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Introducing Artist VIP
Anthony Costa - Professor at Penn State University; member of the Pennsylvania Quintet, the Prestige Clarinet Quartet, and the Chihara Trio
email: ajc26@psu.edu
Biography
Dr. Anthony J. Costa is associate professor of clarinet at Penn State and
clarinetist with the Pennsylvania Quintet, the Prestige Clarinet Quartet, and
the Chihara Trio.
Dedicated to his role as artist-teacher, Costa taught clarinet and music courses
at Otterbein College, Ashland University, and the College of Mount St. Joseph in
Ohio before joining the faculty at Penn State. For two years he was a
collaborative artist with Chamber Music America’s “Rural Residency Program” and
worked with communities in Mississippi County, Arkansas, as a performer and
music educator.
In demand as an orchestral clarinetist, Costa served as utility clarinetist/bass
clarinetist with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and Dayton Opera Orchestra
from 1999 to 2011, and has performed as principal clarinetist of the Music at
Penn’s Woods Festival Orchestra since 2009. Additionally, he has performed with
the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Columbus (OH) Symphony Orchestra, Akron
Symphony Orchestra, Canton Symphony Orchestra, Lancaster (OH) Festival
Orchestra, Erie Chamber Orchestra, Erie Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Wheeling
(WVA) Symphony Orchestra. He has performed with such artists as “The Three
Tenors” (Pavarotti, Domingo, and Carreras), Midori, Sarah Chang, “The Big Voodoo
Daddy,” and Ray Charles. Recent solo performances have included the Bruch
“Double Concerto” with violist Timothy Deighton with the Music at Penn’s Woods
Festival Orchestra in State College, PA; Scott McAllister’s “Concerto X” and
Michael Daugherty’s “Brooklyn Bridge” with the Penn State Wind Ensemble; and the
Artie Shaw “Clarinet Concerto” with the Nittany Valley Symphony Orchestra.
Costa is a
devoted chamber musician and has performed across the United States as a member
of the Pennsylvania Quintet, the Prestige Clarinet Quartet, the PC2 Trio, and
the Razbia Ensemble. He has been featured as a soloist and chamber musician at
the 2007 and 2011 International Double Reed Society conference, the
International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest (in 1998, 2006, 2008, 2011,
2012, and 2013), and the Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium (in 2005 and 2008). A
champion of contemporary music, Costa has collaborated with such renowned
composers as John Corigliano, Gunther Schuller, John Harbison, Paul Chihara, and
Osvaldo Golijov. Having recorded the works of composer Rick Sowash on recent
releases (Eroica and Sanctuary at 3AM), Costa can frequently be heard on
classical radio stations across the United States. With the Chihara Trio
(Timothy Deighton, viola, and Enrico Elisi, piano), Costa presented newly
commissioned works by several composers (including Paul Chihara, from whom the
trio took its name), and presented a recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital
Hall in March 2010. In the summer of 2010, Costa taught and performed in Alaska
at the Fairbanks Summer Music Festival. Committed to mentoring young
clarinetists, Costa’s students have participated in such esteemed festivals as
Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute, the Interlochen Arts Camp, the Brevard
Summer Music Festival, the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and the Pennsylvania
Governor’s School. His students have been finalists in the International
Clarinet Association’s High School Competition and the Columbus Symphony
Orchestra’s Concerto Competition and have performed as members of the Columbus,
Cleveland, and Central Pennsylvania Youth Orchestras.
Costa attended the
University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and received a bachelor
of music degree in music education and clarinet performance. He received his
master of music degree in clarinet performance from Temple University in
Philadelphia and his doctorate of musical arts degree from The Ohio State
University. His teachers have included Carmine Campione, Anthony Gigliotti,
Ronald Auffman, and James Pyne.
Anthony Costa lives in State College, PA, with his wife, oboist Robyn Dixon
Costa.
Message from Anthony Costa
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Revised: February 18, 2020