Faculty

Christian Schubert joined the Houston Symphony as Second Clarinetist in 1996, appointed by then music director Christoph Eschenbach. A native of Burbank, California, Mr. Schubert studied with Kalman Bloch (Principal Clarinet, Los Angeles Philharmonic) for seven years before moving to Chicago to study with Robert Marcellus at Northwestern University, where he received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees in music performance. As a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Mr. Schubert also studied with Larry Combs of the Chicago Symphony.  

Prior to arriving in Houston, Mr. Schubert played extensively with numerous Chicago area ensembles including the Lyric Opera Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Ravinia Festival Orchestra, The Chicago Ensemble, as well as performing commercial jingle session work in the Chicago studios. He also served as the second clarinetist and E-flat clarinetist with the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago for 17 seasons between 1991 and 2016.  Active as a chamber musician as well as a recitalist, he has been a featured performer at the Schlesswig Holstein Musik Festival, the Mainly Mozart Festival, the Grand Teton Music Festival and the Tanglewood Music Festival.

Well known for his success in teaching young people, he has served on the music faculties of North Park College in Chicago and the University of Houston's Moores School of Music. He is also the co-founder of Houston Clarinet Camp and has presented masterclasses across the country.  A dedicated pedagogue, he has maintained a private instruction studio at home every year of his professional career as well as serving as a lead teacher in several music education initiatives sponsored by the Houston Symphony.  

In his time away from performing and teaching, Mr. Schubert owns and operates a recording engineering company, Schubert Recording Services, specializing in the quality digital recording of classical music. And in his time away from work, he is the devoted father of two young daughters whose love for the arts include singing and dancing. 

Mr. Schubert exclusively performs and records on Buffet clarinets, and on D'Addario Reserve Classic reeds, and has been a Performing Artist & Clinician for both companies since 2016.

Sasha joined the Houston Symphony as Bass Clarinet/Utility in October 2012. A native of Ukraine, he moved with his family to Israel in 1991, where he attended the Rubin Jerusalem Academy of Music, while appearing as a regular substitute clarinetist with Israel Philharmonic. Sasha came to Houston in 1995 to study at Rice University, where he earned his Master of Music Degree in 1997.

Most recently, Sasha has appeared as substitute Principal Clarinet of the Alabama Symphony on their Carnegie Hall tour in Spring 2012. He has also performed as guest principal clarinet with the Kansas City Symphony and as a soloist with the Tel Aviv Symphony and the Brooklyn Philharmonic. Sasha has participated in the Mozart, Bellingham, Blossom and Tanglewood music festivals.

        Equally committed to teaching, Sasha maintains a large, private studio. His main teachers include David Peck and David Weber, with additional studies with Michael Wayne and Mark Nuccio on clarinet and Chester Rowell and Ben Freimuth on Bass Clarinet.

Mr. Potiomkin is a D'Addario Artist & Clinician and a Performing Artist/Clinician for Buffet Crampon.