Andrew Braden has been 2nd clarinetist in the Tucson Symphony since 1987. Braden’s position in the symphony has included hundreds of concerts as principal and E-flat clarinetist and in the TSO woodwind quintet. Andy has also performed with many orchestras including the Kansas City Symphony, the Phoenix Symphony, True Concord, and the Tucson Pops. He is one of the few clarinetists in America to play principal clarinet in Richard Wagner’s massive Ring of the Nibelung when the four operas were presented by Arizona Opera. Another career highlight was performing Rhapsody in Blue with the Southern Arizona Symphony on their Chinese tour.
Braden has played chamber music in Tucson and southern Arizona for over 25 years. This includes dozens of recitals with the TSO quintet, the Ocotillo Trio and the Paloma Winds quintet. With the woodwind group Ocotillo Trio, Braden toured Mexico which included recitals in Monterey and Vera Cruz. Teaching has been central to Andy’s life since he was a music education major at Kansas University. As an undergrad he was named clarinet teacher at the Midwest Music Camp, a position he held for 18 years. This appointment included teaching lessons, playing on faculty recitals, coaching ensembles, giving master classes and conducting sectionals for thousands of students. Andy taught elementary school music in Tucson Unified for 10 years and currently has a large number of clarinet and saxophone students.