Music @NYPL presents Clarence Ferrari Duo

The featured fiddler on the soundtrack of the Billy Bob Thornton movie, “The Astronaut Farmer,” Clarence Ferrari began playing Bluegrass fiddle at the age of five, winning his first Old Time fiddle contest in Nashville when he was six.

Since the age of seven, Clarence has performed with countless musicians including Pete Seeger and The Hudson River Sloop Singers, Tom Chapin, Tom Paxton, Davey Arthur of The Furies and Les Binks of Judas Priest, along with various orchestras, including the Brooklyn Philharmonic.

Clarence studied fiddle with Jay Ungar and Dewey Balfa, Jazz composition with Jimmy Heath, Donald Byrd and Roland Hanna, and classical composition with Thea Musgrave and Bruce Sailor.

Bringing his “fast and floating fiddle” to the world of Irish music, Clarence began touring North America and Europe at the age of nineteen with well-known Celtic groups such as Lenahan, the Jodee James Band, Ffynnon and The McCabes. He currently performs in New York City with Dominic Chianese, who played “Uncle Junior” on HBO’s The Sopranos.  Today, Clarence continues to perform in both traditional Irish and traditional American music.