Victoria Luperi
Clarinet
Associate Principal Clarinet & Principal E-flat Clarinet, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Artist Lecturer, Carnegie Mellon University
Argentine clarinetist Victoria Luperi was appointed associate principal clarinet and principal E-flat clarinet of the Pittsburgh Symphony by Manfred Honeck in 2016. She previously held the position of principal clarinet with the Fort Worth and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras. Since 2014, she has performed at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson, Wyoming. Victoria premiered Fantasía sobre Yma Sumac, a work for solo clarinet and orchestra written for her by John B Hedges, with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. She has been a featured soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Madison Symphony, Signature Symphony in Tulsa, Debut Orchestra in Los Angeles, Philharmonia of Kansas City, Córdoba Symphony, Córdoba Chamber Orchestra, and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.
A devoted chamber musician, she has collaborated with members of the Emerson and Guarneri Quartets and performed at the Marlboro, Mainly Mozart, and Mimir Festivals, the Académie musicale de Villecroze in France, the Oregon Bach Festival, Chicago's Latino Music Festival, and the Jackson Hole Chamber Music Series. She recently premiered Canzoni di Fiori, a work for two E-flat clarinets and string quartet written for her by composer Till Meyn.Victoria joined the clarinet faculty of Carnegie Mellon University as an artist lecturer in 2024 after serving as a lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin and adjunct faculty at Texas Christian University and Brandon University in Canada. Her international teaching experience includes coaching at NOI+F, the New York Summer Music Festival, the Filarmónica Joven de Colombia, Conservatorio Superior de Música «Félix T. Garzón» in Córdoba, Argentina, and the Buffet Academy in Jacksonville, Florida. She served as a jury member in the Carl Nielsen International Competition in Odense, Denmark, in 2022.
Victoria graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Donald Montanaro. She began her music education in Argentina with Oscar Gieco and later studied with Richard Hawkins and Yehuda Gilad. Distinctions include the First Prize in the Pasadena Instrumental Competition, the Interlochen Fine Arts Award, and the Banco Mayo Award of Buenos Aires. She has appeared in concert broadcasts on NPR's Performance Today, WQED, WRR 101.1, WFMT, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Victoria is a Vandoren Artist and Clinician and a Buffet Crampon USA Performing Artist. She proudly served on the research and development team for Buffet Crampon's "Tradition" clarinet model.
Victoria is married to conductor and non-profit executive Andrés Franco. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, reading, traveling, and making chocolates—as a certified chocolatier.