Dr. Vince Dominguez is an award-winning Mexican clarinetist, music educator, performance artist, and designer.
During the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns, when live performances became impossible, Vince adapted by creating Dr. Claire Annette, his alter-ego persona who blends classical music with the art of drag performance, as a way of continuing to make music beyond the concert hall. Based in Providence, RI, Claire Annette has performed across the country, shredding electric clarinet in nightclubs, headlining city-wide block parties, performing at brunch shows, hosting RuPaul’s Drag Race viewing parties and music trivia events, competing in competitions throughout New England, and producing genre-bending content on their YouTube channel, the Claire Annette Clarinetwerk. Known for their captivating performances and wicked sharp 80s style, Claire delivers a fresh take on what it means to be a musician in the twenty-first century. As an icon for both queer and BIPOC representation in the worldwide clarinet community, Claire Annette has already left an impact, forging new audiences in unconventional venues and making classical music more accessible to younger generations. In the near future, Claire will be visiting universities across the country for guest artist residencies, as well as making appearances at conferences including ClarinetFest 2023. As the only clarinetist in the world performing and teaching in this capacity, Vince is proud to be a blueprint for “breaking the mold” and creating space for others to pursue their own unique goals in music without fear.
As a classical musician, Vince is an Affiliate Artist with Cactus Chamber Musicians, subs with orchestras around the country, and has made appearances as both a soloist and chamber performer at ClarinetFest, Arizona Music Educators Association, College Music Society, and NACWPI conferences. As both Vince and Claire, he has been featured in interviews by organizations such as the International Clarinet Association, as well as in Canvas Magazine, Motif Magazine, and other publications. Most recently, Vince competed and placed as a finalist in the 2021 National Alliance for Audition Support (NAAS) SOPA orchestral excerpt competition and has completed several orchestral training residencies at the New World Center with SPHINX Organization.
An in-demand music educator and clinician, Vince regularly presents guest lectures on entrepreneurship and professional development at universities across the country and has held El Sistema-based woodwind faculty positions at non-profit organizations across the country, including Latino Music Education Network, Central Music Academy, Merit School of Music, The Ravinia Festival, Harmony Project. He is currently woodwind faculty at the Rhode Island Philharmonic Music School, maintains a private studio in the greater New England region, and has taught at the University of Kentucky and Rhode Island College as an adjunct professor. He is passionate about promoting access to music education for students of all levels and backgrounds, in the belief that everyone should have the opportunity to feel empowered by music.
Outside of music education and performance, Vince has also had an extensive career in arts administration, holding marketing and program management leadership roles with non-profit organizations such as the Lexington Philharmonic, Merit School of Music, and, most recently, Quinteto Latino, a chamber music ensemble dedicated to addressing racial and economic disparities within the classical music field by championing past, present, and future contributions by Latino composers and musicians. One of Vince’s proudest achievements in his arts admin career was his leadership of LexPhil through a significant branding transformation. This effort was featured in Symphony Magazine, which highlighted his work as an innovative marketing leader in the orchestral performance community. In 2021, Vince was selected as a National Association of Latino Arts & Cultures Leadership Institute (NALAC) fellow, a prestigious summer intensive that provides a wealth of professional development training for Latino arts administrators, artists, and innovators.
As a self-made creative, Vince has built his freelance creative platform from scratch. He was featured on Instagram as a Suggested User in fall 2014, and in the years that followed, this opportunity enabled him to work creatively in a variety of capacities, from commercial photography to social media account management at creative agencies. Currently, Vince is a graphic designer at Systems Change Strategies, a strategic marketing firm based in Providence, RI, that supports progressive causes and business ventures to create meaningful, lasting change through a shared commitment to equity, access, and service.
Vince completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Arizona State University in April 2020, where he held one of two competitive graduate teaching assistantships. His project featured a performance guide and three commissioned works for clarinet by acclaimed Mexican composers Victor Ibarra, Hilda Paredes, and Juan Trigos, each underscoring current sociopolitical issues across the US and Latin America.
Dr. Vince Dominguez proudly performs on Henri SELMER Paris Privilège clarinets and creates using GooglePixel products.
For more: www.vincedominugez.com | www.claireannette.com
Photo credit: Erik Dominguez
Technical mastery begets artistic freedom. Know the rules and then create your own.
