José Carlos Domínguez Almela

Co-Principal

JOSÉ CARLOS DOMÍNGUEZ ALMELA clarinet
ERSO member from 2020

José Carlos Domínguez Almela studied at the Real Conservatorio Profesional de Música ‘Manuel de Falla’ in his hometown, Cádiz, before moving to the Conservatorio Superior de Música ‘Manuel Castillo’ in Seville, where he studied with Camilo Irizo. He then moved to the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki to get his clarinet master’s degree with Olli Leppäniemi and Harri Mäki.

During his stay in Finland, José performed with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Finnish Chamber Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and Helsinki Chamber Orchestra as well as the Helsinki Sinfonietta, Tapiola Sinfonietta and Dala Sinfonietta (Sweden). He has covered the co-principal clarinet position at the Oulu Symphony Orchestra and the clarinet position with bass clarinet at the Finnish National Opera Orchestra.

In Spain, he has participated in performances with orchestras like Granada City Orchestra and Royal Symphony Orchestra of Seville. He has also played with youth orchestras such as Andalusian Youth Orchestra, Cordoba Youth Orchestra and Cadiz Youth Orchestra.

Currently, he is working as a co-principal with E-flat clarinet player at the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. In addition to that, he has been collaborating with other orchestras such as the Grafenegg Academy Orchestra (Austria), BBC Symphony Orchestra (United Kingdom), among others.

José has participated in Jacques Lancelot Clarinet Competition (2023), Crusell Clarinet Competition (2021), 2nd Vienna International Music Competition (2020), Carl Nielsen International Competition (2019), Leoš Janáček International Competition (2019), Mercadante Clarinet Competition (2018) and Chieri Music Competition (2015), among others.

Besides his main clarinet tutors, José has been influenced by a number of mentors including José Luis Estellés, Carlos Gil, Francisco José Cantó, David Calvo, Javier Trigos, Antonio Salguero, Charles Neidich, Asko Heiskanen, Björn Nyman, Yehuda Gilad, Andreas Sundén, and Christoffer Sundqvist.