Considered one of the greatest clarinetists on the planet, David Krakauer has been praised internationally as a key innovator in modern Klezmer and a major voice in classical music. He has collaborated with artists and ensembles such as Marin Alsop, the WDR Big Band, the Emerson Quartet, Abraham Inc. (co-led with Fred Wesley and Socalled), Dawn Upshaw, Anakronic Electro Orkestra, and Kathleen Tagg (pianist and co-creator of Breath & Hammer). In 2015 he was nominated for a Grammy as soloist with the conductorless chamber orchestra “A Far Cry.”

Krakauer’s discography contains some of the most important clarinet recordings of our time. Among them are The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind (Osvaldo Golijov and the Kronos Quartet/Nonesuch), The Twelve Tribes (Label Bleu), and Paul Moravec’s Pulitzer Prize-winning composition Tempest Fantasy (Naxos). He created Table Pounding Records in 2022 and has since released the debut albums of Krakauer-Tagg duo Breath & Hammer and the festive, genre-crossing sextet Mazel Tov Cocktail Party!

David Krakauer’s recent projects include large scale works co-composed with Kathleen Tagg, such as The Fretless Clarinet: Concerto for Klezmer Clarinet and Orchestra, commissioned by the Santa Rosa Symphony (lead commissioner), the Eugene Symphony, and The Adele and John Gray Endowment Fund. He is on the clarinet and chamber music faculties of the Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College of Music (New School) and Bard Conservatory.