Brazilian clarinetist, Thiago Ancelmo, has an active career as an educator, chamber musician, and orchestral player. Awarded in more than ten competitions, including the prestigious “New Talents of Brazilian Music”, he has performed in twelve countries in Europe, South America, and North America, and more than twenty-two states in the US.

An enthusiastic of chamber music and the music of our time, Thiago has performed music by living composers from an eclectic group of people, collaborating with distinguished performers and composers, such as: Heinz Holliger, Jack Quartet, Nina Shekhar, David Lang, Augusta Read Thomas, and others. He is a founding member and co-artistic director of Khemia Ensemble, a chamber music group dedicated to reflecting broader perspectives in contemporary classical chamber music by presenting engaging performances, commissioning new works, and mentoring the next generation of musicians. Khemia has embarked on national and international tours, performed at music festivals, and held residencies at important universities across the US.

Teaching has a central role in Thiago’s career. Currently, he is the clarinet professor at Utah State University. Additionally, he has taught at the University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin- Platteville, and University of Dubuque. He is constantly invited to teach at music festivals, present lectures, and masterclasses at distinguished institutions in Brazil, Poland, Colombia, USA, and Canada, including Juilliard School (MAP), Kryzsztof Penderecki Academy of Music, Michigan State University, Universidad Nacional de Bogota, and more. A strong believer in the social power of music, Thiago regularly brings music to his community, performing in Hospitals, Public Schools, Libraries and Nursing Homes.

As a researcher, Professor Ancelmo has presented lectures on Krzysztof Penderecki’s music for clarinet at national and international conferences, including most recently at the VI International Art and Science Conference – K. Penderecki Academy of Music, Krakow. His article “Henry Lazarus: The life and repertoire of a leading English clarinetist of the 19th century” was
published in The Clarinet.

Furthermore, Thiago has an extensive career as an orchestral player in professional orchestras in Brazil, Switzerland, and US, performing in world-famous concert halls such as Tonhalle of Zurich, Detroit Symphony Hall, Sala Sao Paulo, and working with conductors like Kurt Masur, Michael Morgan, Isaac Karabtchevsky, Ligia Amado, and others. A recipient of the prestigious
Iowa Performance Fellowship granted by the University of Iowa, Thiago is a DMA candidate in Clarinet Performance and Pedagogy at the U, where he researches the music for clarinet by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. He received a MA with high distinction from the Hochschule fur Music der Stadt Basel in Switzerland, where he was awarded with the “Ruth und
Hans Rapp Scholarship,” granted by the Rapp Foundation.