Július Klein, Executive Director and Solo Clarinetist
Slovak State Philharmonic
Košice, Slovakia

Július Klein studied piano and clarinet during his early years and subsequently attended the Conservatory in Košice as a clarinet major. He furthered his studies in Bratislava where he entered the Academy of Musical Arts graduating with honors. From 1992 to 1997, he taught clarinet classes at the Košice Conservatory.

He is active as a chamber musician with the Košice Wind Trio, awarded second prize in 1987 in a major competition in Slovakia. He also is active as a soloist, appearing in concert in numerous countries including Austria, Canada, Cuba, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Holland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, South Korea, Spain and the United States.

He was a featured soloist during a three-week U.S. tour of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra in 1994, and in 1998 in Mexico. He has made recordings for both radio and television in Europe. During the summer of 1997, he performed at the first European Conference on Clarinet and Saxophone in Budapest, and in 1998 he was invited to attend the first International Asian Clarinet Festival in Beijing. He has judged a number of clarinet competitions in Italy and Spain and has taught master classes abroad.

A high resolution image (146K) of Julius Klein is available here.