Carl Rosman specialises in performance of the most demanding works of the recent solo clarinet repertoire, and in collaborative creation of new works drawing on and developing his distinctive repertoire of specialised instrumental techniques: as Stephanie Bunbury wondered, “Is that really a clarinet?” (The Age, 13 July 1994). 

Composers from around the world have found themselves drawn to his polyphony of technique, sound and idea, many composing solo works specifically for him, including, among others, Georges Aperghis (Damespiel), Richard Barrett (interference, the world long ago ceased to exist), Aaron Cassidy (The wreck of former boundaries, 27. Juni 2009), Chris Dench (ruins within), Milica Djordjević (treperenje), Michael Finnissy (Kölner Klarinette) and Liza Lim (Microbiome).  He was awarded the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis at the 1994 Darmstadt Ferienkurse.

He has a particularly wide experience performing on historical instruments: in chalumeau repertoire by Telemann and Graupner; in new works exploiting the potential of such instruments as the Classical basset clarinet, the Baroque clarinet, and the basson de chalumeau; and in twentieth-century repertoire by Messiaen, Boulez, or Lachenmann, where his instrumental choices cast new light on well-known material, just as they re-establish fading knowledge of original performance practice. Recent appearances as soloist with orchestra include Chaya Czernowin’s Fast Darkness II with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra under Enno Poppe, and Turgut Erçetin’s Das Phonem zwischen zwei Wörtern (b) with the SWR Symphonieorchester under Brad Lubman.

As clarinettist, he has been a member of ELISION for over thirty years and Ensemble Musikfabrik for over twenty. He also performs as a vocalist (Pierrot lunaire at the 2018 Koper Biennale, Peter Maxwell Davies’ Eight Songs for a Mad King, Kassandra/Athena in Xenakis’ Oresteïa at the 2011 Wiener Festwochen, staged by La Fura dels Baus) and conductor (including with Ensemble Musikfabrik, ELISION and libra ensemble at festivals including the Adelaide Festival, BIFEM, HCMF and the Berliner Festspiele).

He has recorded widely both as a soloist and with ensemble. Recent releases include Alberto Posadas’ Sombras cycle with Quatuor Diotima and Sarah Maria Sun on naïve, the solo CD Caerulean on HCR, and the 2023 HCR release indolentiae ars devoted to solo works for voice and clarinet by Evan Johnson. Ensemble Musikfabrik’s CD Sprechgesänge, including his performance of Georges Aperghis’s clarinet concerto Babil, was awarded an ECHO Klassik prize in 2011.