Musical Chairs? Ricardo Morales and the New York Philharmonic

Speculation about Ricardo Morales becoming principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic has been in the air at least since he turned down the Chicago Symphony position last year.  Now, he has officially been offered the position (according to this NY Times blog post) and it remains to be seen whether Morales will accept this offer to succeed Stanley Drucker as principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic. 

Philadelphia would certainly be sorry to lose him -- this article from the Philadelphia Inquirer makes that clear, and also raises questions about the orchestral audition process in general.  And as always, the discussion at the Clarinet BBoard is ongoing, including a claim that Morales has already accepted the position, and another that he will actually be joining the Miami Heat instead.  :) 

We'll keep watching the BBoard and the Clarinet Jobs Facebook group for further developments.  In the meantime, check out this interview to learn more about Morales, his family, and the evolution of his musical career.

Rockinet, the Rocket Powered Clarinet

We all have days where we wish we could do this to our clarinets:




(Note: No clarinets were harmed in the making of this video!)

Adam Berkowitz's Clarinet Blog

Our upcoming column in The Clarinet (December 2010) features clarinet blogs, and we are already discovering people we have left out - it seems the quality and number of bloggers is always increasing.  We'd like to preemptively amend our list to include Adam Berkowitz, whose blog is a great read for clarinetists of all ages and abilities.  Berkowitz lives in Hartford, CT, and is an active teacher and performer who focuses on playing new music and klezmer clarinet. 

Berkowitz frequently writes posts about technique that are useful for students as well as teachers, providing interesting pedagogical perspectives.  If you're in a rut with your playing, you might benefit from his ideas about how science fiction and martial arts can be related to clarinet playing!  Berkowitz also writes about extended techniques as they relate to contemporary music as well as clarinet technique in general.  Check it out for yourself; you'll be glad you did!