Former Principal Clarinetist with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, Carmen Borregales is a Venezuelan clarinetist educated in the internationally renowned music program EL SISTEMA. Beginning her music studies in her hometown of Coro at the age of eight, she pursued further study at the Latin American Clarinet Academy in Caracas under prominent clarinetists Valdemar Rodríguez, Edgar Pronio, Jorge Montilla, Luis Rossi, Henry Crespo, and Gregory Parra.
Borregales has enriched her musical prowess through masterclasses with international maestros and soloists, including Alain Damiens, Thomas Friedli, Eddy Vanoosthuyse, Michel Arrignon, Walter Seyfarth, Alessandro Carbonare, Philippe Cuper, Charles Neidich, Jonathan Cohler, and others. In addition to the ICA 2004 Young Artists Competition (Maryland, USA), she has successfully qualified for competitions under the World Federation of International Music Competitions, including the Geneva International Music Competition 2007, the ARD Music Competition Munich 2008, and the Carl Nielsen International Music Competition 2009. In the orchestra, she has had the opportunity to work with prestigious conductors, such as Gustavo Dudamel, Krzysztof Penderecki, Jesús López Cobos, Giancarlo Guerrero, Alondra de la Parra, Bruno Mantovani, Rafael Payare, Diego Matheuz, among others.
Carmen Borregales has built an extraordinary career as an educator. In Venezuela, she dedicated over a decade to teaching at the Simón Bolívar Conservatory of Music (2003–2016) and the Latin American Clarinet Academy (2006–2016). In 2015, she undertook a music mission in Haiti as part of EL SISTEMA, where she spent a month imparting the fundamentals of playing the clarinet, music theory, and orchestral performance to young musicians. Carmen has taught and performed at international festivals and music schools in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Uruguay, Paraguay, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, and the United States. Including virtual presentations in Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, and Panama.
Under the tutelage of clarinet maker and soloist, Luis Rossi, Carmen earned a Master’s Degree in clarinet performance from the Simón Bolívar University in 2012. In August 2023, she received her DMA in music performance from the University of South Carolina under the guidance of Joseph Eller. In her Doctoral Dissertation, she introduced a comprehensive method for clarinet based on music genres from Venezuela’s popular music of traditional roots. Carmen Borregales is an artist Buffet Crampon, Gonzalez Reeds, a Rovner ambassador, and a teaching artist with the Houston Youth Symphony Chamber Music and Youth Orchestra Program. Important collaborations in the United States include the Houston Symphony, Classical Music Institute, the Orchestra San Antonio, New Jersey Symphony, South Carolina Philharmonic, the Monarch Chamber Players, Texas New Music Ensemble, and Nu Deco Ensemble.