Bio

Alex Swers, a Master’s candidate at the Yale School of Music, studies clarinet under David Shifrin. He has performed with the Yale Philharmonia, The Orchestra Now, the Sarasota Music Festival Orchestra, and the Eastern Music Festival Orchestra. He has performed at Carnegie Hall with the Yale Philharmonia and with the Oberlin Orchestra.

Swers earned his Bachelor’s of Music at Oberlin Conservatory, where he studied with Richard Hawkins. During his time at Oberlin, he was a finalist in the Oberlin Senior Concerto Competition and served as principal clarinet in Oberlin’s Fall 2021 opera, Handel’s Acis and Galatea. He has also performed numerous contemporary pieces, including six world premieres.

As a chamber musician, Swers has performed works for woodwind trios and quartets, wind quintets, clarinet and strings, and various ensembles with piano. In the summer of 2025, he attended the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival as a Clarinet Fellow. He participated in the Sarasota Music Festival in 2024, the Eastern Music Festival in 2022 and 2023, and the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute in 2021.

Swers is a Secondary Lessons Instructor at the Yale School of Music and a Teaching Artist with the Yale Music in Schools Initiative. These opportunities allow him to connect with students both within Yale University and public schools around New Haven, CT to spread his joy and knowledge of the clarinet.

Throughout his musical studies, he has worked with Chad Burrow, Paul Cigan, Frank Cohen, Steve Cohen, Romie de Guise-Langlois, Lin Ma, Kathleen Mulcahy, Charles Neidich, Mark Nuccio, Shannon Scott, Kristen Sheridan, Anthony Taylor, and Pavel Vinnitsky.