As a clarinetist he is principal of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra he makes international appe arances as soloist, chamber musician and conductor and is considered one of the most distinguished clarinetists in the world. Mr. Valdepeñas has performed at festivals through-out the world including those of Aspen, Banff, Curitiba Brazil, Casals, Edinburgh, Marlboro, Mostly Mozart, Nagano Japan and Vancouver.
He has performed with musicians such as Barbara Bonney, Kathleen Battle, Joshua Bell, Cho Liang Lin, Vladimir Feltsman, Glenn Gould, Steven Isserlis, Yo-Yo Ma, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Pinchas Zukerman and as well has collaborated with the American, Emerson, Muir, St. Lawrence, Orford, Ying string quartets and the Kalichstein-Laredo- Robinson Trio. The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the International Sejong Soloists. Commissioning many works by Canadian composers, he gave the American premiere of Arias for clarinet and orchestra by Michael Colgrass with the Buffalo Philharmonic. As Conductor, Soloist and Clarinet coach and teacher Mr. Valdepenas has taken part in the Aspen Music Festival and School for over 10 years. The Aspen Music Festival and School is an internationally renowned classical music festival that presents world-class music in an intimate, small-town setting. This performance is part of the nine-week summer Festival that comprises more than 200 events, including orchestral concerts, chamber music, opera, contemporary music, master classes, lectures, and kids' programs. Mr Valdepeñas made his European debut with the BBC-Welsh Symphony on BBC television, Sir Andrew Davis conducting, and has recorded the Mozart Clarinet Concerto with the English Orchestra (Summit DCD131). He has also recorded extensively for CBC, Centrediscs, Naxos, Sony and Summit and was featured in a PBS documentary about the Aspen Music Festival both as clarinetist and conductor. Mr Valdepeñas is currently on the faculty of The Glenn Gould School at The Royal Conservatory of Music and today many of his past students hold positions in orchestras around the world. As an exclusive Yamaha artist he was instrumental in the design of the new CSG Yamaha clarinet combining the French and German traditions into a unique voice. Mr. Valdepeñas' chamber group "Amici" has released their ninth and tenth CD entitled Majestic Flair all music by composer Chan Ka Nin on the CBC label and a disc of D'Indy and Bruch on the Naxos label, the entire set of Luciano Berio's Sequenzas has be released on the Naxos label. Mr. Valdepeñas has recently been appointed conductor of the Young Artist Performance Academy Orchestra of The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto
