José Carlos Domínguez Almela began his musical studies at the Real Conservatorio Profesional de Música ‘Manuel de Falla’ in Cádiz, Spain. During this time, he was guided by Francisco Hernández and Francisco José Cantó. He continued his bachelor’s degree at the Conservatorio Superior de Música ‘Manuel Castillo’ in Seville, Spain, where he studied with Camilo Irizo and David Calvo, alongside additional lessons from Antonio Salguero and Javier Trigos. Afterwards he moved to Helsinki, Finland, to study at the Sibelius Academy, where he completed his master’s degree in clarinet performance under the guidance of Olli Leppäniemi, Harri Mäki and Asko Heiskanen, and in pedagogical studies as a secondary subject, with Okko Kivikataja as tutor.
Since 2020, José has held the position of Co-Principal clarinet with E-flat clarinet at the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra in Tallinn, Estonia.
During his time in Finland, José covered the position of Co-Principal clarinet with E-flat clarinet at Oulu Symphony Orchestra and the position of tutti clarinet with bass clarinet at Finnish National Opera. Also, he performed with Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Finnish Chamber Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Helsinki Chamber Orchestra, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Helsinki Sinfonietta as well as Dala Sinfonietta (Sweden). In addition, he has collaborated with other orchestras in Europe, including Estonia Sinfonietta, Järvi Academy Sinfonietta, the BBC Symphony Orchestra (United Kingdom), Grafenegg Academy Orchestra (Austria), Academy of Granada City Orchestra (Spain) and the Royal Seville Symphony Orchestra (Spain). He has also been part of youth orchestras such as the Andalusian Youth Orchestra (Spain), Córdoba Youth Orchestra (Spain), and Cádiz Youth Orchestra (Spain).
José has been qualified in competitions such as the Jacques Lancelot Clarinet Competition (France, 2025; Japan, 2023), Crusell Clarinet Competition (Finland, 2021), 2nd Vienna International Music Competition (Austria, 2020), Carl Nielsen International Competition (Denmark, 2019), Mercadante Clarinet Competition (Semi-final, Italy, 2018) and Chieri Music Competition (Semi-final, Italy, 2015).
Additionally, to his principal clarinet teachers, José has been influenced by mentors including José Luis Estellés, Carlos Gil, Björn Nyman, Yehuda Gilad, Andreas Sundén and Christoffer Sundqvist.
Currently, José combined his performance career with the clarinet repair field, studying with Sergio Jerez, specialized woodwind technician based in Malaga (Spain). These studies has been supported by Eesti Interpreetide Liit (EIL) and Eesti Kultuurkapital (KULKA).