A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, Dexter Hidalgo is a clarinetist and music educator based in Eugene, Oregon. Dexter currently serves as Second Clarinet with the Reno Chamber Orchestra in Reno, Nevada, and has performed with ensembles including the Eugene Symphony and Rogue Valley Symphony. 

Dexter serves as the bass clarinetist for the nonesuch.reedquintet, an Oregon-based ensemble dedicated to music education and new music. Through the nonesuch.reedquintet, he has commissioned and premiered several new works for reed quintet by Pacific Northwest composers, bringing these compositions to international audiences. The group’s most recent highlights include competing at the 2026 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and performing at the 2026 International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest. Dexter has also been appointed as the Bass Clarinet Fellow for Orchestra Next since 2024 and was named a winner of the 2024 Grande Ronde Symphony Concerto Competition. 

Dedicated to music education, Dexter regularly leads outreach initiatives that bring chamber music and music education to classrooms. Through the nonesuch.reedquintet, Dexter has taught and presented masterclasses in various regions of the United States and in multiple countries in Southeast Asia at all levels, ranging from younger musicians to collegiate-level music students. He currently serves as the clarinet instructor at Linn-Benton Community College.

Dexter’s primary teachers include Dr. Wonkak Kim and Dr. Joshua Anderson, and he holds degrees from the University of Oregon and the University of Nevada, Reno.