Donald Foster
Clarinet

Donald Foster is one of Southern California’s most active musicians, serving as Principal Clarinet in  the Pasadena Symphony and Santa Barbara Symphony, and Second Clarinet in the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra. He is a frequent auxiliary/substitute musician with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the San Diego Symphony and can be heard often as part of the Jacaranda Chamber Music Series in Santa Monica. A busy studio musician, Don has been featured on numerous soundtracks for motion pictures and television. He became John Williams’ Principal Clarinet in Los Angeles when he performed on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  He received screen credit for his solo work on Williams’ Oscar-nominated score to The Book Thief  and, more recently, played for the latest Star Wars movie, Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker.  Prior to working in Los Angeles, Don served as Principal Clarinet with the Philharmonie der Nationen based in Hamburg, Germany. While with the Philharmonie he performed in over 250 concerts in virtually every major city in Europe. He has also served as Principal Clarinet of the Colorado Music Festival, in Boulder, Colorado and has performed in Central America with his reed trio Trianche, a featured ensemble for the Costa Rica Music Festival. Don holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Southern California, where he studied with Yehuda Gilad and Michele Zukovsky. He has received fellowships from both the Tanglewood and Aspen Music Festivals, the latter of which he attended for four consecutive summers. Don is currently Associate Professor of Music at Moreno Valley College in the Riverside Community College District and divides his time between residences in Palm Springs and downtown Los Angeles.