Eric Abramovitz, a Montreal native, is a highly acclaimed clarinetist known for his colourful playing and versatility. Appointed as Principal Clarinet at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2021, Eric began his journey with the orchestra in 2018 as Associate Principal and E-flat Clarinet. His impressive career includes positions with the Nashville
Symphony Orchestra and the Santa Barbara Symphony. Eric frequently appears as guest principal clarinetist with the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra. Notably, he has toured throughout Japan and South Korea with the New York Symphonic Ensemble and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and performed as principal clarinet with the New York Philharmonic at the Bravo Vail festival in the summer of 2021.
Recognized for his outstanding achievements, Eric was featured on CBC’s “30 Hot Classical Musicians Under 30″ and named the Vandoren Emerging Artist of the Year in 2017. As a first-prize winner at the OSM Standard Life Competition in 2011, Eric has been featured as a soloist with numerous orchestras, including the McGill and USC Symphonies, l’Orchestre symphonique de Québec, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, where he has appeared as a soloist not only on clarinet but on alto saxophone as well. In 2025, Eric and the TSO performed the premiere of his composition titled ‘Mozart in the Shtetl’ for clarinet and strings. Recipient of the Sylva Gelber Career Grant in 2016, Eric is a graduate of McGill University’s Schulich School of Music and the University of Southern California, where he has studied under renowned teachers, including Zaven Zakarian, Alain Desgagné, Robert Crowley, Simon Aldrich, Jean-François Normand, Kimball Sykes, and Yehuda Gilad.
Equally at home performing and composing Klezmer music, Eric is a founding member of Schmaltz & Pepper, a Klezmer and Yiddish music ensemble based in Toronto which formed in 2024.