Alex Sramek - Bio

Hello, my name is Alex! Below, I talk about myself a bit in the third person...

Alex Sramek is a southern-California-based composer, clarinetist, computer scientist, conductor, and doer of other various things. A graduate of California State University, Long Beach, he holds bachelors' degrees in Music Composition and Computer Science. Lately, he is engaged in the Performer-Composer Master of Fine Arts program at the California Institute for the Arts (CalArts).

Alex currently explores the world of composition and improvisation with Vinny Golia, and has also studied composition with the very cool and diverse personalities of Drs. Carolyn Bremer, Martin Herman, Justus Matthews, and Robin Cox. 2007 signaled his international premiere when, in collaboration with Maestro Sergei Proskourin, he traveled to Russia to conduct the premiere of Castleventure, written for the Russian Chamber Orchestra, in Kursk, Russia. His music has also been performed at the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival and the Claremont Clarinet Festival, and around southern California, most often in the greater California State University, Long Beach area.

A performer of the full orchestral range of clarinets, Alex presently delves ever deeper into the world of clarinet with Bill Powell. He previously studied with Helen Goode-Castro, Jeremy Reynolds, and Lea Steffens, and spent enough time in ensembles and classes of Leo Potts to consider him a major influence. He currently performs in more ensembles at CalArts than he can shake a licorice stick at, including a death metal band. Previously, Alex made music as principal bass clarinetist of the Orange County Wind Symphony, and as a member of the Los Angeles Clarinet Choir (including a tour to ClarinetFest in Vancouver), the Orange County Symphony, the LBCC orchestra, a handful of single-performance groups, and nearly every ensemble a clarinetist could join at CSULB. Alex can be heard in the L.A. Clarinet Choir's debut album, "The Great Clarinet Circus", and in a wind quintet recording accompanying the popular "The Enjoyment of Music" textbook.

But wait, there's more! In the time between school and more school, Alex spent a magnificent three years employed as a programmer and network administrator (and occasional sound designer and composer) at a small software company in Irvine, where he worked with a great group of people. While Alex would love to maintain his multiple interests, attempting to pursue both music and computer science while maintaining a regular sleep schedule tended to lead to severe time deficits. Wishing to do whatever he does at a high level rather than trying to do everything at once, Alex chose to focus on music, and hopes that it will work out in the long run.