Alex Laing’s work represents a modern take on orchestral practice.
Principal clarinet of The Phoenix Symphony; active as a performer and an artist who teaches; passionate and curious about organizational design, culture, and learning; committed to exploring how an orchestral musician and an orchestra navigates the push and pull between a legacy art form and its unfixed future. In short: he believes that ‘music isn’t just sound; it’s sounds, words, and people.’
Alex is fortunate to have garnered honors and awards in his career, most recently being recognized with a 2018 Sphinx Medal of Excellence.
In addition to his work with The Phoenix Symphony, he is frequently sought as a collaborator. Recent seasons have finding him contributing his sound in a range of other projects including: as a soloist with the Sphinx Virtuosi at Carnegie Hall; with Lawrence Brownlee (in the world premiere of Tyshawn Sorey’s Cycles of My Being); with the Re-Collective Orchestra (in the 2019 soundtrack recording of Disney’s The Lion King), and as a member of Gateways Festival Orchestra.
Alex has been an invited speaker to the annual conferences of both the Association of British Orchestras and the League of American Orchestras where, in 2019 he was a keynote speaker. As a teacher, he is a faculty member for the League of American Orchestras 'Essentials of Orchestra Management Seminar', Juilliard Extension (formerly Juilliard Evening Division), and the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s YOLA National Institute, a year round program for young musicians. His most recent collaboration brings him into a new medium: joining the creative team for From The Top (FTT) the nationally broadcast radio show and platform for young musicians.
A graduate of Northwestern University, he received his master's degree in Orchestral Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, an artist's diploma from the Sweelinck Conservatorium Amsterdam and a certificate in nonprofit management from Arizona State University's Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation. He serves on the board of directors for Gateways Music Festival and Arizona School for the Arts.
Alex Laing, the principal clarinet of the Phoenix Symphony, is a nationally recognized speaker and an accomplished instrumental artist, his work - both as a performing artist and an artist who teaches - represents a modern take on orchestral practice. Passionate and curious about organizational culture, design, and learning, his practice navigates the push and pull between the tradition of a legacy art form and its unfixed future. In short: Alex is a musician who believes that "music is not just sound, it is sounds and words and people."