Clariperu (Sept 2008 column)

Frustrated by the lack of articles, interviews, and other clarinet information written in Spanish, Marco Antonio Mazzini in 1996 began a mailing list for Spanish-speaking clarinetists. This mailing list has since evolved into the popular website Clariperu.org, developed by Mazzini as an alternative to the multitude of Internet sources in English. Although its domain name reflects Mazzini's native country of Peru, the website covers a broad range of topics of interest to clarinetists in Latin America, Spain, and around the world.

Clariperu provides exclusive interviews with performers such as Sabine Meyer, Martin Fröst, Luis Rossi, and Guy Deplus, in addition to an extensive collection of articles, scores, audio and video files, and biographies. The main page highlights news of current events, interviews, writings, and awards granted, with a video del día featuring clarinetists of a wide range of generations and genres.

One section in particular, Figuras de Iberoamérica, showcases young clarinetists of Latin America and Spain, giving readers the chance to read about and hear performances by up-and-coming new talent. Spanish-speaking clarinetists may find the Artículos section to be extremely helpful, as Mazzini has not only written many articles but has translated articles by Pamela Weston and others into Spanish. Clariperu also provides information on international festivals and events and supplies free scores and musical exercises.

For those who don't speak Spanish, the videos alone make this site worth visiting. The video archives include everything from vintage footage of Benny Goodman playing "Why Don't You Do Right?" with singer Peggy Lee, to a performance of Alessandro Carbonare playing Tartini-Jacob's Concertino with clarinet choir accompaniment at the 2006 ClarinetFest. These videos can also be accessed through YouTube, where Clariperu publishes all videos. To make the already fantastic Clariperu site even better, a separate blog component (clariperu.blogspot.com) was added in 2005 to allow for frequent updates and visitor comments. The team of collaborators includes creator Marco Mazzini (Peru), Ivan Martinez (Mexico), Valentina Palma (Venezuela), Dieter (Spain), and Daniel Blech (Argentina). Allowing the expression of many voices from around the world, this section features news, announcements, anecdotes, "links of the day," and personal observations, all of which pertain to the clarinet.

Although some knowledge of the Spanish language is necessary, readers will find at Clariperu a wealth of information gathered and presented in in one complete source. Just have your Spanish dictionary within arm's reach, and have fun.