Raymond Santos, Principal
B.M. University of Southern California

Member of the Orchestra Since 2008

Raymond Michael Santos was appointed Principal Clarinet of the Kansas City Symphony in April of 2008. Prior to his position with the Kansas City Symphony, he was a clarinetist with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida. Originally from West Chester, Ohio, Santos began his clarinet studies with Sandra Snyder and in high school studied with Richard Hawley of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He then went on to graduate in 2006 with a bachelor of music degree from the University of Southern California, where he was a student of Yehuda Gilad and Monica Kaenzig. Santos spent the summers of 2003 and 2006 as a clarinet fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center, where he won the Gino B. Cioffi Memorial Prize for exceptional woodwind performance. He has also had fellowships with the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara (2002), and the National Orchestral Institute in Washington D.C. (2004). In addition to his orchestral activities, he has performed chamber music throughout the United States, Europe and China.