Deryck Clarke

French Horn

A native of Brooklyn, NY, Deryck Clarke (French horn) comes from a family of immigrants from Guyana, South America. He is a graduate of the High School of Performing Arts in New York City and the Curtis Institute of Music. He holds a BM from the North Carolina School of the Arts and a MM from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.

His professional engagements include Soulful Symphony, the Martina Arroyo Foundation’s Prelude to Performance orchestra, Early Music New York, the Paula Kimper Ensemble, the Ray Chew Orchestra, Imani Winds, Oregon Symphony, Winston-Salem Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, and Broadway productions of The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aida, and the US Tour of Oklahoma! Throughout his career Deryck has performed with renowned artists including Leonard Bernstein, Isaac Stern, Donnie McClurkin, Ashford and Simpson, Sir Andrew Davis, Aaron Copland, Paquito D’Rivera, and James DePriest.

While in college, Mr. Clarke discovered his passion for teaching at the NY State Music Camp/Hartwick College Music Festival. He was faculty member at the Apple Hill Chamber Music Festival, the Juilliard School's Music Advancement Program and the Mannes College preparatory division. Mr. Clarke also served as Interim Music Director of the Harlem School of the Arts. As a NJ state certified music educator, Deryck received awards and recognition for his service as instrumental and vocal music teacher at the Mount Vernon Elementary School in Newark, NJ. He later served as Program Director of William Paterson University’s Music After School program in Paterson, NJ and Start the Music camp, and an artist-in-residence at the Cicely Tyson School of the Arts in East Orange, NJ.

Deryck is currently the Educational and Community Outreach director for The Harlem Chamber Players and founder of the Harmony Effect, an instrumental music learning program. He serves on the Leadership Council of the Newark Arts Education Roundtable, the Education Committee for the American Federation of Musicians Local 802, and the Education Committee of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors.