9:30 am to 11:30 am Masterclass
12:30 pm Bass clarinet recital
2.00 pm to 5.00 pm Masterclass

Carlos Escalona began his musical studies through the El Sistema programme in Venezuela. Trained by Alan Troudart, a former pupil of Michel Lethiec, he went on to study at the Simon Bolivar Conservatory in Caracas, where he took classes with Jorge Montilla and Mark Friedman. He is also a member of the Latin American Clarinet Academy directed by Valdemar Rodríguez.

Between 2005 and 2017, he joined the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel, Claudio Abbado, Simon Rattle, Giuseppe Sinopoli and Zubin Mehta, among others. During this period, he also took part in several international tours. For 10 years, he was also a member of the Trio de Corno di Bassetto Ávila, and performed in China, England and Austria.

Between 2013 and 2017, he taught clarinet to students at the Simon Bolivar Conservatory and the Latin American Clarinet Academy, as well as to the younger generation at El Sistema, enabling him to pass on his experience. In 2017, he was accepted at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, where he studied with Alessandro Carbonare.

In 2019, he obtained a Specialised Master's degree in clarinet at the Conservatoire Royal de Mons, with great distinction, conducted under the guidance of Professor Ronald Van Spaendonck. In May of the same year, he won 2nd Prize in the first Rotary Madrid Velázquez International Competition. The following year, he won 1st Prize for bass clarinet in the Adolphe Sax International Competition. He is a regular guest with the Orchestre National de Belgique as second clarinet and bass clarinet, the Vlaanderen Opera and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège.

For the Voces de Latinoamérica festival at Carnegie Hall in New York City, he performed works by composers Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Danilo Pérez in the ‘Música Nueva’ recital.

Carlos Escalona is currently a member of the Venezuelan Clarinet Trio and Breath, Belgian Reed Ensemble. Since November 2021, he has been second clarinet and principal bass clarinet at the Opera Ballet Vlaanderen.

Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles - Room 117
17 rue du Chêne - 1000 Bruxelles

For students only