involving live interactive electronics.
Dr. Wetzel is a specialist in new music and interactive electronics, and has collaborated often with composers and multimedia artists. His recent performances include many world premieres in addition to works from the traditional clarinet repertoire. Active as an educator, performer, and arranger, Dr. Wetzel has also worked as an orchestra manager, sound engineer, multimedia programmer, and education technologist. His research interests are primarily in the field of interactive electroacoustic performance and real-time computer music systems, with a special focus on maintaining electroacoustic repertoire in the face of rapid technological change. His research has recently been presented at ICMC (Miami), SEAMUS (Ames, IA), the Spark Festival (Minneapolis), Sonic Fusion (Edinburgh), and in the journal Organised Sound (Cambridge University Press).
Since 2004, Dr. Wetzel has been assistant professor of clarinet and coordinator of the music business and technology program at Mansfield University of Pennsylvania. He has previously taught at the Peabody Preparatory, the Baltimore High School for the Arts, ITT Technical Institute, and Central Arizona College.
Dr. Wetzel received his B.Mus. in clarinet performance from Lawrence University, his M.M. in computer music performance and concert production from the Peabody Conservatory and his DMA in clarinet performance at the University of Arizona. His clarinet teachers include Jerry Kirkbride, Loren Kitt, Edward Palanker, Thea King and Dan C. Sparks. His computer music teachers include McGreggor Boyle, Ichiro Fujinaga and Geoffrey Wright.