WATERLOO — Renowned clarinetist James Campbell will visit Wilfrid Laurier University March 12-15 to lead master classes for Laurier music students and to perform in a free public concert as part of the MWM Financial Group Distinguished Artist Series.

Called “Canada’s pre-eminent clarinetist and wind soloist” by The Toronto Star, Campbell has participated in more than 40 recordings since 1975. He has performed with many of the world’s great musicians, including the late Glenn Gould and Aaron Copeland, and with more than 30 string ensembles, including the Amadeus, Guarneri, Vermeer, New Zealand, St. Lawrence, Fine Arts, and Allegri string quartets. Campbell has won a Juno Award and been appointed to the Order of Canada. Currently, he is a faculty member at Indiana University’s School of Music.

“He is one of the top clarinetists in the world,” said Paul Pulford, Laurier strings professor and conductor of the Wilfrid Laurier University Orchestra. “His recording of Brahms with the Allegri String Quartet was named Gramophone Magazine’s top chamber music recording of the last century. Deservedly so. We lived together for a time when we were students and I’ve known him to always be very observant and creative; he never takes the expected trajectory artistically.”

Campbell is the second performer in the MWM Financial Group Distinguished Artist Series, which was inaugurated last spring with a visit to Laurier by Grammy Award-winning oboist Alex Klein. The MWM series enables students to participate in master classes led by distinguished artists, and allows the public to hear the artists perform in a recital. MWM has made a five-year financial commitment to Laurier for the annual series.