Performer Biography

Martin Kocev

Martin Kocev (clarinet) is originally from Valandovo, Macedonia but currently lives in Cleveland, Ohio, where he is a senior at the Cleveland Institute of Music and a student of Franklin Cohen. Before attending the Cleveland Institute of Music, Martin studied clarinet for eight years in his native Macedonia where he studied with Goran Stojanovski and Bobi Kominovski. The last two years of high school, he studied with Emil Khudyev at Interlochen, Michigan.

He has attended many domestic and international clarinet competitions and has been awarded numerous first prizes. He also won the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award in the amount of $10,000 and has a performance on the radio show From the Top. Martin really likes classical music but he also plays a lot of Macedonian folk songs. He has played a few weddings with his father who plays clarinet and saxophone. After college, Martin plans to continue his studies in the United States. In his free time Martin enjoys playing soccer and watching movies.