Venezuela

“Whether it’s in an orchestra or chamber group, as a soloist or popular music, the quality that characterize the material of Gonzalez Reeds it’s the essential tool for the versatile musician”.  

Carmen Borregales is a Venezuelan clarinetist educated in the internationally renowned music program EL SISTEMA.

She began her studies at the age of eight in her hometown, Coro. Later on, she moved to Caracas to further pursue her education at the Latin American Clarinet Academy under prominent clarinetists Valdemar Rodríguez, Edgar Pronio, Jorge Montilla, Luis Rossi, Henry Crespo, and Gregory Parra. Furthermore, Carmen has participated in many masterclasses with international maestros and soloists such as Antony Pay, Alain Damiens, Walter Seyfarth, Eddy Vanoosthuyse, Jonathan Cohler, Ronald Van Spaendonck, Paulo Sergio Santos, Charles Neidich, Michel Arrignon, Evgeny Petrov, Thomas Friedli, Harry Sparnaay, and Alessandro Carbonare, among others.

In addition to the ICA 2004 Young Artists Competition (Maryland, USA), she has also qualified to compete in the World Federation of International Music Competitions including: the Geneva International Music Competition 2007 (Geneva, Switzerland), ARD Music Competition Munich 2008 (Munich, Germany), and Carl Nielsen International Music Competition 2009 (Odense, Denmark).

Carmen Borregales has built an extraordinary career as a teacher. In Venezuela, she taught for more than a decade at the Simón Bolívar Conservatory of Music (2003-2016) as well as at the Latin American Clarinet Academy (2006-20016). In 2015 she visited Haiti as part of an EL SISTEMA music mission. There she spent a month helping educate kids on the fundamentals of clarinet playing, music theory, and orchestral performance. Additionally, she trained their teachers on the practices implemented under the Venezuelan music model. Other places where she has taught and performed include international festivals and music schools in Costa Rica (2009 and 2013), Guatemala (2011), Portugal (2013), Spain (2017), Uruguay (2019), Paraguay (2019) and ICA Clarinet Fests (2017, 2018, 2021).

Under the tutelage of clarinet maker and soloist Luis Rossi, she obtained a Master’s degree in Clarinet Performance from the Simón Bolívar University in 2012. She is currently a Graduate Student at University of South Carolina (DMA performance) and Graduate Assistant at Joseph Eller’s clarinet studio. Carmen Borregales is a Buffet Crampon Artist, GonzalezReeds Artist, Rovner Ambassador and former Principal Clarinet of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra.