Alex Clark

Alex Clark began violin lessons around the age of 4 after being mesmerized by a fiddler on the street. It was only a few years later after playing with a string orchestra that he asked his mom for a zap stick (conductors baton) of his own. It’s safe to say the urge to create music has always been there for Alex. From violin recitals as a child to singing and playing any available instrument in a rock band in high school to the music composition degree Alex completed at Wilfrid Laurier University (which featured an important switch from violin to viola) to an Orchestra Librarian job with the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony Alex’s life has led a life rich in a variety of music making.I

t wasn’t until composing a work, early in his music degree, for an ensemble large enough to require a conductor that Alex once again picked up the zap stick. Hubris allowed him to believe he could conduct the group without having formal conducting training. This experience taught Alex not only the true importance of a good conductor to an ensemble but the value of proper training and preparation in the art of conducting. Having to pass the baton to an experienced conductor for the premier of his piece was an hard yet important lesson that led to much more serious dedication to the study of both composition and conducting for Alex. Nowadays, he works regularly with a variety of musical groups leading them through a range of contemporary and classical works.

Alex has lived in Vancouver since 2015 and is currently a full time member of the Artistic Planning and Production team with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. This role has allowed him to interact and work with some of the best musicians in town and from around the globe. Alex has had the privilege of conducting a number of ensembles from big band wind orchestra to string ensembles to the pit orchestra of a musical. He is currently working on orchestral projects with several artists of various musical genres from Vancouver and across North America.