Website Watch (March 2015 column)

James Gillespie Online Research Library Project

As was announced in the December 2014 issue, the I.C.A. has launched its James Gillespie Online Research Library, named in honor of our illustrious editor! The library is a searchable archive of every issue of The Clarinet, from 1973 to the present. That’s 164 issues to date -- more than 40 years of master class articles, clarinetist profiles, equipment discussions, music reviews, and much, much more.

The treasures available in the archive are numerous. Clarinet historian Albert R. Rice contributed a number of excellent articles to the journal over the years, beginning back in volume 4. Michael Webster has written 64 articles in his “Teaching Clarinet” series, a fantastically thorough resource for teachers. Did you know that Paul Harvey’s first article for The Clarinet, “The Clarinet Music of Gordon Jacob,” appeared in volume 2?  And don’t forget James Gillespie’s own work dating back to the very first volume of the journal, including his multi-part features “I Wonder Who the Clarinet Player Was? The Hollywood Clarinetists” and “The Movies of Benny Goodman -- A Pictorial Retrospective.”

The Online Research Library also serves as a valuable record of original writings by esteemed clarinetists who are no longer with us. These include pedagogical articles by Keith Stein, historical articles by Pamela Weston, equipment investigations by Lee Gibson, and Rosario Mazzeo’s “Mazzeo Musings” series, which ran from 1986 to 1994.

The applications for use of this library are many. Performers can do a search for the title of a work they’re preparing to find historical information or master class articles. Clarinet professors can consult the wealth of pedagogy articles for help with the challenges of teaching clarinet -- or they could even make the library a required course text, introducing their students to the I.C.A. and the benefits of membership. Scholars will want to consult the numerous articles on historical clarinets and clarinetists of the past. Without a doubt, clarinetists around the world will be inspired to join the I.C.A. in order to gain access to the incredible resource of the James Gillespie Online Research Library.

Wesley Ferreira’s website

If you, like many musicians, dutifully created a personal website sometime in the early 2000’s and then let it languish with sporadic updates ever since, you might want to look to WesleyFerreira.com as inspiration for an update. Ferreira has gone above and beyond the typical bio/calendar/audio artist website, creating a clean, contemporary online space that serves not just as a digital business card, but a platform for interacting with his audience.

Ferreira’s site first caught our attention with his “Clarinet in the Digital Age” project.  In the fall of 2014, he encouraged fans to vote on repertoire for an upcoming recital.  Visitors to the “Vote” page had the opportunity to choose between two musical selections in six different genres, with audio clips to help make their decision.  Ferreira has committed to performing the most popular selections on his “Clarinet in the Digital Age” recital on March 9, 2015 at Colorado State University, where he is on faculty. Bringing the project full-circle, the concert will be live-streamed online so that fans from around the world can listen.