Red Bank Regional 2014 graduate Matthew Rosen recently returned from Oklahoma as the winner of the prestigious National Clarinet Competition at the University of Oklahoma.
Press release from Red Bank Regional High School
Matt Rosen, who graduated from Red Bank Regional High School in June, continues to soar to new heights as a concert clarinetist. Last month, he traveled to the University of Oklahoma to compete in the National Young Artist Competition as one of five finalists from around the US. He was humbled — and yet ecstatic — to be judged the winner of that competition.
Before an audience that included professional musicians and music educators from around the country, Matt was given the opportunity to play the world premiere performance of a piece written specifically for the competition. As a first place winner, he also received a new clarinet, many clarinet accessories, and a cash prize.
Matt, who plays the bass clarinet and saxophone in addition to the Bb clarinet, will continue to perform throughout the summer; traveling to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to play in the International Clarinet Association Festival, and upstate New York for the New York Summer Music Festival. He will also attend a week-long chamber group program at Rutgers University. By the end of the summer, he heads off to the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, in Rochester, NY. There he will study music performance with a concentration in clarinet, to achieve his career goal of becoming a musician in a professional orchestra.
 “This was a big competition and really well-known around the country for all clarinetists,” said the 18 year old resident of Little Silver. “It was an honor to just be selected as a finalist, and after hearing how good everyone was I did not expect to win.”
Matt was an instrumental major in the RBR Academy of Visual & Performing Arts (VPA). In addition to his college preparatory curriculum, he studied music subjects for 82 minutes each day with a concentration on clarinet. Matt decided after his freshman year in the VPA to pursue a professional career in music.
