Dr. Alexander W. Ravitz is a clarinetist, bass clarinetist, educator, and advisor based out of Denton, TX. He is currently Principal Bass Clarinetist of the Fort Smith Symphony (Ft. Smith, AR) and an Undergraduate Academic Counselor at The University of North Texas College of Music. Dr. Ravitz, as an active freelance musician has performed with ensembles including The Naples Philharmonic, Opera Tampa, The Orlando Philharmonic, The Florida Orchestra, Sarasota Opera, St. Pete Opera and served as the Principal Clarinetist of the Venice Symphony (Venice, FL) for a decade. As an improvisor Dr. Ravitz has collaborated with groups such as The Jamison Williams Trio, The Sean Hamilton Collective, Thomas Milovac's Unit Colossus, and his improv trio, CRUX whose self-titled CD is available under the Noise Pelican label.
As a soloist, Dr. Ravitz has been a guest recitalist in Cedar Falls, IA, Madison, WI, Tampa and Jacksonville, FL, and Louisville, KY. As an advocate for new music, Alexander regularly appears in performances ranging from solo clarinet to chamber recitals performing in new-music concerts. Alex has had the pleasure of collaborating with many composers including: Vera Ivanova, Tyler Kline, James Ogburn, David Liptak, Wendy Wan-ki Lee, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Joseph Halmann, Baljinder Sekhon II, Michael Fraizer and countless others. Alexander’s most recent commissioning project, Live Oak by Tyler Kline was a consortium he led of over 50 clarinetists and supporters of new music. The piece has now been played at multiple international and national conferences.
Alexander currently holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in Clarinet Performance from the University of North Texas, with a related field in Music Theory. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Clarinet Performance from the University of Louisville, and a Master of Music degree in Clarinet Performance and Instrumental Conducting from the University of South Florida. Dr. Ravitz’s students have been admitted to, and have received combined over $300k in scholarships to Universities such as University of Michigan, Florida State University, University of Florida, Texas Christian University, and Stetson University among many others.
Dr. Ravitz has a number of projects currently in the works including: Recording Pierrot Lunaire with soloist Dr. Megan Esther Grey (also his wife) and of Brett Copelands reimagining of Goerecki’s Symphony No. 3: Symphony of Sorrowful Songs for Bass Clarinet, Tuba, and Electronics, as well as other pieces for their newly named duo Sonic Doctors. Sonic Doctors will be performing Saturday July 19th at ICA’s Clarinetfest 2025 in Fort Worth, TX
Alexander’s primary teachers have been Kimberly Cole Luevano, Phillip O Paglialonga, Calvin Falwell, Dallas Tidwell, and Scott Ellington.
Dr. Ravitz studied Jazz with the late Dan Miller, and conducting with William Wiedrich.