Colin Clarke

Colin Clarke is an active guest conductor, clinician, adjudicator and composer/arranger. He is perhaps best known in his role as the Artistic Director of the Toronto Youth Wind Orchestra (TYWO), an ensemble he founded when he was still a high school student that is now in its 33rd year. For three decades, the TYWO has gathered a reputation throughout the nation as the leading Canadian performance ensemble with multiple awards earned for its hard work and dedication.

Colin also currently serves as the Artistic Director for the Oakville Symphony Youth Orchestra (OSYO); a Director of the Wind Orchestra at Laurier University in Waterloo; and in 2022 was appointed as Artistic Director of the Oscar Peterson Program at the Royal Conservatory of Music. This year will be Colin’s second appearance at Band Camp!

Photo by Stuart Lowe/Royal Conservatory of Music.

With his passion for music, Colin has collaborated with many world-renowned ensembles including the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir,  the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Canadian Brass, the United States Air Force Band of Liberty (Boston, Massachusetts) and the New Symphony Orchestra of Sofia, Bulgaria. He has led the Provincial Honour Bands of Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Prince Edward Island and has served as the conductor for the National Youth Band of Canada. Abroad, Colin has performed in the United States, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Spain and China.

Colin has been awarded the Clifford Evans Award for Conducting at the University of Western as well as the Ontario Band Association’s Lifetime Membership Award and has been recognized as a Molson Great Canadian for his contribution to his community. For many years, Colin has appeared on the national adjudication panel of MusicFest Canada and other festivals and is a member of the steering committee for the Golden Horseshoe Music Festival. Colin made his Carnegie Hall debut in May 2006 with the Toronto Youth Wind Orchestra, and returned to Carnegie Hall in 2011 and 2016.