• Stravinsky’s Secret 4th Piece for Solo Clarinet

    Serious clarinetists are probably all-too familiar with Igor Stravinsky’s devilishly difficult Three Pieces for solo clarinet, written in 1918 and published in 1919. This piece was written as a thank-you present to philanthropist and amateur clarinetist Werner Reinhart (1884-1951) for his support of Stravinsky’s music. This is one of the first true unaccompanied solos in the clarinet repertoire, and it is commonplace for this work to be asked on auditions because it demonstrates the player’s technical and lyrical abilities. Another unique element of this piece is that it is written for both B-flat and A clarinet in the same piece (the first two movements are “preferably” on A clarinet, while…

  • Famous Clarinet Cadenzas

    The clarinet has a wide variety of repertoire written throughout its history, and the collection only continues to grow as more people write for the best instrument around. Among these works, there are many pieces with famous clarinet cadenzas, or extended solo passages to demonstrate the virtuosic ability of the player. A brief history of the cadenza At the turn of the 19th century, cadenzas were improvised by the performer and typically placed at the end of the movement to demonstrate the performer’s technical dexterity. Over time, composers began creating and writing cadenzas in their works. While some were still placed at the end of movements, this was no longer…

  • Your Clarinet Summer Glow Up Guide

    Happy summer! (If we’re being pedantic, it doesn’t officially start until next week, but these high temperatures could have fooled me!) If you want to use your summer break for a major musical glow up, you’ve come to the right place! If you’re unfamiliar, a glow up is a positive transformation, whether it’s physical, mental, spiritual, and now…musical! There are tons of ways you can improve this summer to complete your clarinet glow up, and here are a few of my recommendations: Set goals. A glow up is all about feeling more confident with yourself, so in order to do that, you should make a list of goals or skills…

  • The Musician’s Guide to Artist Residencies

    Hello from Austria! If you’re subscribed to my newsletter, you know all about my Austrian adventures, including my recent and upcoming projects and performances. I’m currently in Krems an der Donau as an Artist-in-Residence Niederösterreich, where I am researching and performing the clarinet compositions of Ernst Krenek in collaboration with the Ernst Krenek Institut. I’m very thankful to have done artist residencies around the world, and I wanted to share my advice to help other musicians learn more about artist residencies. What is an artist residency? Simply put, an artist residency is an opportunity for artists (from a multitude of disciplines) to live, work, and collaborate in a designated space.…

  • How to make an awesome audition recording

    It’s getting close to the end of the year, which means it’s time for… Audition recordings! Whether you’re auditioning for university, orchestras, or other opportunities, you want to create a polished and professional product to stand out from the crowd. Here’s some advice to help you make an awesome audition recording: Plan way in advance. The number one mistake I see students making is waiting until the last minute. I get second-hand anxiety when I know people record the week before a deadline (I’ve even had students tell me after the fact that they recorded hours before the deadline!). As soon as you find out the details and deadline, start…

  • How to rock your virtual audition

    Another audition season is upon us, and this one will probably look a lot different than many of the previous auditions you’ve taken! Even if you know your way around Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, and the multitude of other essential platforms this past year, a virtual audition is a lot more pressure than your average class or meeting, which is why I’m here to help! I’ve performed and adjudicated several virtual auditions and interviews, and here are my top tips so you can focus on the music and rock your audition: Make sure you have the tech info. There are few things worse than frantically digging through your inbox before an…

  • Common Clarinet Tuning Mistakes

    How do you tune a clarinet? No, this isn’t the start of a band joke (although I’d love to hear your punchlines if it were). Learning how to properly tune any instrument takes time – time to train your ears, time to learn how equipment responds to adjustments, time to listen and adjust to others, and many other variables. If you’re new to clarinet tuning, you should start by reading my complete guide on clarinet tuning to learn more about how the instrument works and factors which can affect tuning. Once you’ve got the basics, make sure you aren’t making any of these common clarinet tuning mistakes: Tuning before you…

  • Searching for universal clarinet truths

    Since I’ve committed to writing and publishing a daily blog this month, I thought this would also be a nice opportunity to explore some different topics and formats than I’ve done in the past. Instead of a pedagogical post, I thought I’d get a bit philosophical today. A few months ago, I was giving a lecture on musicpreneurship in Manitoba, Canada. (Little did I know that this would be one of my last live performances and lectures for the foreseeable future!). During this lecture, I made an innocuous remark about how there is no universal clarinet truth. I used this as a quick example to show how there are many…

  • How and why musicians should leave their comfort zones

    Musicians’ lives are built around repetition. Repetition of scales, passages, auditions, performances, and years of constant hard work and dedication to their craft. It’s understandable that musicians can become comfortable and complacent after a while. However, it is important for musicians to regularly explore beyond the boundaries of their comfort zones so they can continue growing as people and as artists. Leaving your comfort zone can be simple, like working on a new style, or more pronounced, like moving to another country. (I’ve lived in three different countries, and this has definitely influenced me as a musician!) Leaving our comfort zones is actually good for us because it causes the…

  • The Importance of Musical Prompts

    One of the challenges in performance or audition situations is transitioning smoothly from one piece to another. It can be difficult to instantly switch from one style or musical character to another, so how you can practice these changes before you perform? By using musical prompts. If you’ve ever given a presentation, you’ve probably used cue cards. Instead of printing your entire speech on each card and robotically reading from them, you choose succinct prompts to help you streamline your thoughts. Or, if you’re an actor, you think of prompts or other cues to help you quickly get into character. Creating musical prompts is the same kind of idea. For…