CLARINET NEWS

FALL 2016
TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S CLARINET NEWS
Issue No. 1, Fall 2016

Eddie Daniels
On Eddie Daniels 4 Publisher/Editor In Chief
JOEL JAFFE

Editor
Denise Gainey KIM WERKER

Kalmen Opperman: A Legacy of Excellence 7

A Book Excerpt Designer
WA R R E N N E I LY

Mary Alice Druhan

How to Make Your Event Successful 13 Copyeditor
R E B E C C A B R I N B U RY

Proofreader
Richard Hawkins MORGAN CHOJNACKI

From Fundamentals to a Dark Roast 16

Contributors
MORRIE BACKUN, EDDIE DANIELS, MARY
ALICE DRUHAN, KAREN HALEY FOSTER,
Wes Foster D E N I S E G A I N E Y, R I C H A R D H AW K I N S , B I L

“F” is for Foster 22 JACKSON, JOEL JAFFE, JULIANNE KIRK

D O Y L E , J O N AT H A N L E S H N O F F, B E N J A M I N
LULICH, RACHEL LULICH, CHRISTOPHER
MILLARD, RON ODRICH, RAPHAEL SANDERS,
KIM WERKER, ROB WORKMAN
Bil Jackson
Clarithenics 30 Photography
CLIFF BRANE, VICTOR DEZSO, RICK ETKIN,
K A R E N H A L E Y F O S T E R , D E N I S E G A I N E Y,
N AT H A N G A R F I N K E L , PA U L G I T E L S O N ,
Benjamin Lulich E R I C A H A M I LT O N , L A R E Y M C D A N I E L ,
A N G E L A P N AVA R E T T E , R O N O D R I C H ,
Coming Full Circle 36 L O U I S E O P P E R M A N , J E A N I E O W, TA N YA
R O S E N - J O N E S , Y U K I T E I , R O B E RT Y O U N G

Eugene Mondie T h a n k Yo u
CORINA ACHESON, JEREMY BACKUN, MARY
Why I Switched 40 BACKUN, MORRIE BACKUN, SEAN CHRISTIE,
N AT H A N G A R F I N K E L , C O R R A D O G I U F F R E D I ,
S O N I A G R E G O R Y, J E N J A F F E , E S T H E R
KELLER, CHRISTINE KIM, MEGHAN MAJOR,
Ricardo Morales E U N I C E PA R K , R I C H A R D S T O L Z M A N , G R E G
WERKER
The Concerto and The Clarinet 44

Jonathan Leshnoff
The Collaborator 48
Printed on post-consumer recycled paper
with environmentally friendly ink.
Raphael Sanders & Julianne Kirk Doyle
In Their Own Words 51 clarinetnews.com
©2016 Backun Musical Ser vices.
All rights reser ved.

London Silas Shavers

Taking Your Place 56

David Shifrin
Forging Paths and Building Audiences 59

1
ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS
This publication has been
years in the making. Sixteen
years, to be exact. When I
came up with the tagline,
“Reinventing the Clarinet.
One Piece at a Time.” three
years after Morrie Backun
founded the company in
2000, I had no idea that
we really would reinvent it.
Yet, here we are, standing
on the shoulders of giants.

These giants are the people who play our clarinets,

who have believed in our company and products,
who took the leap of faith in playing Backun.
Chances are you’re one of these giants, as are the
many Backun Artists taking the stage at ClarinetFest
2016. John Wesley (Wes) Foster was the first of
these giants. In this inaugural issue of Clarinet
News, we pay homage to Wes and the incredible
legacy he left to our company and to the entire
clarinet community.

Much like the first Backun Barrel handmade by

Morrie sixteen years ago, which launched a
business that now spans the globe, this magazine
is a catalyst for change. It’s what we at Backun do
best. We challenge the status quo. We fight for the
underdog. Why? Because we were the underdog
ourselves.

On behalf of Morrie, our family, the staff at Backun

Musical Services, and the artists who play our
products, thank you. Thank you for believing in us
and for sharing our passion for the clarinet.

In gratitude,

Joel Jaffe

Editor In Chief
chief@clarinetnews.com

2 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
A FIRST
When Joel laid out his plan for
this new magazine, I was
thrilled to be given the
opportunity to speak with so
many varied and accomplished
clarinetists. As I interviewed
them and they told me about
their lives and their music,
several common themes rose to
the surface: A focus on
mastering fundamentals so they
could let go and have fun.
Their exposure to music in school when they were
children, and the importance of their parents’ support.
A passionate love of teaching.

I am not a clarinetist. In fact, I’m not even a

musician. I’m simply an editor who loves to learn
about what drives people to create art. When Joel
first invited me to join him on this adventure, I got
that rare tingling feeling that told me his grand vision
was going to result in something truly great. I hope
you find this great. I hope it inspires you to explore
music in deeper or different ways. I hope you’ll let us
know what you enjoy, and what you’d like to see in
future issues.

Onward!

Kim Werker

Editor
editor@clarinetnews.com

|3
 Eddie Daniels
On Eddie Daniels
Text, Eddie Daniels | Photos, Paul Gitelson
Back in January, I had a conversation with Eddie Daniels about
doubling, the power of passion and practice, and music as voice.
Here’s the transcript of what he told me, edited for length and
clarity. — Ed.
I’m not a doubler, obviously..
The word “doubler” used to be a negative. It’s like
“jack-of-all-trades, master of none.”
I play a few instruments. I play the saxophone, I
play the flute on occasion, but the clarinet has been
my focus.
Each one of those instruments had their period with
me. I started with the saxophone and got pretty
good on it in high school. Then when I started the
clarinet, that became my major study . . . Boom! I
studied with Daniel Bonade, Jimmy Abato, many,
many of the fine teachers. That became my focus.
4 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
When I played the saxophone, it was my only
instrument. Then I moved to the clarinet, but was still
doing gigs on saxophone. I kept that up, but I never
really practiced the saxophone once the clarinet
became my major instrument. I stopped practicing
the saxophone because within the focus of studying
the clarinet are so many things, like your dexterity,
your sound. A lot of it kept my saxophone in a good
place by the mere fact that I was playing a lot of
clarinet.
In the High School of Performing Arts, the clarinet
was my major instrument. I worked very hard and
thought of it as, “That’s my voice.” Then, when I
got into college and I wanted to be able to work in
the world and do Broadway shows — do whatever
kind of gigs I could get — I was told by my teachers
at the time that I would need the flute, also. To
have the flute in my bag with the clarinet and the
saxophone would make me more flexible so that I
could be a viable person called for many different
things. You still might say “master of none,” “plays
on everything, but doesn’t master anything,” but I
was still thinking of mastering the clarinet.
By the time the flute came along, I had studied
the clarinet for about five, six years very strongly,
through high school and then into college. I needed
to start adding the flute as my double because to
get a Broadway show, you had to be a good flute
player to do recording sessions. About the time that
I got into Juilliard, I was majoring in clarinet, I was
dabbling with the flute so that I could get a gig in
the Broadway scene. I started to take the flute more
seriously and thought, “Maybe the clarinet — I got
it. I got it. I really worked it.” Each one of these
instruments, I really worked in a way that it was my
voice, my major, at the time.
I started studying the flute as though that were my
voice, and I made that my all-day practicing thing.
I got really into the flute, passionate with the flute,
and started studying with all the best teachers of
the flute. Then, after ten years of doing that, I had
the flute in my bag alongside the clarinet and the
saxophone.
I would say that the sound of the flute, and loving
the flute, and getting into the flute, infected my idea
of what I wanted the clarinet to sound like. Once I’d
studied the flute for ten years avidly, passionately,
I still had the clarinet. I still practiced it a little bit, I
still had it. I had already done my ten years on the
clarinet passionately. The flute started becoming
my voice and then, as I would start playing clarinet
again, I wanted to have the clarinet sound more
flute-y.
The most important thing
is to have a focus that is
so important to you that
you surrender almost every
part of you, your every
waking hour and minute.
All of this goes back to a book called Outliers by
Malcolm Gladwell [and the ten thousand hours of
practice he says you need to master a skill].
Ten years, you’ve got [more than] ten thousand
hours. I did my ten years on the clarinet, I did my
ten thousand hours. I did my ten years on the flute,
I did my ten thousand hours so that I was an outlier.
Plus, having some talent — and talent I put mostly in
the passion category because if you have passion,
you will have talent; you will be good at it. (I don’t
like labelling somebody as untalented or talented;
it’s more their motivation and how passionate and,
I’d like to say, crazy they are for that instrument.)
I’m in the hundreds of thousands of hours now,
hundreds of thousands of hours on the clarinet,
which is still my main instrument. I did the many,
many hours, more than ten thousand, on the flute, so
I kind of have it, but I think that my main instrument
is music. And I have the saxophone in my bag
because I dragged it along. It had its ten thousand
hours, maybe not as passionate and crazy as the
clarinet because it’s more user-friendly than the
clarinet is, and I really love a challenge.
Also, it’s the voice. That becomes your identity.
When you’re really doing it four or five hours a day
for many years, years, years, years, you identify
with the instrument. You’re a walking reed player.
Boomie Richman used to say that when he’d buy
a box of reeds at Charlie Ponte’s music store, they
would be squeaking in his pocket on the way home.
It shows that even the reeds in your pocket are part
of your body, they’re squeaking, they’re talking to
you. You’re paying attention to them.
The most important thing is to have a focus that is
so important to you that you surrender almost every
part of you, your every waking hour and minute.
You’re thinking about the instrument you play. You’re
thinking about it, you’re working it, it’s a beautiful
thing.
I’m amazed because here I am in my seventies and
it’s in me. Where is it? I can’t find it. I can’t really
locate where all those notes went in those hundreds
of thousands of hours, but somehow it’s in me. I’m
lucky. That’s the gift from God, or the universe,
that somehow human beings are able to be these
amazing recording devices that record what you
learn, and it becomes part of you, becomes part of
your tissue, that the tissue remembers how to do it.
You have to feed your body the ten thousand hours,
and you have to be paying attention during that
feeding process, because the body won’t learn it
unless you’re guiding it in the practice session. You
have to feed it those ten thousand hours so that
EDDIE DANIELS | 5
eventually when you go out on stage to play, you
can lean back into those ten thousand hours, or
a hundred thousand in my case.
You can’t go out in the hall while you’re playing
a concerto. You have to be there; you have to be
present. You have to really, really be present so
you’re allowing your body to do what you taught
it to do all those years.
Then you get into that emotional place where
you can express your feelings through the music,
because your body’s working, everything’s kind
of working the way you want it to. I say “kind
of” because it’s never perfect. It’s the best your
body can do. If you’ve trained your body to play
in tune, to play evenly with the fingers, and you
keep it up and you keep it going, you still have
to keep training it, because you can’t stop for
ten years and then come back and expect it all
to be there – but some of it will be there. That’s
my attitude about it. Letting the training kick in so
that when you go to play, you can be free of the
instrument to just express yourself.
I’m an outlier on all three of my instruments —
on the saxophone, on the clarinet, and I can
pick up the flute and sound like a classical flute
player in a short time because it’s so in me, that
ten thousand hours is so in my flesh, in my body,
that I can’t forget it. I can’t forget the more than
ten thousand hours on the clarinet and the first
grouping of ten thousand hours, if it was that
much, on the saxophone.
That’s why I’m not a doubler. I’m an outlier
on each one. I married each one of these
instruments.
Eddie and Me
Ron Odrich
In the early seventies, my musician father phoned
me and suggested I listen to this clarinetist,
Eddie Daniels, in a new recording, saying that
he sounded a lot like the way I was playing
before I’d stopped fifteen years prior to his call.
I did get the record and loved it. For years I had
resisted when Buddy DeFranco, my teacher/
mentor/friend and indeed my life role model,
tried to get me back to clarinetting. That record
did it. I gave in, chose a bottle of fine Bordeaux,
and knocked on Eddie’s door. And so it started.
The result was that with Eddie’s encouragement, I
was inspired to pick up the agony tube and start
up again. We had a lot of fun and soon became
close friends, engaged in the game of sharing
mouthpieces, clarinets, and A/B-ing different
setups for each other, even over the phone. He
raised the bar as a clarinetist with his choices
of equipment, performances, and authentic
recordings at the highest level in both jazz and
classical models. A true crossover artist,
his virtuosity in both fields continues
to inspire. It has been a great
adventure, and I am delighted to
call him my very close friend.
Clarinetist, composer, novelist
and teacher, Ron Odrich
has studied, played, and
recorded with many jazz
greats. Ron Odrich
is a Backun Artist
and performs on
Backun clarinets
and accessories.

Eddie Daniels is that rarest of rare musicians who is not only equally at home in both jazz and
classical music, but excels at both with breathtaking virtuosity. His overriding ambition is to reach
as many people as possible with his music, enlarging the audience for both jazz and classical
music, while tearing down the walls that separate them. Eddie Daniels is a Backun Artist and
performs on MoBa clarinets and his line of Backun/Eddie Daniels Classical and Jazz Mouthpieces.

6 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
Kalmen Opperman: A Legacy of Excellence
A Book Excerpt

DENISE GAINEY | 7
Passing on the Flame:
A Biography
Denise Gainey
LIFE LESSONS
I
first met Kalmen Opperman because I wanted
to research teaching methods to use with the
students in my college studio (as part of a
doctor of musical arts project). Through the years
that I had studied and taught clarinet, I’d heard
repeated testimonies about the unusual and highly
successful methods Opperman used. However,
when I began researching the literature on him in
university libraries and on the Internet, I discovered
that despite his legendary reputation among
clarinetists, there was a dearth of information on
him and his work. As a result, though I initially only
planned to interview him about his pedagogical
methodologies, after speaking with him several
times (and at his own encouragement), I decided
that I could never understand his unique approach
to any depth without personally experiencing it.
And so I began my private study with him during
the spring of 2001 and continued that study until his
death, at age 90, in 2010. The results were literally
life changing.
For our first meeting, Kal told me to meet him at his
Manhattan apartment, and insisted that I take a cab
rather than the subway, as he knew that it was my
first time in New York City. He met me at the curb
by his apartment, and I was immediately struck
by his small stature, and more so by his incredible
presence. Once in the apartment he introduced me
to his wife, Louise, whom I would come to learn
was always at his side, whether he was teaching,
writing, or creating barrels and mouthpieces.
Kal asked if I had eaten, and decided that we
should all go to breakfast before beginning the
8 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
lesson. Unbeknownst to me, this actually was the
beginning of the session, as the Oppermans asked
me many questions about my life and background,
and they also shared things about themselves. A
recurring theme was Kal’s adamant statement that
only a very few people are meant to study clarinet
at the level at which he taught, and that he would
determine if I met his criteria.
The formal lesson began as Kal watched me
assemble my instrument and quickly showed
displeasure at the way I placed the reed on the
mouthpiece. “You can’t even put the reed on right!”
was his adamant comment. He demonstrated
what he wanted me to do, making it quite evident
that everything done in relation to the clarinet be
executed with the utmost care and respect from
the time the case was opened and throughout the
lesson, until the instrument was put away.
Kal sat in a chair across from me in the dim
apartment, a bright light directed at me, and
carefully scrutinized every aspect of my playing.
The mood was intense, and this intensity did not
abate, even during the frequent resting periods.
The first thing he asked me to play was a one-
octave chromatic scale. He was immediately
frustrated by my lack of proper hand position
and asked me to make several corrections. To
Kal, proper hand position was the basis for
building a sound technical foundation; without it,
he assured me, I would not be able to improve
technically on the instrument. He asked me to
practice very slowly in front of a mirror until I
could maintain the proper hand position at faster
tempos. I had been made aware of these issues
in the past; however, this was the first time that
I fully understood the paramount importance of
this to my success as a player.
Subsequent lessons began to have somewhat
of a regular routine as he continued to identify
my weaknesses and devise methods for me to
overcome them. He did not want me to play before
a lesson as teachers traditionally do, but wanted
to see what I could do “cold.” He would begin
by asking me to play three notes (throat tone G,
A, and clarion B) slowly and perfectly connected.
Once he was satisfied with that, we’d move on to
chromatic staccato studies, études, and exercises
that he would devise and call out to me. Although
we were always working on technique, there was
never a time when Kal did not stress tone and
musicality. When I did something to please him, he
would give a small smile or slight nod. When I was
unable to demonstrate the skills that he requested,
he exhibited great displeasure, almost as if he took
my shortcomings personally.
As virtuoso Richard Stoltzman had related to me
in an earlier interview, this was how Kal would
determine my aptitude and ability level for the
clarinet, as well as my respect for the instrument
and for him. This was a challenging and at times
painful period for me, as he broke down every
Kal working on mouthpieces for a student. All photos courtesy of Denise Gainey or Louise Opperman unless otherwise noted.
aspect of my playing—and my preconceived ideas
about the clarinet.
At the end of my first week of study with him, Kal
put his finger in my face and told me, “You don’t
know a damn thing about the clarinet . . . not a
damn thing. You need to start from scratch and
work like hell.” These were difficult words for me to
hear, as someone at the end of a doctoral program
with several years of college teaching experience.
However, it proved to be a first instance of many
in which Kal cared enough about me to say the
difficult things.
The study of staccato was an essential aspect of
Kal’s teachings; therefore we devoted a great
deal of time to it, both in lessons and in practice
sessions. In my lessons, staccato study was based
on the chromatic scale, all the while focusing
on maintaining proper hand position. Kal’s
consummate understanding of the physical aspects
of articulation (the tongue musculature, air speed,
and embouchure) enabled him to quickly assess and
improve the speed and clarity of my articulation. To
my utter surprise, he demonstrated this to me in only
DENISE GAINEY | 9
Kal Opperman and Denise Gainey during a lesson.
twenty minutes. With Kal’s direction, I increased
the speed of my staccato playing in a one-octave
chromatic scale in sixteenth notes by over 60
percent.
He did this by having me repeat the scale as he
constantly moved the tempo up and down on the
metronome, while reminding me about the necessity
of a consistent column of air and the importance
of remaining relaxed. Kal stressed that I should not
attempt this technique on my own, but only with his
guidance. As with every other aspect of playing,
he stressed frequent rest periods in the study of
staccato.
Between my visits to New York, Kal consistently
remained in contact with me, dedicated to
monitoring my progress over the telephone. He
would scold me for not calling him often enough
with questions, and when I told him that I did
not want to bother him, he emphatically stated,
“You are not bothering me—my students are very
important to me!” His deep concern for, and
belief in, each of his students was evident—even
10 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
for a new student such as myself. The intensity
that he brought to each lesson was a result of his
unshakeable belief that his way was the only true
way to be a successful clarinetist. His approach
would be very difficult to carry out in its purest form
at the college level due to time constraints of both
students and faculty, which is one of the reasons that
he held very little regard for academia. He insisted
on complete devotion to the instrument at all times,
considering it to be a way of life, encompassing
every aspect of the total person. He warned me that
if I wanted to be successful, I would have to learn
to make more sacrifices, and that my “previous life
had no relation” to the level which he expected me
to attain.
My intense sessions with Kal lasted from four to
six hours with periods of rest interspersed, and a
lunch break. During the break, he would tell me
about his experiences and his students, show me
some of the equipment that he had made, and play
recordings of his students. During my initial visits
to study with Kal, he introduced me to as much
material as possible, giving explicit instructions on
The student becomes the master. Dr. Denise Gainey today. Photo, Cliff Brane.
how to practice it, since I would not be able to see
him as often as he would prefer. The amount of
information we covered, as well as the intensity in
which it was presented, was quite overwhelming.
At one point during our third session, I began to
cry out of frustration with myself. Immediately, Kal’s
demeanour changed from harsh taskmaster to one
of a compassionate parent. “You shouldn’t be so
hard on yourself,” he said. “I am giving you five
years’ worth of information in a very short amount
of time—you are doing just fine! All you have to
do is hours, that’s all. That is the only difference
between you and the great players—hours.”
Throughout the course of my lessons, Kal would
periodically have me experiment with his barrels
and mouthpieces. The difference between his
equipment and mine was startling and undeniable.
The barrels and mouthpieces enabled me to achieve
a much more fluid tone throughout the registers of
the instrument. Over the years that I studied with
him, he made several barrels and mouthpieces for
me that have been the best I have ever played. Kal
also adjusted my instrument, and personally took me
to a repairman that he trusted to bend keys that he
no longer had the hand strength to bend.
Sometimes, the focus of my lesson would be
observing Kal as he worked with another one of
his students, many of whom came from around
the world to study with him. I heard amazing
things from those students who truly followed the
Opperman method: they demonstrated effortless
technique, beautiful tone, and a solid determination
to please Kal. Just one small smile from him for a job
well done always felt as if the sun had come out. I
was able to bring several of my students on different
occasions to observe my own lessons, and many of
them returned from these trips deeply affected by
what they had seen in the tiny apartment on West
Sixty-Seventh Street: a level of focus and dedication
rarely found in any arena.
Kal always encouraged me to find a way to see
him more frequently, urging me to take a leave
of absence from my university teaching position
to study with him for a semester or more so that I
would really see the benefits of his teaching. He
DENISE GAINEY | 11
stated that he did not like to teach in a “foreign
correspondence” style, but wanted to be able to
oversee all aspects of his students’ development
closely. Nevertheless, he was kind enough to
continue to work with me, given the constraints of
my teaching responsibilities. I would often get an
envelope from New York containing a handwritten
exercise just for me with the inscription, “To Denise,
Have fun! Kal.” He was always thinking of his
students and what he could do to help each one
improve. What other teacher today is not only able
to teach the student, but can write the exercises and
music that they play, can design and create their
mouthpieces and barrels, adjust their instruments,
can literally write the book on reed making and
adjustment, and has the professional performing
background that many only dream of? My
experiences with Kal and Louise Opperman were
truly life changing in regards to the clarinet, my
personal life, and my methodology. Kal did not just
teach the clarinet—he taught the person, and cared
deeply about each of his students, in and out of the
lesson environment.

There comes a time in the life of every serious

student when she meets a teacher who truly
challenges her, pushes her past what she thought
was possible; Kalmen Opperman was that teacher
for me.

Denise Gainey is on faculty at the University of

Alabama at Birmingham as Associate Professor
of clarinet and instrumental music education, and
as coordinator of graduate studies in music. She
appears frequently as a clinician and recitalist
at major venues nationwide and per for ms
regularly with the Alabama Symphony and other
groups. Denise Gainey is a Backun Artist and
performs on Backun clarinets and accessories. Backun B♭ Clarinet in cocobolo
wood with silver keywork.

12 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
How to Make Your
Event Successful
Text, Mary Alice Druhan | Photos, Angela P. Navarette
There are artist-educators and then there are forces of nature.
Mary Alice Druhan is most certainly the latter. Her reputation for
hosting effective, efficient, and all-encompassing clarinet events
is universally acknowledged by those in the know. Given the rise
of community- and university-specific events, we’re sure Mary’s
advice will help anyone interested in hosting their own event.
Here are her answers to questions I asked. — Chief Ed.
What made you want to organize and host a
clarinet event like the Texas Clarinet Colloquium?
When I first moved to the northeast Texas area, I
was the only full-time woodwind professor at my
school, and I had only five clarinet students. Having
just come from The US Army Band “Pershing’s
Own” and after years of graduate school, I felt
very isolated and lonely. I was so busy finishing
my dissertation, creating a curriculum for the
woodwinds, juggling parenting, and recruiting
students that I really didn’t have time to leave
campus to visit other clarinetists, so I just decided to
invite people to visit. My first guest was Dr. David
Etheridge, because I was so grateful to him for the
events I had attended at the Oklahoma University
Clarinet Symposium. That year we welcomed
seventeen guests.
Any advice on getting approval and support for
your events?
I’ve always been terrible at asking permission. My
first boss at the university told me that he trusted me
to know how to do my job—after all, that’s why he
hired me. If I thought something needed to be done,
he said I should just do it.
I got very accustomed to this, and I really enjoy
being my own boss. In reality, I have created some
friction with other people along the way who like
to be more involved and don’t understand my
proactive approach to getting things done. Support
generally comes easy, though. I find that if you love
what you do, people will respect that and
be more supportive.
MARY ALICE DRUHAN | 13
Venues: What do you look for in hosting an event?
In an ideal situation, having everything in-house and
on campus can solve most of the issues of an event;
it’s just not always possible. Location is critical:
proximity to transportation hubs, lodging, and food
are paramount. Other considerations include the
proximity of lectures to concerts, and keeping the
vendors and exhibitors close enough and highly
visible.
The 2015 Clarinet Colloquium was the first event
that required me to use outside venue contracts. My
best advice: if your instinct tells you that the person
in charge of a venue isn’t organized, it’s more
important to be repetitive and relentless than it is to
protect their ego. The flip side is destruction to the
plan and a very stressful day. Trust your gut.
Vendor support: What should your colleagues
know about working with vendors and
exhibitors?
Vendors . . . the “big bad wolves!” In reality, they’re
just fuzzy puppies with sharp teeth who want to
play all day and who like to puppy-fight over square
footage.
Ultimately, vendors want their products in the
hands of the attendees. They want to be visible
and they want impartiality. I’ve tried to always
provide this, listening to advice and requests (and
believe me, representatives will request special
treatment). Know your limits and back up all
communications by email. This will come in handy
during misunderstandings and disagreements over
promises made and privileges assumed.
Artists: What kind of artist do you normally
engage for events?
Each year, I search for a variety of artists and then
contact industry companies to request support for
an artist. I want to see some well loved, charismatic,
energetic teachers like Larry Guy and college
professors like Richard MacDowell who have a
great reputation for excellence and good rapport
with students.
It’s always great to have a strong orchestral artist
like Ricardo Morales and someone who is active
as a soloist, such as Michael Lowenstern. Lastly, I
always work hard to include private teachers from
14 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
the local area, inviting them to teach as volunteers
(gifting free admission for some of their students),
and other university teachers who need to be active
in Research Scholarship and Creative Activity
(RSCA) for their evaluations.
Scheduling: What is the most difficult challenge in
scheduling, and how do you overcome it?
Too busy or too light? There really is no balance.
Exhibitors want tons of free time for people to
browse. Attendees want variety and “bang for the
buck.” It’s a real struggle, as the schedule has to
juggle artist availability and travel, too. I have some
tricks for this, but I adjust every time I host.
Generally, I try to put more space between classes
that are geared to certain ages. Middle school
classes are short with long breaks for the students’
developing attention spans, which works well since
they are generally new to exhibits and need that
time. It’s more difficult with older crowds, because
they are interested in more topics and want to keep
a busier schedule.
How do you manage all the moving parts,
including colleagues and student volunteers?
One of my favourite mentors (Frank Wickes) used
to call this “with-it-ness.” Every person is different,
and it’s important to know your strengths and
weaknesses.
Organization has always been a strength of
mine, perhaps too much so. I will say that I have
had to learn flexibility and reaction/correction
techniques. This continues to be one of my greatest
challenges.
That same mentor, Frank, taught me that great
leaders learn to delegate, but that the best leaders
know whom to delegate to. The best of the best
also learn how to inspire their delegates to work
as efficiently as they would themselves. Dang, I try.
My students and former students are absolutely
critical to the success of my events, and they have
helped me more than anyone knows. Jennifer
Daffinee is not my right hand . . . she is all of my
hands and a couple of my feet. I love her dearly
for being such an amazing collaborator. What
people don’t know is that there are also too many
wonderful others to name.
Egos: How do you manage them leading into and
in the middle of an event?
I’ve only had a few problems in ten years of hosting
nearly two hundred artists and many exhibitors.
Ultimately I just have confidence in what I’m doing
and I stay focused.
It can be really frustrating, because I work so hard
leading up to an event, and I’m usually exhausted
by the time guests show up.
I also have rejected any notion or suggestion of
inviting back any artist to present if I recognize
conduct that I feel is inappropriate or disrespectful
toward my students or guests.
What is the most gratifying part of organizing
events and what keeps you coming back for more
every year?
I love the community. We are supportive of one
another, we all want to be engaged, and we
all want to enjoy music and each other. I have
made wonderful friendships and learned so many
valuable things. By allowing this kind of event to
happen around my students, I provide for them an
opportunity for growth and enthusiasm. What could
be better, honestly?
Lessons learned: If you had to start over again,
what would you do differently?
Got a new boss? Start over! Don’t just follow the
developed pattern, but sit down and go through the
steps with each new administrator. Too often, I take
charge and go to work, forgetting there’s a dugout,
a huddle, and a batting plate before I’m supposed
to hit a home run. Also, try to always say “thank
you.” It’s an honour to have people involved and to
be involved.
Mary Alice Druhan is Professor of Clarinet at Texas
A&M University–Commerce, and performs with
the Dallas Wind Symphony, among other groups.
Previously, she performed as the solo E♭ clarinetist
with the US Army Band “Pershing’s Own,” as
well as a B♭ section member of the Ceremonial
Unit, and as a featured soloist with the concert
band. A founder and director of the Texas Clarinet
Colloquium, Mary Alice Druhan is a Backun Artist
and performs on MoBa clarinets and accessories.
MARY ALICE DRUHAN | 15
16 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
From Fundamentals
to a Dark Roast
Richard Hawkins on the joy of teaching, and how coffee roasting
and pottery are like the clarinet
Text, Kim Werker | Photos, Tanya Rosen-Jones
R
ichard Hawkins has
converted his disused dining
room into an espresso bar.
“Roasting coffee is very much like the making of
a clarinet,” he told me, “because it’s so reliant
on where it comes from in the world. If you get a
certain kind of coffee bean from South or
Central America, Indonesia,
or Africa — where it’s grown has to be at a certain
elevation and humidity, which is very much like the
wood of the clarinet.” You get a plethora of results
and flavours from coffee, and sounds from the
clarinet.
Hawkins is the Fenelon B. Rice Professor of Clarinet
at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he has
taught for the last fifteen years. Raised in Spring,
Texas, outside of Houston, in a family of country
and rock musicians — his father played steel guitar
and his brothers were both drummers — Hawkins
came to the clarinet through a bit of rebellion. “I
decided that I couldn’t take country music anymore,
RICHARD HAWKINS | 17
and I went into the band program and discovered
that classical music was something that really
caught my interest.”
And his interest was broad, which is what led
him to focus on teaching as a profession. “To me,
academia is a way to be able to do everything.
I get to play with orchestras, make clarinet
mouthpieces, perform new solo works, play with
lots of amazing chamber musicians, and most
importantly, I get to teach amazing students. I just
love it, and I love seeing my students do well. For
me, [teaching] was always the right choice.”
This broad interest in all aspects of clarinet doesn’t
indicate a struggle to focus. On the contrary,
Hawkins, who makes espresso using state-of-the-
art equipment in his home, makes the immediate
impression of someone who commits fully, and
with laser focus, to study the entirety of the subject
he commits himself to — from the minute details to
the elaborate tapestry, and everything between.
Perhaps his success as a teacher and performer
is related to this ability to understand, and then
convey, this breadth of knowledge to his students.
It’s a fine balance between teaching musical ideas
and technical facility, and teaching life skills.
Hawkins started his teaching career at the
Interlochen Arts Academy, where he taught such
iconic clarinetists as Anthony McGill, Michael
Wayne, and Ben Lulich. After almost ten years
at Interlochen, he joined the faculty at Oberlin in
2001 and has worked with many exceptional per-
formance and double-degree students, including
talents like Boris Allakhverdyan.
His approach to teaching involves helping his
students to establish a strong foundation in clari-
net fundamentals, with a focus on guiding them to
eventually just let go and have fun when they play.
“It’s a fine balance between teaching musical ideas
and technical facility, and life skills.”
He figures that about 90 percent of what he does
18 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
is “teach students how to be comfortable with
themselves, be good people, and be good to
others. There are so many things that are involved
with that, that are outside of fingering the instrument
or the mechanics. At the same time, the mechanics
are hugely important because [clarinetists] can only
get so far if they don’t have certain skills. Overall,
I tend to prepare my students for the musical world
rather than the clarinet world.”
Hawkins wants his students to have fun, and he
has a deep appreciation for how a solid grasp of
mechanics enables them to achieve that. Along the
way, his students build confidence and knowledge
of what they want to express through music.
He wants his students to remain in touch with why
they became musicians in the first place, which was
to enjoy themselves and, as he explains, “not think
about all of the fundamentals and all of the little
nitpicky things that one has to do. It’s really hard
for students to do that. It’s hard for even adults to
do that, and professionals. It really has become a
goal of mine to be able to get my students to play
casually but with incredible accuracy and intent.”
It’s that tension between the intense practice and
persistence required to master the fundamentals and
the ability to relax into those skills in order to enjoy
the act of creating that seems to pervade every
medium Hawkins creates in, whether it’s music or
coffee or one of his more recent pursuits: pottery.
Hawkins, it seems, is as comfortable as a student as
he is as a teacher.
“A few summers ago, I took a friend up on an
offer of taking a Raku pottery class. I had never
done pottery in my life, and I thought it was kind
of interesting. What I’m thinking of as I’m learning
the trade, from the basics, is to really appreciate
and relate it to music. It was incredible to me how
much of it was related. Being able to really craft
something in a careful way from the very beginning
and knowing all the steps to get the pottery in the
fire, in the shapes that you want and the colours
that you want and all of those types of things,
are very much related to music. Again, it’s the
fundamentals that you’re learning, like those of
rhythm and articulation on the clarinet and styles of
different types of composers. Knowing all of that in
relationship to Raku was really astonishing to me,
because it was so similar. Even though I’ve got my
hands in clay, the process is very, very similar.”
This perspective seems closer to a worldview than
an approach specific to teaching or learning. The
comparisons Hawkins makes between creating
pottery and creating music — and coffee — could
extend to the experience of anything even remotely
creative. The similarities he points out exist not only
in the acts of creation, but also in his relationship
with what he creates.
“In the end, what you really decide, when you get
to the final product of a piece of pottery, is you
have to let it be. You can’t start adjusting it again.
That’s something that’s very much like music. You
have to let it go and be able to be very okay with
what it is. Then the next time you improve on the
next one; and the next time you improve on that
one. It’s very similar. How that’s related to my
students is that I try to get them to feel that way
from the very beginning as well, trying to not be so
critical of their work. They have to know that they’re
going to make mistakes. They have to know that it’s
okay to make mistakes. Each time you learn and
you gain memorable experiences.”
Richard Hawkins is the Professor of Clarinet at
the renowned Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
His former students now hold prestigious positions
in orchestras and teaching institutions worldwide.
Mr. Hawkins proudly performs on MoBa Cocobolo
clarinets by Backun, with a “G” Model Richard
Hawkins mouthpiece and Légère Signature reeds.
RICHARD HAWKINS | 19
Espresso Tips from Hawkeye
Richard Hawkins has been roasting his own beans for eight years. Here are his tips for
how to make an outstanding espresso:

1. Make sure your water is between 195°F and 205°F for the best extractions.

2. Next to water temperature, the grind of your beans is the most important factor in
achieving a great cup. There are so many grinders of the highest quality that it’s hard
to recommend just one, but the one I use is the Mazzer Mini Flat burr espresso grinder.

3. When you turn on the machine to extract the espresso and crema, it should only take
20 to 26 seconds for a single shot. (I find myself singing the opening of Sibelius No. 1
to the first fermata, and I have a perfect shot.)

4. Heat your coffee mugs with hot water before adding your coffee, and keep your steam
pitchers in the refrigerator to enhance the coldness of the milk, which should be very
cold before steaming. Make sure to open the steam valve first to rid the steam wand of
excess water before steaming the milk. This takes practice; one way of practicing your
frothing is to use water and a drop of dish soap.

5. Coffee makes you play faster, so don’t drink it before an audition!

20 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
RICHARD HAWKINS | 21
Photo, Victor Dezso

“F” is for Foster

Joel Jaffe

A
faint pulse runs through Backun Musical Services. It’s
not the day-to-day bustle or the constant hum of the
massive CNC (Computer Numeric Control) machines
that manufacture Backun clarinets. It’s not the thrum of the
Backun family, staff, or artists. This pulse harkens back to the
earliest days of the company, long before the first Backun
clarinet was ever conceived.

22 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
 Morrie dutifully set out to craft a new
barrel for Wes, and history was made.

A childhood friend of Morrie Backun’s, John Wesley having been founded just a few months earlier,
(Wes) Foster shared a similar passion for the Wes’s need for a replacement barrel for his
clarinet. The two grew up in Vancouver, Canada, vintage C clarinet dramatically altered the course
studying under Dominic Lastoria, an archetypal of the company. Morrie dutifully set out to craft a
clarinet teacher schooled in the Italian tradition of new barrel for him, and history was made. If we’d
clarinet playing. Following years of lessons, school only known at the time!
band, and youth orchestra, Wes and Morrie took
different paths: Wes’s career took him to orchestras
in Hamilton and Toronto, Canada, as well as
Indianapolis, Indiana, and, finally, back home to
Vancouver. Along the way, Wes was mentored by
iconic player and teacher Robert Marcellus. In fact,
it was Wes whom Marcellus tapped to be the heir
apparent to his teaching studio, which resulted in
Wes flying weekly from Indianapolis to Chicago to
teach at Northwestern University after Marcellus had
retired. Morrie went into the family music business,
while continuing to perform as a clarinetist and
conductor with local orchestras and ensembles. Later
apprenticing as a flute maker, Morrie honed his
skills in instrument repair and custom modification.

Years later, back in Vancouver, Wes and his wife,

Karen, settled into their respective chairs in the
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO). Both Wes
and Karen contributed greatly to the musical scene
in Vancouver, continuing to travel and teach —
Wes was a frequent teacher at the Banff Centre’s
illustrious music program. Also a faculty member at
the University of British Columbia (UBC) School of
Music for over two decades, Wes was appointed
Principal Clarinet of the VSO in 1981.

Back in 2000, Wes called on Morrie for some

clarinet work. With Backun Musical Services

WES FOSTER | 23
Wes with the first Backun barrels ever made.
MEMORIES OF WES FOSTER
Morrie Backun
If not for Wes Foster, those of you performing on
Backun products might never have had the chance.
Allow me to explain . . .
Wes and I both grew up in the greater Vancouver
area. We both studied with a wonderful player
and teacher who had emigrated from Italy and
performed as second clarinet in the Vancouver
Symphony Orchestra (VSO); his name was Dominic
Lastoria. The first clarinet during those years was
Ronald de Kant. Wes and I also had the opportunity
to work with de Kant, who had been a student
of the great Daniel Bonade. After working with
24 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
de Kant, Wes studied with Robert Marcellus,
preparing for his career as Principal Clarinetist
with several orchestras and eventually winning the
Principal Clarinet chair in the VSO.
Wes was meticulous about his equipment, spending
countless hours on mouthpieces, reeds, and
clarinets. I can still hear his sound in my head.
One day, while I was doing some routine
maintenance on his clarinets, Wes showed me
an antique C clarinet that he had obtained. The
problem was that it was missing its barrel. To
Wes’s collection of vintage clarinets.
complicate the matter, this clarinet was made from
a brownish wood, rather than the typical black
grenadilla. We both contacted everyone we knew,
and every company, looking for a replacement,
without success. In what would be a life-changing
moment, I suggested to Wes that I make him the
missing piece on my trusty Boxford lathe. Wes
was very enthusiastic about the idea (he really
had no choice), but wanted the colour to be
brown, not black. Thus began the search for and
experimentation with woods other than grenadilla.
Cocobolo to the rescue!
During our early years, Wes play-tested virtually
every barrel and bell we made and was a
wonderful champion of our work. By another twist of
fate, Wes introduced our work to Ron de Kant, who
was then teaching at the University of Cincinnati
College-Conservatory of Music. He subsequently
Always the joker, Wes as Mozart.
introduced our products to his former student,
Ricardo Morales, who has since become an integral
part of our ongoing quest to reinvent the clarinet,
one piece at a time. And now you know why we’re
excited to name our newest clarinet the Model F, in
honour of Wes.
Wes left us too soon, but the legacy of his life is well
preserved in his wonderful family, his extraordinary
students, and the beauty of the music he shared.
May it live long in every note played on each
Model F.
WES FOSTER | 25
Karen and Wes Foster. All photos courtesy of Karen Haley Foster.
Ross today, with partner, Erin Walker.
My Husband Wes
Karen Haley Foster
I met Wes in 1977 when he joined the Indianapolis
Symphony Orchestra (ISO), but we didn’t start
dating until he asked me out for my Halloween
birthday a year later. I fell in love with that tall,
handsome gentleman, and we were engaged by
American Thanksgiving. We didn’t want to wait till
summer to get married, so we planned our wedding
— to be held at my parents’ suburban Chicago
home — and honeymoon, to coincide with the
ISO’s week-long vacation in February 1979. What
we didn’t plan on was that two weeks prior to our
wedding, Chicago would experience its second
largest snowstorm in history, which dumped about
twenty-one inches on the area. However, youth
26 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
Wes, Ross, and Amalie Foster.
Amalie today, with husband Robert Young and their children:
Vivian, Moses, Emanuel, and Celeste.
and determination prevailed, and we arrived there
safely, along with Wes’s mother and several brave
friends.
Born and raised in Vancouver, Wes attended
the University of British Columbia (UBC) before
beginning his professional career. He was Principal
Clarinet in the National Ballet Orchestra, the
Hamilton Philharmonic, and the Indianapolis
Symphony. In 1980, after failing to win the
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) audition
the first time, Wes figured we would stay in
Indianapolis, and we bought a lovely house. No
sooner had we started to feel like this was home
than Vancouver came calling again, and after flying
up to audition once more, Wes finally won the job. He
was delighted to be joining such a cohesive and genial
woodwind section, and it was an adventure for me to
be moving to a “foreign” country!

As a violinist, I was impressed by the complexities of

Wes’s clarinet world, which he eagerly shared with
me. Almost from our first date, I was introduced to his
two idols, Robert Marcellus and Harold Wright — “the
sun and the moon” in Wes’s solar system. Then to the
many parts of the clarinet: bells, barrels, mouthpieces,
reeds, even clarinets in various keys! I learned, too,
that Wes’s studio was his “man cave,” where he
practiced, made reeds, or listened to recordings (with
headphones). He was fairly inaccessible then, but
never resented an interruption.

We made Vancouver our home in 1981, and it was

lovely to be near Wes’s parents. They doted on our
children and became an integral part of our family.
Our daughter Amalie was born in 1982, and Ross
followed in 1987. Wes was a devoted father and
managed to find a balance between career and family.
He was always so encouraging and supportive to me
in my musical pursuits, and we often played chamber
music together.

Integrity and commitment were two of Wes’s hallmarks,

whether it was performing or teaching. His Tuesdays
were usually spent at UBC teaching clarinet majors.

Affable and known for his quick wit, Wes loved to

laugh as much as he loved making others laugh. Often
when I looked over at the woodwind section, they’d
either be doubled over with laughter or stifling it,
depending on whether it was a rehearsal or concert.
He made life fun for our children as well, often doing
his Donald Duck imitation in front of a delighted
audience.

Some of his passions were hockey, sushi, and ice

cream—especially Dairy Queen and “Blizzards were
on Wes!”

Wes and I made it a priority to take family vacations,

often incorporating them with musical activities. The
Banff Centre for the Arts was a place dear to Wes’s
heart where he had taught many summers. The kids
and I accompanied him there and enjoyed being in
that gorgeous setting for three summers.

I am very blessed to have had thirty-four years with

such a fine and wonderful man.

WES FOSTER | 27
The Long Path
Together
Christopher Millard

N
o relationship is as important to an orchestral
principal bassoonist as the one we share
with the single-reed specialist who sits to
our right. From Beethoven to Brahms, Schubert
to Schoenberg, the search for that perfect blend
of bassoon and clarinet is an endless quest.

Wes Foster and I sat side by side for twenty years. Day
after day, season after season, we paid close attention
to each other, to every shared phrase, to every unison,
the vagaries of cane, the changes of weather. He even
asked me for input on ligatures. We cultivated a single-
minded approach to intonation, colour, and a happy
tonal balance. Building a good woodwind section is
about patience, perseverance, and the refinement of
craft. You need partners willing to bare their faults and
expose their artistic fragility in the hope of achieving
great music making.

In this long path together, I could not have wished for a

better partner than Wes.

Robert Marcellus instilled in Wes a passion for the

warmest, most homogeneous sound as well as a
commitment to mastering the intonation challenges of
the modern clarinet. Wes’s relentless perseverance in
exploring improved bores, in both barrel design and
eventually the whole instrument, was the seed that
grew into Backun Musical’s remarkable growth. His
musical DNA is embedded in these wonderful new
instruments.

When I play a passage in a Brahms Symphony

with a Backun Artist, I can’t help but recall Wes’s
impeccable tone, his determination and patience, and
the thousands of hours we devoted to blending our
individual musical voices.

Christopher Millard is Principal Bassoonist of the National

Arts Centre Orchestra, and was Principal Bassoonist of The Model F B♭ Clarinet in cocobolo
the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra from 1975 to 2004. wood with silver keywork. Just as
Wes would have wanted it.

28 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
Wes in his musical “man cave.”
Gone but Not Forgotten
From the very first barrel to the very first bell, Wes
was with us, testing almost every piece Morrie made
by hand in the days before we brought in the CNC
machines. Back then, with each barrel taking no
less than three hours to craft, and each bell almost
an entire day, Morrie spent a majority of his time
taking on woodwind repairs, while I made many of
the barrels and bells by hand in between and after
classes at UBC. After all, one or two barrels a day
do not exactly pay the bills!
In the midst of all the hubbub and daily goings-on
at the shop, we noticed that, at times, Wes was not
himself. Sometimes it was a forgotten fingering or
the name of a colleague that slipped his mind. Over
the few years that I got to know and work closely
with Wes, his symptoms and forgetfulness became
worse. Then one day, a diagnosis: early-onset
Alzheimer’s disease. The news was devastating,
while at the same time, comforting to those who
searched for meaning in Wes’s gradual decline.
Wes, always smiling.
After he retired early from the VSO in 2004, Backun
Musical Services was often a refuge for Wes. A
chance to remain in contact with the instrument
and music that he loved. And he was welcomed.
Even when the visits became less frequent, we
were always grateful to see Wes and spend
time with him, trying the latest barrels, bells, and
mouthpieces, talking shop, or just listening to music.
Wes passed away peacefully in 2013, and while
his memory may have faded, our memory of him
has not.
Tens of thousands of barrels and bells, mouthpieces,
and now clarinets, later, a faint pulse runs through
Backun Musical Services — that of John Wesley
Foster — and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
In memory of Wes and the incredible legacy he left
to the Backun Musical Services, we have named
our newest professional clarinet in his honour: the
Model F.
— Joel
WES FOSTER | 29
 CLARITHENICS
The Art of Peak Performance Preparation

Text, Bil Jackson | Photos, Nathan Garfinkel

A
n efficient warm-up routine is
one of the most overlooked
components of regular practice.
Professional athletes consider a
thorough warm-up essential for peak
performance, as do professional
dancers, and clarinetists would
be well advised to follow their
examples. The muscles that we use
to play the clarinet greatly benefit
from a thoughtfully conceived and
consistently practiced warm-up
routine.

Clarithenics provides an efficient and

comprehensive warm-up that takes about fifty
minutes to complete and focuses on three
fundamental areas:

1. Long tones

2. Repetitive tonguing exercises

3. Full-range scales/broken-chord arpeggios/

scales in thirds (my definition of “full range” is
low E through altissimo F♯ or G, depending on
the key)

30 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
I. LONG TONES FOR JOAN’S BONES

Okay, the title’s a bit unconventional — it’s a tongue-in-cheek tip o’ the hat
to two great musicians: Joan Sutherland and Chick Corea. Dame Sutherland
incorporated a similar long-tone format into her disciplined warm-up and I
couldn’t resist expanding the title by borrowing from one of my favourite jazz
tunes, Chick Corea’s “Tones for Joan’s Bones.”

Long tones are the most important part of the Clarithenics routine. In addition to
strengthening the muscles of the embouchure and diaphragm, these exercises
can be used as a kind of breathing meditation. Yoga and some martial art
disciplines consider breathing to be the foundation stone of their didactics. The
long-tone exercise and variations outlined below allow for detailed observation
of several essential fundamentals. Furthermore, most great performing artists
that I’ve talked with over my career emphasize the significant importance of
slow practice. Fundamentals that can be focused on at a very slow tempo:

• Relaxed, full inflation of lung capacity

• Efficient exhalation of air with a “supported” airstream

• Oral cavity and embouchure configuration

• Correct and relaxed hand and body positions

• Intervallic pitch relationships

Practice in front of a mirror while standing (use a neck strap if you experience
any pain in your hands or forearms). A mirror enables you to see what is really
going on with your abdomen, embouchure, throat area, and hand position.
I’ve stayed away from attempting to describe correct hand position on purpose;
people’s hands are different shapes and sizes. You should structure your hand
positions to allow the greatest efficiency of finger movement with the least
amount of physical effort. Thumb position is critical for the right hand. The
exercises in Jeanjean’s Vade-Mecum are wonderful tools to help you establish
efficient, beautifully structured hand positions.

The goal is to create the most challenging performance environment in your

practice space. The long-tone exercise allows for focused analysis of tonal
consistency and linearity between registers. Strive to produce “sound ligaments”
that mellifluously connect all intervals and registers of the clarinet. Remember to
use a tuner.

Start by using the metronome to determine how slowly you can play a one-
octave scale, in whole notes, in one breath. Begin on low E as illustrated in the
musical example below. After completing the E major scale up and down,
continue ascending in half steps (as shown in examples below). The last long-
tone scale will begin on G immediately above the staff. This exercise at 92 to
the quarter note takes about thirty-five minutes.

BIL JACKSON | 31
 1lay the octave as slowly as possible in one breath
##4
& # #4 w- w- ∑ ∑
w- w- w- w-
w- w-
# ##
&# w w-
∑ ∑
- w- w- w- w- w- w-

While ascending, lightly legato tongue each change of whole note. At the end of
the octave, rest for eight beats, and then descend in the same fashion. You can
choose major, minor, or any linear eight-note creation you come up with. My
advice is to make it simple to start. After you descend, wait again for eight counts,
move up a half step, and ascend on a scale that starts on F.

&b w- w- w- ∑ ∑
w- w- w- w-
w-

& b w- w- w-
∑ ∑
w- w- w- w- w-

Continue this pattern until you reach altissimo G.

w- w- w- w-
w- w- w-
# 4 w-
& 4 ∑ ∑
w- w- w- w- w- w- w- w-
# ∑ ∑
&

Find a tempo that makes it difficult to finish the octave comfortably. It’s beneficial
to barely make it through the final whole note. Don’t allow the exercise to be easy.
The idea is to improve the capacity of your inhalation and the efficiency of your
exhalation:

• Observe correct breathing mechanics.

• Observe correct hand position.

• Observe correct formation of your embouchure (see “Seduction of the Ear”

in a forthcoming issue for more on this).

• “Hear” your sound. It’s imperative and essential that you have in your
“mind’s ear” a concept of your ideal sound: an aural North Star that you
can sonically navigate to at all times while playing.

32 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
LONG-TONE VARIATIONS

After five or six round-trip octave scales, it’s time to implement variations that
allow you to refine additional fundamentals while preserving the positive attributes
of slow practice. Don’t get complicated with dynamic variations until you are
comfortable with the basic format. Use your tuner. The examples below are just a
template. Apply variations to all long-tone scales.

Example 1: Start subito forte on the first whole note, subito piano on the second,
and so forth.

Example 2: Start forte and gradually diminuendo to piano on the ascent and
reverse on the descent.

Example 3: Start piano and crescendo to forte on the ascension and reverse on the
descent. (This and the previous variation are especially helpful in controlling the
upper register.)

An exercise to help you determine an efficient amount of tongue movement: Take

the reed off of the mouthpiece and put it in your mouth as if it were still on the
mouthpiece. Stand in front of a mirror and with correct embouchure configuration,
articulate the reed as lightly as possible, while closely observing the movement
of the reed. Strive for consistency and efficiency of tongue motion and reed
movement. Observe the physical sensations of your tongue movements. Put the
reed back on the mouthpiece and duplicate these movements.

On the descent, use half-note values and follow the example below again using
legato articulation.

Four variations are shown in the descending pattern. Pick one and stick with it for the entire octave.
4-
&4 ˙
-˙
-˙ -˙ -˙
-̇ -˙ p
-˙f f
-˙ -˙
f p p f

-˙ ∑ ∑
& ˙
- -˙ -˙ w-
p

II. REPETETETETETIVE TONGUING

The next exercise focuses specifically on the movement of the tongue. The intent
is to enable you to isolate and observe tongue motion involved with articulation
without the distractions of finger movement.

Similar to the long-tone exercise, a majority of the range of the clarinet will be
utilized. One note represents one exercise. Opposite of the long-tone exercise, this
exercise requires you to select the fastest tempo that challenges you to complete
4¼ measures of sixteenth-note values in 4/4 time.

BIL JACKSON | 33
Play the measures at the fastest tempo possible. It’s okay if the articulations
become fractured at the very end. Again, it’s important to push yourself; strive
for efficiency and consistency of tongue motion.

3epetJtive tonguing example ‰ Blways strive to use a legato tongue articulatioO

4
&4
œ- -œ -œ -œ œ- -œ -œ -œ œ- -œ -œ -œ œ- -œ -œ -œ œ- -œ œ- œ- œ- -œ -œ -œ œ- -œ -œ -œ œ- -œ -œ -œ
go to next note

& r≈‰ Œ Ó
-œ œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œ-

Rest briefly between each note (separated by the “railroad tracks”), evaluate
your previous effort, and then set properly for the next note/exercise. Focus
on using the least amount of tongue motion to attain a consistent, refined
articulation while paying specific attention to the interface of your tongue and
reed. Don’t forget to use a metronome.

III. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Now pick a scale (for example, I’ll use C major), and keep in mind the rule for
these full-range exercises. Using the tempo of your repetitive-tonguing exercise,
start with C major, eighth note values, legato tongued as initially illustrated
below.

You can see that I’ve included two articulation options: all slurred and all
legato. In addition, there are three rhythmic variations: eighth notes, triplets,
and sixteenth notes.

- - -œ - -
- - -
œ -œ -œ œ- œ- -œ œ œ œ œ -œ œ- œ- -œ œ- œ- - -
4 -- œ œ œ œ- œ œ
& 4 œ œ œ œ- œ- -œ œ œ œ - - œ- -œ œ- œ œ œ j‰
--- - - - œ- œ- œ œ œ -œ œ- œ- œ-
---

- -œ - -
- - - -
œ -œ œ- œ- -œ œ- œ œ œ -œ œ- œ- -œ -œ œ- - - 3
3
-- œ
3 œ œ œ œ- œ œ 3 3 3 3
& œ œ œ œ- œ- œ- œ œ œ
3
- - œ- œ- œ œ œ ‰
--- - - - -œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ- -œ
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
- - - œ- - - -
---
- - - -
œ -œ œ- œ- œ- -œ œ œ œ -œ œ- œ- œ- -œ œ- - - -
œœ œ œ œ œ œ- - -
& œ œ œ œ- œ- œ- œ- œ- œœ œœ
- - œ- œ- œ- œ œ œ
≈
--- - - - œ- œ œ- œ- œ- œ- œ-
-

The reason for emphasizing the legato articulation versus staccato is that the
legato articulation requires more refinement from the motion of the tongue
muscle. By nature, this requires the tongue to be closer to the reed at all times.
So always think legato even when articulating rapidly.

Start with C major one day and then the next day A minor. On the third day,
go to six o’clock on the circle of fifths, G♭ major. Then the next day, E♭ minor.

34 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
Make sure that you are bouncing around the circle of fifths: C, Am, G♭, E♭m, F,
Dm, B, G♯m, etc. The idea is to do intensive work on one scale each day so that
roughly every month, you will work through all twenty-four major and minor keys.

A future edition of Clarinet News will feature my article, “Seduction of the Ear,” which focuses on the
fundamentals of breath support and oral mechanics. If you have any questions or suggestions regarding
this article or the exercises in it, don’t hesitate to contact me: bil.jackson@vanderbilt.edu.

Bil Jackson enjoys a varied musical career that includes solo, orchestral, and chamber
music appearances. Before joining the faculty at the Blair School at Vanderbilt
University, he served as Principal Clarinet with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra,
Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and Honolulu Symphony, and as Guest Principal
Clarinet with the St. Louis and Cincinnati symphony orchestras. Jackson is currently
on the summer Artist-Faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and Colorado College
Music Festival. He is the only person to win the International Clarinet Competition
twice and was a finalist in the Prague International Clarinet Competition. Bil
Jackson is a Backun Artist and performs on MoBa clarinets and mouthpieces.

BIL JACKSON | 35
BENJAMIN LULICH:
COMING FULL CIRCLE
Text, Rachel Lulich | Photos, Larey McDaniel
“Want to go to a Seattle Symphony concert with
me?”
I was surprised – such outings were usually full
family events. This time, it would just be my brother
Ben and me.
“They’re playing Tchaik Five,” he said.
“Sure!”
We were in middle school at the time, living in
Edmonds, Washington. Ben and our older brother
Steven spent their free time poring over full scores
while listening to cassette tapes. Ben was studying
clarinet with Seattle Symphony’s Laura DeLuca, and
playing in the youth symphony.
I had never been to a professional symphony
36 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
concert. I remember sitting with Ben that evening,
absolutely impressed with the sound.
It’s been about two decades since that night. Ben
left home at sixteen to attend Interlochen Arts
Academy in Michigan, going on to study at the
Cleveland Institute of Music and Yale University
before landing his first job with the Kansas City
Symphony. He moved to California after that,
winning the Principal Clarinet position with the
Pacific Symphony. He subbed with the Los Angeles
Philharmonic and did studio work on the side. But
in 2013, his sixth season with Pacific, he was ready
for a change.
“You can get complacent,” he reflected, when
I spoke with him about how he got where he is
today.
It had been a couple years since he’d taken an
audition, so he started from square one and
developed a whole new strategy to prepare. I asked
him what that looked like.
“Lots of focus and drive,” he said.
Unlike the last time he’d taken an audition, he was
very systematic, starting with the basics: scales,
arpeggios, and études. After a week or two of those
exercises, he started practicing the actual audition
music.
Ben took a global approach to the selections.
He studied what was going on in the rest of the
orchestra during each excerpt, and practiced in
a variety of tempos and keys. Looking at each
piece from multiple angles rather than always
approaching it from the same viewpoint made his
interpretation well-rounded, and gave him more
opportunities to be musical.
“With music you’ve played a lot, it’s easy to go on
autopilot while practicing. Changing tempos forces
your fingers to work harder. Changing keys forces
your brain to work harder. You can’t rely on muscle
memory – you have to actually think. It also helps
you not get bored while practicing them over and
over again,” he added.
As auditions approached, Ben ran through the
excerpts in mock auditions. He wrote each one on a
piece of paper and went through them all, drawing
them randomly from a hat. Whatever he drew,
he played, with one chance to get it right before
moving to the next piece.
“It helps to not know the order, like in an audition.
And playing through all the excerpts can take an
hour or two, which is more time than the actual
audition will take, so that helps with your physical
and mental endurance.”
Utilizing this new strategy, Ben auditioned for the
Principal Clarinet job with the Seattle Symphony.
“There were four rounds of auditions,” he said. “The
preliminary, the semifinal, and two finals, followed
by trials with the orchestra.”
Seattle Symphony auditions with a screen until the
final round. Ben has always preferred playing to an
audience, so I asked him if that made him feel less
at ease with the process.
“Not really. My preparation was better for playing
for the screen than it was in the past, when it felt like
a barrier.” This time, he was comfortable with the
concept.
“They were typical auditions,” he went on, “except
for the second final.”
In addition to being told which pieces they would
play shortly before their last final round, the
candidates were surprised by a new component:
chamber music.
“We played excerpts of Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet
with a string quartet from the symphony,” Ben
explained. “Getting the chance to play chamber
music with other people was probably the most
enjoyable part of the audition.”
Knowing how much Ben loves chamber music, I’m
not surprised.
The process did not end there. After the finals, Music
Director Ludovic Morlot chose three clarinetists to
hear in trials with the symphony. Ben played two
programs over New Year’s and over a week in June.
“At the New Year’s concert we played ‘Rhapsody
in Blue’ and other jazzy tunes, including a Jelly Roll
Morton suite with me, the trumpet, and the trombone
playing solos at the front of the stage.”
Ben had about ninety pages of music for that one
concert, and the other New Year’s program was
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony – one of the most tiring
pieces for a clarinetist.
For the second trial, Ben played in the chamber
orchestra for Dutilleux’s Second Symphony, sitting
about five feet from the Music Director.
“It was definitely a trial by fire.”
He got the job offer on his thirty-second birthday.
Ben spent a season with the Seattle Symphony and
the Seattle Opera before heading to Cleveland for
a year as Acting Principal. Come September, he’ll
be back in Seattle. I asked what it’s like playing
alongside his former teacher, Laura DeLuca.
“It’s great! We have a similar concept of sound,
since she was an early teacher in my formative
years, which makes it easy to play together.
It’s a lot of fun.”
BENJAMIN LULICH | 37
Ben studied with DeLuca for over two years and
credits her with giving him a solid technical
foundation and plenty of good advice.
“We went to a lesson once,” he reminisced, “and
Mom mentioned I’d been advised to start learning
saxophone, too. ‘No,’ Laurie said. ‘Focus on the
clarinet.’ She saved me from the saxophone,” he
laughed. She may not know that he has one now
– a vintage instrument he got during his Pacific
Symphony days “just to mess around with.”
Taking on a new teaching position himself, Ben
will be an artist in residence at the University of
Washington this fall, teaching clarinet performance.
I asked what advice he has for students and young
professionals starting out.
“Always be ready to play your best. Always be
trying to improve your playing and raise your
standards.”
He recalled a time when his Interlochen roommate
emailed a teacher he’d set up an audition with to
ask if he had any advice.
“He responded with a three-word email: ‘high
playing standards.’ We actually printed it out in big
letters on a piece of paper and stuck it on our wall
for inspiration. No matter where you’re playing or
who you’re playing with, you want your standards
to be high. It’s your reputation.”
Doing that day in and day out is actually one of the
challenges of playing with the Seattle Symphony, he
confessed. “We go through a lot of repertoire, so
learning the music and playing it at a high level can
be difficult at times.”
But the rewards are great. I asked him his favourite
part about being Principal with Seattle.
“Just getting the opportunity to have a prominent
voice in so many great pieces of music. And I really
enjoy playing with the Opera, as well.”
He’s had fun exploring the city and nearby hiking
trails, and he loves playing in the symphony that
inspired him as a young musician.

Benjamin Lulich is Principal Clarinet with the Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera. An exceptionally gifted
young artist, he has held positions in the Pacific Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, and Colorado Music
Festival, and has performed frequently with The Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles
Opera, Pasadena Symphony, IRIS Orchestra, and many other ensembles. The recipient of many awards and
prizes, he studied at Interlochen Arts Academy, Cleveland Institute of Music, Yale School of Music, Pacific
Music Festival, and Music Academy of the West. His teachers include: David Shifrin, Franklin Cohen, Richard
Hawkins, Fred Ormand, and Laura DeLuca. Benjamin Lulich is a Backun Artist and performs on MoBa clarinets.

38 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
 BENJAMIN LULICH
MY TOP FIVE HIKES
1. Angels Landing, Zion National Park, Utah
The views from the top are amazing, but it’s not
for the fainthearted.
2. Bubble Rock, Acadia National Park, Maine
It’s a beautiful hike. Bubble Rock, on the top,
looks like it could just roll down the mountain.
3. Burroughs Mountain Trail, Mount Rainier
National Park, Washington
If you make it to Third Burroughs, you get a
spectacular view of Rainier, and you look down
on some of the glaciers.
4. Queens Garden/Navajo Loop, Bryce Canyon
National Park, Utah
There are lots of great rock formations that
lead you down into the amphitheater of Bryce
Canyon, then back up for a great overlook of
Thor’s Hammer.
5. Green Lakes Trail, Three Sisters Wilderness,
Oregon
One of my favourite hikes when I was younger.
There’s beautiful scenery — mountains, forests,
and lava flows — the whole way. It brings back
great memories.
BENJAMIN LULICH | 39
40 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
 Why I
Switched
Eugene Mondie on
Why He Plays Backun Clarinets
Text, Kim Werker | Photos, Rick Etkin

Eugene Mondie started playing

clarinet when he was about six years
old, and at fourteen decided he
wanted to play professionally in an
orchestra. The way he tells it, it was
happenstance that he was handed
this particular instrument when he was
a child, and his decision to pursue it
seriously had as much to do with his
aptitude for it as anything else.

EUGENE MONDIE | 41
But probe just a little bit deeper, and you discover
that Mondie is driven by profound inquisitiveness
and a desire to explore the very nature of art and
music. “I think the basic premise that I’ve come to
over the last ten years or so,” he explains, “is trying
to understand primarily how art functions and how
music functions, and why great artists are great,
and why music does work sometimes and not at
[other times].”
Mondie isn’t after perfection in his music. He
knows that’s a senseless goal. Instead, he believes
“that basically art functions by dissonance and
consonance and getting those relationships to
function properly.”
He continues, “If you have an instrument that is
out of tune or if you have an instrument that really
pops a certain note or whatever, then you can’t get
the relationships to work properly. The instrument
is driving the relationships rather than the actual
structure of the music that the composer has written,
and trying to get those relationships to be clear is,
in part, what our role is. If it’s arbitrary and has
certain tendencies that are out of your control, I
think that’s when it’s problematic. The gift is getting
those relationships to be effective.”
The instrument you play is the tool that enables
your exploration of the music. To Mondie, treating
a clarinet as a mere accessory diminishes the role
it plays in your art. “It’s important that you have
some sort of basis, a philosophical basis, for why
you need your equipment to do certain things,” he
says. “Otherwise you’re sort of driven by fashion
or personality – whether it’s the company, or the
branding, whatever it is. You want to be driven by
what you perceive as servicing the music rather
than anything else.”
Recently, Mondie started playing MoBa Grenadilla
clarinets by Backun. I asked him why he switched.
42 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
“There’s the old [Donald] Rumsfeld quote about the
unknown unknowns, and I think that’s what drives
us. It’s trying to figure out what is it that you’re
missing, what is it that you’re not seeing. I think I
ran into limitations [with my old clarinet], feeling
that I was dealing with certain problems and not
being able to find a resolution to those problems.
That’s in part why I made the switch, because I was
looking for something that was going to allow me
to do X, Y, and Z, and I was able to do them with
these instruments.”
Just as he sees the tension between consonance and
dissonance as the driving force of music, he accepts
that there is no such thing as a perfect clarinet. “I
don’t think that anything is perfect. You’re giving up
something to get something.”
The relationship he’s forming with the Backun family
is part of what he feels he’s gained from playing
their clarinet. “At the company, they’ve been
very willing to accommodate my specific requests
about what I want the instrument to be able to do,
or [what I] need for my particular circumstance,
whether it’s in the orchestra or whatever it might
be. That willingness to accommodate those really
highly specific requests, that made them unique in
my mind.”
Eugene Mondie is Acting Principal Clarinet
with the National Symphony Orchestra in
Washington, DC. He ser ves on the faculty of
the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music at The
Catholic University of America and at the Peabody
Conservatory. Eugene Mondie is a Backun Artist
and performs on MoBa clarinets and accessories.
EUGENE MONDIE | 43
Ricardo
Morales
Text, Kim Werker | Photos, Yuki Tei

Unfettered joy. This is

what Ricardo Morales possesses. No,
that’s not right. He doesn’t possess it,
he emits it. Like a glow.
44 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
RICARDO MORALES | 45
To speak with Morales is to receive a gift of smiles,
both his and the ones he draws out of you.
It’s no surprise that the Principal Clarinetist of The
Philadelphia Orchestra is a fluent and enthusiastic
collaborator. Beyond the music he plays as part
of an ensemble, he creates original works in
partnership with people he respects, from concertos
to the instruments he plays.
THE CONCERTO
Back in 2011, Morales attended a rehearsal of his
colleague, principal flutist Jeffrey Khaner. The piece
Khaner played was the concerto that composer
Jonathan Leshnoff had written for him, and Morales’s
immediate reaction was to want one for himself.
Leshnoff, who is based in Baltimore, was there that
day, and Morales introduced himself. He explained
that he loved the flute concerto and would like to
do a collaboration. “We just hit it off right away,”
Morales told me on the phone from his home.
(Spoiler alert: We spoke the day after he debuted his
concerto.)
Of course, enthusiasm alone doesn’t cut it when it
comes to an artistic collaboration; more ingredients
are needed. “It’s difficult to find a composer who you
trust, for them to create something for you,” Morales
explains. “Basically what I have to do is to recreate,
to represent, the vision of the composer. You have
to have some kind of camaraderie. And for me
[with Leshnoff], the camaraderie was built just in my
admiration of his music. So we got together and we
started to think about the qualities that one would
envision the concerto would have.”
From there, the duo established their goals for the
piece. They discussed the mood they wanted to
express, and what Morales wanted to feel he would
be accomplishing when he would eventually play it.
“So I described to him what I really liked in his flute
concerto,” Morales continues. “There’s something
that people can take with them, a tune that they
can hum, that they can recognize. It can make an
impression in your mind and in your heart. I wanted
people to sit down on a Sunday afternoon to enjoy
it at home — not just an intellectual exercise. That
was very important for me.” Morales also wanted
the composition to highlight the subtle nuances the
clarinet can express, and that its music has always
been portrayed as having a female voice.
46 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
Morales sent Leshnoff recordings of his
performances so the composer could become
familiar with how he plays in different genres and
with his general style of performance.
Though Leshnoff pressed Morales to provide
details of his technical range – how fast he was
comfortable playing, what registers he preferred
to play in – Morales responded that his primary
interest was to play beautiful music. “Write your
piece,” he tells me he insisted, “and I will do my
best to accomplish that. If there’s something that
cannot be done at that moment by me, then we can
talk about alternatives.” He didn’t want to impose
too many constraints on the way that Leshnoff would
compose. Morales wanted him to feel free to write
“what is in his heart and mind.”
When the first draft of the concerto was ready,
Morales took the train from Philadelphia to
Baltimore. He read through the draft, then started to
play it. “When I finished with the first movement,”
he told me, “I was so moved I started weeping. I
couldn’t help myself, I was so happy. I got all teary,
and I actually cried. I wept in happiness, because I
felt like he understood exactly how I like the clarinet
to sound, and how I envision the qualities of the
clarinet to be used.”
THE CLARINET
Years before venturing into the world of
commissioning new music, Morales teamed up
with Morrie Backun to develop a new clarinet. This
long-term collaboration has involved a very different
process than his experience working with Leshnoff
on the concerto, “but similar in the sense that one
has to have a particular kind of openness, like when
I said to Jonathan, ‘please just write it the way that
you want, and if there is something I cannot play,
then just leave it there and we can work on some
alternative.’ So that way we can have the process
be fluid.”
Backun was making bells and barrels at the time
Morales met him in 2003. Backun presented an
assortment of parts made in a variety of woods,
which Morales describes as “a rainbow of colour. It
was just really, really beautiful.”
The pair worked together to fit Morales’s existing
clarinets with bells and barrels customized to tweak
his sound to his desired quality, but eventually they
had one of those moments that changes everything.
RICARDO MORALES | 47
They looked at each other and said, “You know
what? Instead of modifying and adjusting other
manufacturer’s clarinets, why don’t we just make
our own from the very beginning?”
Morales recalls their initial approach to
developing a brand-new clarinet: “Envision
playing on the best instrument that you could
possibly imagine. And now you’re playing
one of the most difficult or the most beautiful
pieces that is close to you, and what you envision
happening in terms of how it will feel, how it will
sound, how you’ll get along with the instrument.
That is basically how we started this instrument.
It really helped us to get us away from the status
quo, from the myth of tradition.”
Backun and Morales were uninterested in
maintaining the status quo. They weren’t after
celebrating tradition. They didn’t want to start with
some agreed-upon standard, then put their own
twist on it. “If you want to make something that
has a lasting impact and you want to improve the
craft, you cannot start with that, because it is almost
self-defeating,” Morales explains. Instead, the two
decided to start from scratch. Their goal was to
change the conversation entirely, moving the game
to an entirely new field of play: to focus on the
tension between what clarinetists think they want
because it’s what they’ve always been given and
what they actually need.
“In music and life in general,” Morales says,
“sometimes what we want is different from what we
need, right? You know, I want a hamburger with
fries, but what I need is a nice salad.”
The result of their collaboration is the MoBa clarinet
and line of accessories.
Thirteen years after they first met, Backun and
Morales continue to work closely to refine the MoBa
line of products. “The most enjoyable part is that
we are not even close to being done,” Morales
says with a smile I can hear across the phone line.
“It feels like it’s a great first step to the future of
what the clarinet can truly be. So as the instrument
improves, then certain elements of the playing can
change and you improve your playing, and you
can actually have the opportunity to play music
better. We try to have more fun when we play.
It’s important to have the instrument as a tool that
allows us to accomplish every musical and artistic
wish, no matter how far-fetched it may seem.”
48 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
THE
COLLABORATOR
Text, Jonathan Leshnoff
Photo, Erica Hamilton
W
orking with Ricardo Morales has
been an unforgettable experience.
One incident that sticks out in
my mind occurred when I had just finished
the concerto in January of 2015. I invited
Ricardo to my studio in Baltimore to view
his part for the first time and to listen to it
as my computer played it back to him. I set
up the MIDI playback from my keyboard
and all was going well until I heard
what sounded like a real clarinet
playing the MIDI clarinet
line – in tempo! I sat
with my jaw
open as
Ricardo Morales is one of the most sought - after
clarinetists today. He joined The Philadelphia
Orchestra as Principal Clarinet in 2003, having
held the same position with the Metropolitan Opera
Orchestra starting at the age of twenty-one, under
the direction of James Levine. He has been asked to
perform as Principal Clarinetist with the New York
Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
and, at the invitation of Sir Simon Rattle, with the
Berlin Philharmonic. He also performs as Principal
Clarinetist with the Saito Kinen Festival Orchestra
and the Mito Chamber Orchestra, at the invitation
of Maestro Seiji Ozawa. He currently serves on the
faculty of Temple University. Ricardo Morales is a
Backun Artist and performs on MoBa clarinets and
accessories, which he co-designs with Morrie Backun.
Ricardo effortlessly sight-read his part, only to
apologize to me afterwards for missing a C♭.

When I write a concerto, I have to become

that instrument in order for its sound
to come through my compositional
voice. Ricardo was quite generous
in accepting substantial passages
as is, but I deeply appreciated
his suggestions to make the part
more endemic for clarinet. Through
text messages, email, and random
phone calls from his trips all over the
world, we had wonderful discussions
perfecting the nuances for clarinet.
I recall several times that my phone
would ring. I’d answer and be greeted
with, “Hey man, which of these
articulations work?” and then rapid-fire
clarinet playing for minutes. They would
all sound so good, I would say, “Uh,
Ricardo, why don’t you just choose one?” I
am also indebted to James Logan for helping
to edit the clarinet part for publication.

I’ll add that clarinet is an instrument very

close to my heart. In many of my orchestral
works, such as Rush or Starburst, there are
extended cadenza passages for solo clarinet.
I have always felt that it is an instrument of
such possibilities, such incredible dynamic
control, such expression, so easy to give life
to the songs in my heart.
this work in its new concert band version. The piano/
I am grateful that my Clarinet Concerto clarinet version is available through the Theodore
has a bright future. After its premiere with Presser Company.
The Philadelphia Orchestra, the other co-
commissioner, the Santa Barbara Symphony
Orchestra and soloist Donald Foster, will Jonathan Leshnoff was among the top ten composers most
perform it this coming February [2017]. frequently performed by American orchestras in the 2015-
There is also a wind-band arrangement 16 season. His works, performed by over fifty orchestras,
being transcribed for major concert have been commissioned by Carnegie Hall, and the
ensembles, including “The President’s Own” Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore, Nashville, and Kansas
Marine Band, the United States Navy City symphony orchestras; they have been performed by
Band, the United States Air Force Band, soloists Gil Shaham, Manuel Barrueco, and Jessica Rivera.
Rowan University, Towson University,
and the University of Miami (Florida).
Very exciting is that at this year’s
College Band Directors National
Association Conference (spring 2017,
Kansas City, Kansas) the University
of Miami Frost School of Music Wind
Ensemble, under the direction of Dr.
Robert Carnochan, will be presenting

JONATHAN LESHNOFF | 49
 CLARINET SUMMIT

SEPTEMBER 16 –17, 2016

CRANE SCHOOL OF MUSIC AT SUNY POTSDAM, NY, USA

Raphael Sanders Julianne Kirk Doyle

Artistic Director Artistic Director

Chad Burrow Daniel Gilbert Eugene Mondie

Guest Artist Guest Artist Guest Artist
Photo, Nathan Garfinkel Photo, Blu-Note Photography

In Their Own Words

Last November, Morrie Backun and I visited the Crane School of Music at SUNY
Potsdam to work with the clarinet studios of Raphael Sanders and Julianne Kirk
Doyle. During the seven-hour drive upstate from New York City, we wondered
what we would encounter at the school renowned for its strong music education
program. What we found astonished us: a clarinet studio led by two exceptional
artist-educators with a singular goal of teaching and inspiring young musicians.
No egos. No drama. In their own words, Raphael and Julianne discuss their
recipe for managing a studio founded on respect, dedication, and love for the
clarinet. — Chief Ed.

SANDERS & KIRK DOYLE | 51

Q Joel Jaffe: What was it that drew you to the
Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam?
What keeps you there, knowing your talents allow
you to teach anywhere you want?
Raphael Sanders: Awesome students, colleagues,
administration, and a terrific environment for
teaching, performing, and growing in music.
Julianne Kirk Doyle: I had just completed my
doctorate at Eastman and was teaching at Ball
State on a one-year visiting contract when I saw
the posting for the position at Crane. I was thrilled
by the prospect of returning to New York State, as
I had enjoyed my four years in Rochester during
my graduate work. I also knew that Raphael was
teaching there and had known his playing from
hearing him at the Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium.
Q  Julianne, what is it about Raphael that makes
him such an exceptional colleague and
educator?
JKD Raphael is the most supportive colleague
you will find. He is open to learning and
sharing knowledge. We support each other as a
team, and our students take that same approach.
Our students are very close with each other, as
if we’re one large studio instead of two. Raphael
and I often exchange students when they’re
preparing for barriers, recitals, or auditions, to
provide them with different perspectives.
Q Raphael, what is it about Julianne that makes
her such an exceptional colleague and
educator?
RS Dr. Julianne Kirk Doyle is first and foremost
a terrific person. She translates that well
in her teaching and collaborations with faculty,
52 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
students, and staff. She is a beautiful musician
with unmatched flair and phrasing. Her teaching is
world class, and she cares deeply about each one
of our clarinet students.
Q The focus of Crane is predominantly educating
and inspiring music education majors. What is
different about teaching these students, as opposed
to performance majors? How do you tailor your
studio lessons and ensemble work to their pursuits?
RS We strive to bring a world-class standard of
teaching and clarinet playing to Crane. No
matter a student’s major, they’re asked to give 100
percent. Anything less is unacceptable.
JKD Crane considers excellence in
performance to be the foundation on
which teaching rests, so our education majors
strive to achieve the same level of excellence as
our performance majors. Many double-major in
performance or pursue the performer’s certificate.
We also have a fast-growing music business
program. All of these students work to become the
best they can be, and they encourage and inspire
each other. Lessons are no different from major to
major; we take the students from where they are
when they enter as freshmen and take them to a
level of playing that’s higher than they ever thought
they were capable of.
Q Let’s talk ensembles: Crane has a plethora
of performing ensembles. How do you help
to prepare your students for performances? How
do you interact and engage with the ensemble
directors and performing groups to ensure your
students get what they need out of the experience?
RS We audition students for ensemble
placement every semester. We monitor

their progress in each ensemble they perform
in. We ensure they are being placed in a
manner that serves their needs and the needs
of the ensemble. We also monitor the harmony
clarinets and facilitate their excellence. We have
a mentoring system that helps in each ensemble.
We are also in constant communication with the
conductors to be sure our students are productive
members.
JKD  Crane has an ensemble-based enrolment.
We have to staff the orchestra, wind
ensemble, symphonic band, and concert band. This
requires us to maintain about fifty majors, and we
also have students major as bass clarinetists.
Once we assign students to ensembles, we work
with the principals, helping them with sectional
planning; have students bring difficult passages
into lessons; assist the auxiliary players with those
instruments; coach the orchestra clarinets when
needed.
We have excellent ensemble directors who plan
a well-balanced variety of repertoire for all
ensembles. We rotate the orchestra clarinets so our
top upperclassmen receive experience both in the
orchestra and as leaders in the wind ensemble. We
check in with ensemble directors to make sure the
clarinets are performing up to their expectations.
Being married to our director of bands, I have an
inside scoop to what is needed in ensembles.
Q Your innovative programming for clarinet
choirs is known around the world. What is it
about the Crane Clarinet Choir that keeps it ahead
of all others?
RS  We select works that present a diverse palate
of musical styles and challenges. Many have
Alpha B♭ Clarinet with nickel keywork.
been specifically written for us. Seniors conduct
during the concert and we also feature soloists. As
I tell the group, “be aggressive musically, challenge
yourself to be the best member of the choir you can
be. Always prepare and be ready to succeed. But,
most importantly, have fun.”
JKD Raphael’s passion for clarinet choir is a
driving force. The students have no idea
what a great ensemble we have, they just work
hard and play their best. They enjoy playing the
repertoire and in the group. It shows! The students
learn to listen, play in tune, and blend as an
ensemble. It is a great opportunity to train ensemble
skills and it carries over into the bands.
Q Having worked with you both, as well as with
your students, I’ve seen that you’ve created
an amazing culture of open, shared learning and
camaraderie between your two studios. How was
this culture developed and how do you maintain it?
RS We, ourselves, are learners. We thrive off
each other and enjoy our daily collaborations
and discussions. The students see that, and it
permeates their own learning and collaborations.
We lead by example. It’s the best and healthiest
way to facilitate our nurturing culture.
JKD Raphael and I set this example ourselves,
and the students follow. We work together
and encourage our students to do the same.
Q What advice do you have for young educators
taking on their first job in academia and
possibly sharing a studio with a colleague?
RS Work as a team. Support each other. And
most importantly, communicate constantly.
Seek to improve. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.
SANDERS & KIRK DOYLE | 53
JKD Be open minded, try new things, don’t be
afraid to express your opinion or share
your ideas. Believe in yourself, in your colleagues,
and in your students. Never give up on a student.
You saw their potential when they auditioned. Help
them realize that potential. Help them connect
the dots. Take chances in your playing and your
teaching. You will only continue to grow as you
teach more.

Raphael P. Sanders, Jr., is Professor of Clarinet at

the Crane School of Music, State University of
New York at Potsdam. Originally from Hawaii,
he has performed with the USAF Band and with
orchestras in San Francisco, Houston, New York,
and Ottawa, and has taught at the college level
in Texas and Nevada. In 1997, he established the
I.C.A. Orchestral Audition Competition. He co-
directs the Crane Clarinet Choir and performs in
the Potsdam Woodwind Quintet, the Orchestra of
Northern New York, and the Northern Symphonic
Winds. Raphael P. Sanders, Jr. is a Backun Artist
and performs on MoBa clarinets and accessories.

Julianne Kirk Doyle is Professor of Clarinet and

Director of the Crane Youth Music Camp at the
Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. She
performs regularly with the Aria Reed Trio and
Eastman Triana. Her primary teachers include
Jon Manasse, David Etheridge, and Bradford
Behn. Julianne Kirk Doyle is a Backun Artist and
performs on MoBa clarinets and accessories.

54 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
Model F B♭ Clarinet in cocobolo
wood with gold keywork.

| 55
TAKING YOUR PLACE
Text, Joel Jaffe | Photos, Nathan Garfinkel

London Silas Shavers is on a mission, and following

his lead are some of the most serious and dedicated
woodwind students in the United States.
A native Chicagoan, London made his way down to
Tennessee fifteen years ago to pursue his doctorate,
but ended up finding what he was truly looking for
when he started a private woodwind studio with
just seven students, growing to twenty by the end
of his first year. Fast-forward more than a decade
and his studio sets the standard for excellence in
performance and academics. His students have
included three National Merit Scholars (one of
whom was accepted to every Ivy League university),
two Eagle Scouts, and All-State First Chairs for every
instrument he teaches privately.

56 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
What’s London’s recipe for success? Wouldn’t you
like to know.
Recently, on a rainy afternoon following the photo
shoot for this publication, London and I sat down
over a bowl of phở in Vancouver, Canada, to talk
about the highs and lows of running a successful
private studio. I asked him why most private studios
fail. His answer was quick and direct: “Most
teachers treat their students as cash cows instead of
investments. I’m tough. I deal in brutal honesty.” For
those who maintain private studios, those words can
be taken as a stinging criticism. Take them as you
will.
Embracing one’s own journey is the first lesson
taught in London’s studio. “I’m a guide, but they
have to walk that path and go down the rabbit
hole. They have to understand that I am there for
them. Students respond better when there is trust.
I never ask them to do something I haven’t done
myself. I need to explain to them the why and how.
And that I will be there to fight that battle with them.
We work as a unit.”
Every one of his students is on her or his own
journey. Some study music with the goal of being
professional musicians; others do it purely for the
love of music. One student, Sarah, studied oboe
with London for just one year, during which time
she went from good to great, earning All-State First
Chair. Following this prestigious appointment, she
quit the oboe, her goal of achieving First Chair
having been conquered.
“I want to build something. Start them off right. Like
a piece of clay. They start with nothing and when
they are done, they have a scholarship waiting
for them.” Interestingly, almost all of London’s
students excel not only in academics, but also
in earning entrance scholarships to the colleges
they are accepted to. “As a student, you may
not be successful [to begin with], but you need to
have a fighting chance. You need to give the kids
honesty. We’re all students. My students are my best
teachers. They are like jigsaw puzzles, where I get
the opportunity to learn. Sometimes the best lessons
don’t even involve taking the horn out of the case.”
But what is the fundamental key to London’s
students’ achievements? “My studio is successful due
to unbelievable parental support. The first lesson
is an interview. I sit down with the parents. I tell
them, ‘This is what I need. I need your support. If
you can’t give me the tools to help your child, I’m
not the teacher for you.’” Tough words for a parent
to hear if they aren’t fully committed to their child’s
development.
“I don’t treat the kids differently. The standards
are still the same. Log your practice times, record
yourself. Perform with your fellow classmates.
Perform in clarinet choirs and quartets.” In the end,
the recipe for success changes with each student,
as each one is motivated differently, according
to her or his own goals. “They don’t practice out
of fear. They generally want to do better. One
bad lesson and we move on. Two, so be it.
Three and we’re having a chat. I rarely have to take
a student to task for not practicing.”
One thing is for sure: there is no room for egos in
London’s studio. “I don’t approach any artist or
student differently. They put their pants on the same
way that I do.” On achieving All-State First Chairs
for every one of his students: “It’s not a matter of
who wins which one, someone’s going to take that
chair.” Studio-mandatory mock auditions, peer-to-
peer feedback and constructive criticism, healthy
competition between students, and you have more
fun than you do at a Friday night football game.
One thing is clear: London loves what he does and
is committed to it with every fibre of his being. He
truly lives it.
If you ever have the opportunity to spend time with
London or his students, you’ll hear one phrase
over and over again: “Remember who you are
and take your place.” It’s classic London Silas
Shavers. Personally, I often repeat this to Backun
Artists as they prepare for a big audition or take
the stage for a big performance. Indeed, they are
words to live by.
London Silas Shavers is a Fine Arts Instructor  at
Nor thwest Mississippi Community College–
Desoto Center. In addition to his teaching, festival
adjudication, and ensemble conducting, Shavers
performs throughout the United States and abroad
as a soloist and chamber musician, and is an active
woodwind clinician, recitalist, and composer. Shavers
holds degrees from Valparaiso University and Western
Michigan University, and completed doctoral studies
at the University of Memphis. London Silas Shavers is
a Backun Artist and performs on MoBa clarinets and
his line of Backun/London Silas Shavers Mouthpieces.
LONDON SILAS SHAVERS | 57
 MoBa B♭ and A Clarinets in grenadilla
wood with silver keywork.

58 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
David Shifrin: Forging Paths
and Building Audiences
Text, Kim Werker | Photos, Yuki Tei

DAVID SHIFRIN | 59
W hen David Shifrin was a student,
he told his teachers that he wanted
to do many different kinds of work when
he became a professional musician. They
weren’t having it.
“I enjoyed playing chamber music and doing solo
work, and I enjoyed playing in the orchestra at
school at Interlochen and Curtis. I wanted a career
like that. I went to competitions and had some solo
opportunities. I talked to my teachers about it, and
pretty much everyone said that if you want to have
a career playing the clarinet, the only path really
is to practice for orchestra auditions. There’s a lot
of truth in that, to be very honest. For most people,
the way to make a living as a professional classical
musician is to play in an orchestra or to get an
advanced degree and teach at a university and be
primarily a teacher.”
Now, at age sixty-six, David Shifrin is a teacher, a
soloist, a chamber musician, and a creative director,
60 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
and he’s as concerned with creating audiences for
his music as he is with playing it. In other words,
though he tried very hard to take his early teachers’
advice, over his fifty-year career, he’s ended up
pursuing all the varied aspects of professional music
that excited him when he was just starting out.
By the time he was in his early twenties, Shifrin had
been a member of four different orchestras, moving
up in position until he was Principal Clarinet in The
Cleveland Orchestra. “It was all-consuming,” he told
me on the phone from his office at Yale University.
“I had mixed success and mixed satisfaction [during
that time]. Cleveland is one of the great orchestras. I
enjoyed it. For me, it was kind of overwhelming and
consuming.”
After three years in Cleveland, he moved on to
teach full time at the University of Michigan, which
he describes as requiring quite an adjustment:
“While teaching was very satisfying, I really missed
the amount of playing I was doing, the actual
music-making. I was making music by working
with the students, but I wasn’t performing, except
on an occasional basis. I was still in my twenties
then and finding my way. So I practiced really
hard. In addition to my teaching, I went to some
competitions and had some success, won some
prizes, started accepting invitations to play in
various places and chamber music festivals.”
At this point in his career, Shifrin began commuting
part-time to play with the Los Angeles Chamber
Orchestra while still teaching in Michigan. “So
many musicians do that these days: live in one
place for one thing and commute to another place
for something else. That’s part of the price that you
DAVID SHIFRIN | 61
pay to attempt to have it all. You have to cope with
the geography.”
Shifrin joined the faculty at Yale in 1987 and has
been there ever since, though he still copes with
the geography. In addition to serving as the Artistic
Director of the Chamber Music Society of Yale
and Yale’s annual concert series at Carnegie Hall,
and having held the same position at the Chamber
Music Society of Lincoln Center for twelve years
starting in the early nineties, he has also served as
the Artistic Director of Chamber Music Northwest,
far across the continent in Portland, Oregon, since
1981.
THE BUSINESS
It’s as if the business of music is Shifrin’s play-
ground. Ill content to go up and down on the
seesaw over and over again, he insists on spending
time on the swings, the slide, and the jungle gym,
too, all the while inviting others to join him.
“When I first started [with Chamber Music
Northwest] in Portland in the early eighties,” he
explains, “people would say, ‘Look out at the
audience. Everyone has grey hair. What are we
going to do in thirty years when this audience is
gone?’ Well, the audience is even bigger now
and they still have grey hair, but there are a lot
of reasons that people go to concerts later in life.
At the same time, we are attracting more younger
people, and it’s always the people who are exposed
to and have some hands-on association with music
early in their life: they play an instrument, have
someone in their family that plays an instrument or
teaches kids about music. It becomes a language
that they learn. Sometimes people are exposed to
music early in life but just don’t have the resources
or the time to attend the concerts. Those are some of
the grey hairs that we see in the concert hall.”
And so this principal clarinetist, who enjoys playing
with chamber ensembles as much as he does being
part of an orchestra, is also involved with nurturing
and teaching students and audiences of all ages.
Thinking back to the advice he was given as a
student – advice he grew to ignore in favour of
creating his own very diversified career – I asked
Shifrin if he counsels his students as he had been
counselled, or if things have changed enough in
the industry that he advises his students to follow
the wider path he himself has walked. “Absolutely
62 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
[the latter], and I’m not alone. Most of the major
music schools in the country now have either a
career development aspect to the program or a
special course within the school in the business of
music or in entrepreneurial skills and relating to
audiences. More and more we’re requiring students
to try to help build audiences and to create some of
their own opportunities rather than simply locking
themselves in a practice room and looking for the
next opportunity to shine. Or for somebody to take
over all of their concerns as a performer.
“The days are almost gone where a manager will
take a precocious protégé under their wing and
take care of absolutely everything for them and just
send them out on stage. There are a few incredible
geniuses for whom they probably have no other
concerns than to just keep being a genius. Most
people have to have the concerns of the world. Even
if you read the letters of Beethoven and Mozart and
Bach, there was a business aspect. Bach had to
deliver his scores to the Margrave of Brandenburg-
Schwedt. And Mozart was always applying to new
royalties for the next position in teaching and church
jobs. Beethoven was hankering for commissions
and trying to figure out how to fix his situation
where he’d be making friends with the patrons.
We don’t live in a vacuum where all we need to do
is play our music and everything else will fall into
place. I think the sooner that music students, serious
performance students, realize that there are many
aspects to being a musician, the better.”
Winner of the 2000 Avery Fisher Prize, clarinetist
David Shifrin has appeared with The Philadelphia
and Minnesota Orchestras and the Dallas, Seattle,
Houston, Milwaukee, Detroit, and Denver symphonies.
He has performed recitals at Alice Tully Hall, Weill
Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Street Y
in New York City, and at the Library of Congress
in Washington, DC. In addition, he has appeared
in recital and as soloist with orchestras throughout
Europe and Asia. David Shifrin is a Backun Artist
and performs on MoBa clarinets and mouthpieces.
DAVID SHIFRIN | 63
 Stay Thirsty for the Clarinet.
Play Backun.

64 | CLARINETNEWS.COM
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The world’s preeminent clarinet competition takes centre stage

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