Stas Chernyshev, a native of St. Petersburg, Russia, is recently appointed principal clarinetist of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. Described by the press as a “silken- sounding clarinetist with impressive technique and amazing musicianship to go with it,” Mr. Chernyshev is quickly establishing himself as a solo, chamber and orchestral musician.

Mr. Chernyshev has performed throughout the globe at prestigious venues such as the Carnegie Hall in New York, Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as well as in Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Russia, South Korea, Japan, to name a few. As an orchestral musician he has worked with such conductors as Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Michael Stern, Robert Spano, Rossen Milanov, Yannik Nézet- Séguin and Sir Simon Rattle.

A devoted chamber musician, Mr. Chernyshev has collaborated with Grammy-winning ensembles Eighth Blackbird and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, as well as Jupiter Chamber Players, Shuffle Concert and Frisson Ensemble. Other chamber music performances include collaborations with the world-renowned musicians such as Roberto Diaz (viola), Pamela Frank (violin), Ida Kavafian (violin), Peter Wiley (cello), Jeremy Denk (piano), Michael Rusinek (clarinet), Daniel Matsukawa (bassoon) and Richard Woodhams (oboe).
Mr. Chernyshev is a prize winner of the International Competition of Wind Instruments in the Ukraine, 2nd International Rimsky-Korsakov Competition in Russia, LISMA Foundation International Competition and Mary Smart Concerto Competition in the U.S. At the age of 19, Mr. Chernyshev won Special Prize at the 62nd Geneva International Music Competition in Switzerland. He has been featured on WQXR -New York’s classical music station, online via Instant Encore and WHYY’s television program, On Stage at Curtis.

An advocate of new music, Mr. Chernyshev has worked with young composers and established names like Krzysztof Penderecki, Meredith Monk, Steve Mackey, David Lang, George Crumb, Jennifer Higdon and David Ludwig.

Passionate about community engagement and education, Mr. Chernyshev is an alumnus of Ensemble Connect (formerly known as Ensemble ACJW), a program of Carnegie Hall, the Juilliard School and the Weill Music Institute, and ArtistYear, a program of the Curtis Institute of Music. He is the founder of Fort Worth Performances for Autism, an organization providing interactive and sensory-friendly live music performances for young people with autism and their families and a co-director of Opus Nova Chamber Music Series.

Mr. Chernyshev holds a Bachelor’s degree in music from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with professor Donald Montanaro, and a Master’s degree in music from St. Petersburg Conservatory with professor Nikolay Kiruhin.