Jeff Anderle

A pioneer in the world of clarinet and bass clarinet, Jeff Anderle is exploding the boundaries of classical music with his innovative performances, recordings, commissions, and mentorship. As a soloist and a member of cutting-edge ensembles including Sqwonk and Splinter Reeds, Anderle has augmented the sonic possibilities of the clarinet to captivate audiences nationwide. In 2024, Anderle was appointed as the Assistant Professor of Clarinet at Arizona State University after sixteen years as a professor at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Determined to expand the classical music repertoire, Anderle has commissioned or premiered over 250 works and has recorded twenty albums including contemporary chamber music, solo multi-track projects, and classical/pop hybrid collaborations. Praised for his “keen sense of timing and virtuosic proficiency” (The Clarinet Magazine), he has performed concertos across the country, including commissioning and premiering Mary Kouyoumdjian’s Walking with Ghosts with One Found Sound, the La Jolla Symphony, and the Minneapolis Philharmonic. Anderle has been featured nationally at concert series and festivals such as Bang on a Can Marathon, Kronos Festival, Omaha Under the Radar, ClarinetFest, and the Festival of New American Music. 

Anderle has co-founded and is a member of a wide-range of ensembles, demonstrating his imagination and commitment to an incredible array of musical styles and combinations. He is a member of the bass clarinet duo Sqwonk, which infuses aspects of classical, folk and popular music into its own distinct style; Splinter Reeds, a reed quintet dedicated to new innovative music; and the virtuosic heavy metal bass clarinet quartet Edmund Welles. 

Anderle is an Artistic Partner with the eight-person wind band Nomad Session working to create new concerto repertoire, a member of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, and has performed extensively with the S.F. Contemporary Music Players. No stranger to the orchestra, he is Principal bass clarinet of the Monterey Symphony, a member of the Magik*Magik Orchestra, and has played frequently with the San Francisco Symphony, including on a 2023 Grammy-nominated album of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.

In addition to his work as a performer, Anderle was a co-founder of Switchboard Music, a genre-defying presenting organization which featured hundreds of innovative musicians through its annual marathon and concert series during its 10 year history.

A dedicated educator and mentor, Anderle was appointed as the Assistant Professor of Clarinet at Arizona State University after sixteen years as chair of the woodwind department at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where he taught clarinet, bass clarinet, chamber music, technology, and professional development. Anderle has given masterclasses and presentations across the country on topics drawn from his wide-ranging performance and teaching experiences. Anderle holds a M.M. from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a B.A. from University of California at Los Angeles. He is a Selmer Paris Performing Artist and performs on Presence clarinets and a Privilege bass clarinet.