Kamalia Freyling

Kamalia Freyling was appointed Second Clarinet of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in 2026. Prior to joining the SLSO, she served as Acting Second Clarinet in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for the 2025/26 season and played six years as Second and E-flat Clarinet in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.  

She has performed with orchestras both in the US and beyond, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra of the Dominican Republic, the Oregon Bach Festival Modern Orchestra, the Sun Valley Music Festival Orchestra, New York String Orchestra, the Albany Symphony Orchestra, the Spoleto Festival Orchestra, and the Verbier Festival Orchestra. As a soloist, Freyling has performed with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Jefferson Symphony Orchestra, and the Colorado College Festival Orchestra.  

Freyling started playing clarinet at age 8 in her coastal hometown of Encinitas, California, where her early music inspirations spanned all genres from jazz transcriptions to opera arias to video game music. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Music degree with a Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music and a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School. Her primary teachers are Jon Manasse, Frank Renk, and Robert Carter, with additional mentorship from Michael Wayne. Freyling is also a passionate educator and maintained an active private studio spanning all ages and abilities during her time in Rochester and Detroit.  

Beyond the clarinet, Freyling is an outdoor enthusiast who loves to add a new sport to her list of hobbies every few years. Her current roster includes indoor and outdoor rock climbing, alpine skiing, running, mountain biking, paddle boarding, and hiking. She is accompanied in most of these by her Australian shepherd, Calvin.