Website Watch (September 2016 column)

Adam Ballif

Adam Ballif teaches clarinet at Brigham Young University–Idaho. His website, www.adamballif.com, is an excellent example of a professional website, with his biography, audio samples of performances, and materials for his BYU-I students. It also has high-quality general clarinet resources including an annotated repertoire list and information on clarinet conferences and festivals. Ballif’s site is the home of the “ClariNotes” newsletter, a one-page publication with clarinet tips and exercises, as well as a blog covering pedagogical topics. Another interesting and useful feature is “Ballif Beats,” custom-made click tracks for repertoire that is difficult to practice with an ordinary metronome. Several are available for download, including the second movement of the Bernstein Sonata and several works by Eric Mandat.

Anne Bell's ABC

Anne Bell is a clarinetist and educator and the creator of ABC (Anne Bell’s Clarinet) at anne-bell.woodwind.org, which has been in operation since 1998. Bell’s site includes very comprehensive and carefully categorized link lists, pointing clarinetists toward resources related to all aspects of the clarinet and clarinet playing: repertoire, recordings, history, education, acoustics and more. If you are looking for clarinet-related information, try Bell’s site for a meticulously curated collection of high-quality links.

Clarineat

Sean Perrin’s website clarineat.com is the home of the Clarineat podcast, a fascinating interview show featuring clarinetist guests like Martin Fröst, Harry Sparnaay and Michael Norsworthy, plus inventors, composers, entrepreneurs and other people involved in the clarinet world. The website is the place to listen to the show or find subscription links. The site also includes web-only content like product reviews, discussion forums and an online store selling many of the products mentioned on the podcast. Be sure to sign up for the email newsletter to be eligible to win giveaways like products reviewed on the site and signed copies of guests’ CDs.

Audition Cafe

Orchestral auditions and vacancies are often announced through social media sites such as Facebook’s public group “Clarinet Jobs,” but another great resource for current listings of open auditions is at www.auditioncafe.org. Here postings from orchestras stretching across four continents are conveniently listed by instrument and easy to search. Each job opening contains links to separate webpages that give dates, deadlines, and other pertinent audition information. Don’t forget to check out the site’s audition tips section where viewers can read Richie Hawley’s article on “Your Next Audition,” which breaks down the audition preparation process into five stages, or listen to Ricardo Morales’s expert advice in his YouTube video on how to prepare for an audition. Even a short video by actor Bryan Cranston, who plays the lead character on the hit TV drama “Breaking Bad,” has good advice for musicians pursuing the orchestral audition circuit.

Sean Osborn

With an extensive personal website at www.osbornmusic.com, clarinetist Sean Osborn has created a site that highlights not only his career as a soloist, teacher and composer, but also provides valuable resources to both educators and performers. His educational links are worth looking into as his lengthy articles on improving technique and legato fingers are very insightful. In the orchestral guide link, Osborn presents mini-master classes written on commonly requested orchestral audition excerpts taken from a paper he wrote on teaching and performing excerpts. Viewers can access the entire 60-page paper or go to individual entries listed alphabetically by composer and excerpt. He covers topics such as phrasing, fingerings, tips and general background information on each piece, lending his expertise as an orchestral player to the reader. All of the master class entries contain links to YouTube videos of Osborn playing snippets of the excerpts. For the entire gamut of Osborn’s videos, visit his YouTube channel at SeanOsborn.

Bulletproof Musician

Applicable to all types of musicians at all levels, Noa Kageyama’s website www.bulletproofmusician.com is a wonderful resource for interesting articles and research on performance methods. As a violinist and performance psychologist on the faculty at Juilliard, Kageyama frequently posts his own articles on topics pertaining to practice techniques and learning processes, including mental strategies musicians can use to overcome lulls or setbacks in their own practicing. Addressing and analyzing commonly shared issues and obstacles faced by all musicians, Kageyama’s writings are enjoyable to read and can help any clarinetist become a better and more confident player.

Stay tuned for more useful and interesting clarinet content on the web, as well as an upcoming series of columns on building your own online presence! As we shift content to the International Clarinet Association's webpage, clarinet.org, you can now access Clarinet Cache electronic columns directly on "The Clarinet Online" component at clarinet.org/tco/.

Clarinet Choirs

Supplementing our September 2015 column on clarinet ensembles, we extend our coverage to larger ensembles, namely clarinet choir websites that caught our attention. In this column we are excited to welcome Bret Pimentel as a guest author for Clarinet Cache. As an active blogger and regular contributor to the clarinet community, Bret has been mentioned several times in our column and blog posts, and his article for "The 21st-Century Woodwind Doubler" appeared in the June 2015 issue of The Clarinet. We welcome him and his expert knowledge in our never-ending search of the web.

Northwest Clarinet ChoirNorthwest Clarinet Choir is an active community-based ensemble that promotes clarinet choir music in the Seattle area. Under the direction of William Blayney, the ensemble recently performed at ClarinetFest 2014 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana as well as other clarinet festivals in previous years. Members in the group are of all ages with various backgrounds and livelihoods, including regular participation by the All-City Clarinets, a separate performing ensemble consisting of area high-school and middle-school students. Touting one the largest private collections of clarinet choir sheet music in the United States, Northwest Clarinet Choir often performs both original compositions and arrangements, many of which are done by Blayney and other members of the ensemble. To hear the group perform, check out the two videos posted on their website or visit their YouTube channel for several hours worth of video footage.  

Los Angeles Clarinet ChoirAnother very active group that has been in existence for over ten years is the Los Angeles Clarinet Choir. Under the principal direction of the group’s founder Margaret Thornhill (author of “The Clarinet Choir” column in The Clarinet) and associate director Victoria Ramos, this sixteen-member choir has performed at several festivals, including ClarinetFest 2010 and 2011. Known for its unique programming and dedication to premiering new compositions and arrangements, this professional ensemble regularly posts new videos to the YouTube channel Arundo76. There you can find scores of high-quality performances by the group as well as performances from the Claremont Clarinet Festival.

Austrian Clarinet Choir The Austrian Clarinet Choir (österreichische Klarinettenchor) was formed in 2007 by members of the Austrian Clarinet Society. It is led by Dr. Friedrich Pfatschbacher and Armin Suppan, and rehearses in the facilities of the Musikschule Mautern. The ACC’s German-language website features several performance videos.

Capriccio Clarinet Orchestra “Orchestra” truly is the correct word for the Capriccio Clarinet Orchestra, a 40-member ensemble based in the Netherlands. The CCO, directed by John de Beer, performs ambitious transcriptions of large-scale orchestral works (such as the complete Dvořák New World Symphony!). The group has maintained an active worldwide performance calendar since 1989, and also does educational outreach events.The CCO’s website provides ample inspiration--video and audio recordings, as well as historical information--for clarinetists interested in forming large clarinet ensembles. It also includes an extensive and searchable repertoire list, with publisher information.

The University of Illinois Clarinet Choir

One unexpected source unearthed in our research lead us to the University of Illinois Clarinet Choir’s page. Chronicling the history and legacy of the ensemble and its founder, Harvey Hermann, this website provides interesting information on the history of the group, activities, and literature performed by the ensemble. Serving as director from 1965 to his retirement from the group in 1998, Hermann had to write numerous transcriptions for his students, including major orchestral works, out of necessity due to the small body of clarinet choir repertoire available at that time. Unfortunately, the ensemble no longer exists, but Hermann's contribution to the literature and genre are still present. By going to the recording links, we can hear and experience works from the seven LP recordings Hermann made with the group. These digitized files from the original LPs are quite a gem. Hermann also has music for sale on the site. Here you can peruse a listing of unpublished original works and transcriptions from his own library, with many of the compositions taken from manuscript copies and reproduced with software notation. 

Chattanooga Clarinet ChoirThe Chattanooga Clarinet Choir has a notable website that contains resourceful information and links to other clarinet choir websites, select artists, and music and equipment vendors. At one point in time the site featured tons of live audio files of a variety of clarinet choir works, but currently the sound files are not accessible. A large collection of public domain sheet music is available to download, including clarinet and piano works and unaccompanied pieces (site requires password for this link), but unfortunately no clarinet choir literature is listed. The group was founded in 1999 by Jay Craven and is directed by Lok Kim. 

Silverwood Clarinet Choir The Silverwood Clarinet Choir is a professional ensemble in central New York state. Pamela Mastrobattisto leads the group, but frequently turns over the baton to guest conductors. The SCC does polished performances of challenging repertoire including transcriptions and original compositions.The Silverwood Clarinet Choir website includes many performance videos and audio recordings, a selective repertoire list, and links to the group’s other online outlets, including a clarinet choir blog and Facebook page.

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