Andrew Conrad is a single reed artist residing in Los Angeles, CA. He began his musical studies with the clarinet at age 10 on the Central Coast of California. Growing up in a musical family, Andrew enjoyed teaching himself songs on the piano and quickly fell in love with the clarinet while listening to recordings of Benny Goodman along with a wide assortment of Classical records, Oldies radio, Musical Soundtracks on Cassette Tape, and any Jazz CDs he could steal from his older brother. Up through high school Andrew studied western classical clarinet repertoire playing in chamber ensembles, orchestras, and freelancing as a clarinetist around San Luis Obispo, CA; but his interest in the school Jazz Band led him to pick up the Tenor Saxophone at the age of 16. He discovered a new world of possibilities in improvisation at the end of high school, studying with James Miley, George Stone, and Dave Becker at Cuesta Community College for two years afterwards.

Andrew went on to complete a Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz and Improvisational Music at the University of Nevada, Reno where he studied Improvisation and Jazz with Peter Epstein, David Ake and James Winn. Graduating in 2008, it is then that Andrew moved to Los Angeles to pursue a Master’s degree in Jazz performance at the California Institute of the Arts. While attending Cal Arts he absorbed music from around the world including West African drumming with Alfred Ladzekpo, Balinese Gamelan with I Nyoman Wenten, Cuban music with Aaron Saferty and David Roitstein, Balkan Folk Music with Miroslav Tadic, Kate Conklin and Milen Kirov, and Indian Classical music with Aashish Khan, Swapan Chadhuri and Randy Gloss. Andrew also focused much of his time to the Saxophone and Clarinet through Jazz and Improvisation, studying with Charlie Haden, Vinny Golia, Paul Novros, Larry Koonse, and David Roitstein.

Andrew has lived in Los Angeles since graduating from Cal Arts in 2010, spending his time teaching, composing and playing music in a wide assortment of areas. In 2013 he started an Improvisation class through the Harmony Project in Ventura, CA and continues to work with students throughout Southern California. He is a co-leader of the improvisational jazz quartet Chord Four, and also plays with Orkestar Meze, Trevor Anderies Quintet, Jon Armstrong Jazz Orchestra, and Bubbeleh. He has performed and/or composed music with Poor Dog Group, Wild Up, Angel City Jazz Festival, and Vinny Golia.