Alejandro Acierto
clarinet

Originally from Chicago, clarinetist, composer, improviser and activist Alejandro T. Acierto began his musical studies at the Merit School of Music in Chicago. He is currently studying with David Krakauer and Michael Lowenstern and is working towards a Master's Degree in the Contemporary Performance Program at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. He revieved his BM in clarinet performance and composition with a minor in Asian American Studies from DePaul University and studied with clarinetists John B. Yeh, Julie DeRoche, Wagner Campos and composers Kurt Westerberg and Juan Campoverde. Alejandro regularly performs with the ai ensemble, ensemble dal niente, TACTUS, ThingNY, and the improvising trio Preclear. Additionally, he has performed with the International Contemporary Ensemble, the Low Firm, and Yes A World. He has also performed in several festivals such as the Sonic Impact Festival in Chicago in addition to the New Music Marathon at Northwestern and on the New Music Northwestern series.

Committed to performing new works by young emerging composers, Alejandro has worked with several composers and given numerous local and world premieres to date. He has worked with composers Jason Eckart, Lee Hyla, and Kirsten Broberg along with several other young, emerging composers whose pieces he has premiered. As a composer, he was awarded the Sidney and Mary Kleinman Prize in Composition in 2007 for his work "strangers in our own land", a nonet for winds and percussion.