Henry McNamara

About Henry McNamara

Hailing from northern California, Henry McNamara is a bass clarinet specialist who seeks to forge new paths and promote new works for the instrument. Most recently, he is working with composer Luke Mombrea on his piece Faultline (2026) for solo bass clarinet and effects pedals. He also co-led the consortium for Sarah Lucas-Page’s Synchronizing Personas (2024), which he premiered with Dakota Laurent at the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest 2024 in Dublin, Ireland. In addition to being one half of DOOT, Henry is one-quarter of joey809, a US-based bass clarinet quartet, one-quarter of Favored, a Sheffield-based progressive metal band, and one-fifth of I’m Being Serious (IBS), a Sheffield-based psychedelic rock band. Henry has also performed as a freelancer with many other groups on clarinet, bass clarinet, and saxophone, including the Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra, the Enigma Orchestra, and the Bavarian Strollers. Henry is also a co-founder of Hidden Track, a monthly night of contemporary classical music aimed at making modern classical music more accessible to musicians and audiences alike.
Henry is a graduate of the University of Sheffield, earning his Master’s degree in Music Performance Studies with Dr. Sarah Watts. He graduated magna cum laude from Arizona State University, earning his Bachelor of Music in Instrumental Performance under Dr. Robert Spring and Dr. Joshua Gardner, and concurrently earned his Bachelor of Science in Psychology.