David Pharris has played Second Clarinet with the Minnesota Orchestra since 2005, serving as Acting Associate Principal Clarinet for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. In addition, since 2009, he has participated in the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, WY.
Prior to his appointment with the orchestra, Mr. Pharris was Second/Eb Clarinet of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra for 13 years and spent his summers in the clarinet section of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, first as Second/Eb Clarinet, and then as Principal Clarinet. He was Acting Second Clarinet of the Houston Symphony for the 2013-14 season, and has also performed with the New York Philharmonic.
Mr. Pharris has made numerous chamber music appearances during his tenure with the orchestra, performing, among other pieces, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Quintet for Clarinet, Two Violins, Viola and Cello, Samuel Barber’s Summer Music, Opus 31, and Golijov’s The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind. He is also a member of the Saint Paul based Musical Offering chamber music group.
Mr. Pharris graduated from the Northwestern University School of Music with a Bachelor of Music and studied with Robert Marcellus and Clark Brody.
