Click here for ClarinetFest 2025 Movies on youtube.com
Click Here For the Photo Album
( or click any of the thumbnails below )
Click here for ClarinetFest 2025 Movies on youtube.com
Click Here For the Photo Album
( or click any of the thumbnails below )
There were three parts to ClarinetFest this year. Stewart and I first did a recon trip a few weeks ahead of the event. Then the Enthusiast Committee added a day and a half ahead of the full conference to get amateurs and ClarinetFest newbies acclimated before being inundated with all things clarinet. Finally the actual conference ran from July 9-13, 2025, coinciding oddly with a Karate Championship and a Sheriff's Convention which were all held at the Ft Worth Convention Center. I got a nice surprise text early in the week from a good friend, Samantha Gant, who was participating in the Karate Championship but it was so busy all week we never found an opportunity to meet up.
Stewart and I visited Ft Worth for the first time since the 1990's to gather intel on best places to check out and how to navigate around the hotel. I have a weekly Zoom clarinet class called Clarinet Transformation Community led by Michelle Anderson in Vancouver. It includes members from all over the world sending in videos for Master Classes that are played on Zoom followed by the teacher (usually either Michelle or Josh Goo) giving tips for improvement or enhancement. Several of my classmates were expected to attend ClarinetFest this year, giving me a chance to see them in real life. But many were concerned about the hot Texas summers so I wanted to give them some good advice on visiting in and around Ft Worth. One member, Tish Bradshaw, would be coming from North Carolina and sharing my hotel room for the week. We had met IRL in Denver ClarinetFest and again at the Utah Clarinet Festival with May Ryan this past April.
Stewart and I opted to drive the TexPress under 635 and wow, what a time saver. Turns out, there are more of these minimum access paid lanes going in on the way to Ft Worth, so we made it to the Omni in about 45 mintes! We then started with the Omni concierge to get some info on museums and shuttles to get around. There is a free blue shuttle that circles the nearby 10-12 blocks, with exits to Joe T Garcia's and Sundance Square. An orange bus takes you to the Stockyards for $2 but getting to the museums and botanical gardens requires an Uber or car.
Lo and behold, the Water Gardens were mere steps away across the street from the Omni! There was an inactive spray fountain and a placid pool with massive Bald Cypress trees complete with "knees" poking up at the edge of the water. But I had a memory of stairs you could walk down into the fountains yet there was nothing like that visible. There were men doing maintenance who said they had been at work on the fountain for weeks so none of the fountains were running. They couldn't give an estimate of completion so fingers crossed they'd be on for ClarinetFest.
After peeking into the Water Gardens, we decided to take the free Blue Bus to Sundance Square. There was no live music playing on the outdoor stage on a Tuesday morning but the bus had a cool Texas vibe with murals on the front seats and Texas swing playing on the speaker.
We took some photos of the Chisholm Trail Longhorn Cattle Drive on side of Wells Fargo building plus the giant silver cowboy hat and nearby gigantic umbrellas that shade the gathering spot across from the square. Next, we opted for the museums since temps were already in the 90s. Unfortunately, the museums are mostly closed on Monday which is when Tish comes in and we'd have an afternoon to goof off before the event starts. There is one similar Western art museum near Sundance Square that is open on Mondays (Sid Richardson Museum). We didn't try it but that may be a Monday afternoon option if it's too hot.
The museums open at 10am and we got to the museum district too early so we found a cool coffee shop called Matchpoint Coffee with a university student vibe. TCU isn't far away. I got a coffee with chocolate and orange flavors... yum!
Afterward, we had choices betweeen the Kimball, the Modern and the Amon Carter. We chose the Amon Carter which always houses Western Art and is currently showing Richard Avedon photography exhibits. That would satisfy the Western heritage curious visitors as well as those that are just seriously into art. Excellent exhibits. The Russells and Remingtons included sculptures and paintings of cowboys on horseback in action shots with Texas landscapes. Remington actually did his work in New York while Russell was a real ranch hand. The favorite painting for me was a Russell titled "In Without Knocking". It depicts a chaotic scene of cowboys on horseback trying to ride their horses into a frontier hotel/saloon. One horse has fallen and several cowboys are shooting their guns while a deck of cards is strewn around.
With great memories of a Mediterranean restaurant called Terra that we had visited previously in Ft Worth, we decided to have lunch there again. It had expanded dramatically but we got there early and got a parking space on the curb just outside it. We enjoyed a huge, delicious buffet and were doubly glad we had gotten there early since the line built up quickly.
July 7, 2025 Monday, Prelude to ClarinetFest Day 0
Tonight (and every night) at the
Omni Hotel Ft Worth
Tish Bradshaw arrived from North Carolina at the Omni about the same time I got there via my Uber, about noon. Roomies for the week, we checked into our room and headed out to find a bite to eat.
We decided to hit the iconic Joe T Garcia's. It has good Mexican food but the real draw are the gardens, hundreds if not thousands of flowers, potted plants, fountains, cooled by gigantic fans. It was well worth the trip on the $2 Orange Bus and we didn't even notice the heat too much. We toured the entire place after eating and got strangers in cowboy garb to take our "selfies".
We then walked from Joe T's to the Stockyards, stopping in Tecovas Boots to get a whiff of the leather and check out the fancy stitching on footwear, purses, bags and belts, all pretty dang pricey. We had no idea what we were going to see but knew there was were two longhorn cattle drives there every day. We were late for the 11:30am but early for the 4pm drive so we walked Mule Alley, finding statues of Painted Ponies and a horse drawn carriage ride. We stopped in at Second Rodeo to cool off, found a jail cell with a metal toilet and joke graffiti all over the walls, then grabbed some cool beverages and headed out the back to the huge patio headed by a Hooch sign.
The longhorn cattle drive was fun. We settled onto a picnic table in the shade and before long heard a Texas twang on a microphone explaining the history of the drovers driving the cattle to market at the Stockyards over many years. There were 17 cattle in the drive this day with a few cowboys on horseback as they ambled down the street, turned a corner and were gone. Beautiful, huge animals and the horns are six feet long!!
Rather than walk, we took the Orange Bus back to the room to freshen up before the walk to Hogan's Alley for the Prelude to ClarinetFest get together, a 6-8pm meet and greet with light dinner at Hogan Alley, just a few blocks from the hotel.
The Prelude proper runs all day Tuesday and concludes Wednesday morning. It is the brainchild of the International Clarinet Association (ClarinetFest organizers) Enthusiasts Committee. This year it was run by Josh, Jay and Lynn, who also coordinated the meet & greet:
Josh had set up a WhatApp group previously so the members on that thread were familiar, including: Alessandra White (Practice Not Perfect online presence), Alejandro Mendoza, Charlotte Catlett (lives in Allen, plays in the Plano Clarinet Choir), Ken Ewald (San Antonio, CTC), Kevin Butler (bass clarinetist in the Plano Clarinet Choir), Marilyn Woodruff (conductor of Plano Clarinet Choir and director of ClarinetFest 2025 Enthusiast Choir), Rachel Hardman (UK), Jay Hassler (the Clarinet Ninja), Sara M., Natasha (Australia), Matthew Schulz, Randi Swindler (CTC), Sarah Wilder (her teacher is Richard Nunemaker, lives in Buffalo).
Tish and I arrived at Hogan's Alley and just after 6pm and met up with Josh and Hannah (Josh's wife), and many of the Prelude WhatsApp folks. We enjoyed some unusual coffee drinks and cocktails and found out where everyone came from and what type of ensembles they were in at home.
Back at the hotel, we settled in and I got concerned that I could hear thumpy music when I tried to sleep. When we checked in, they were going to put us on the 11th floor but I preferred a lower floor to reduce time in the elevator. They said "We have one on the 4th floor." We'll take it! I should have questioned more when the check-in person asked "Are you sure?" . Turns out there is an open stairwell just outside the ballroom on the 2nd floor that goes all they way up to the 3rd floor just below us. I could hear the country band playing even with my noise cancelling headphones on, but just barely enough to keep me awake (Tish was blissfully unaware). Luckily it shut off promptly at 10pm so all was well.
July 8, 2025 Tuesday, Prelude to ClarinetFest Day 1
Today was the first day of the Prelude, introducing the newbies and others of us amateurs about what to expect at ClarinetFest. Here's the agenda:
Tish and I opted for breakfast at the Cast Iron restaurant on the 1st floor of the Omni. We were soon joined by Cindy Bartz and Ken Ewald from our Clarinet Transformation online class, as well as Alessandra White and Sarah Wilder who we met at the Prelude meet and greet last night. And, of course, Flat May joined us for a quick bite.
May and her family (husband Reilly and daughter Zadie) were sight seeing in Dallas and around Ft. Worth this week so she planned to join ClarinetFest events later in the week. To make sure all Wind Sisters were accounted for, Tish brought along "Flat May" which she had taken with her to Spain last summer. We each had flat versions of each other so we could represent all three Wind Sisters while we were at separate clarinet festivals, May & I in Dublin with Flat Tish and Flat Anne & Flat May in Spain. The latter made many flat appearances in Ft Worth before 3D May arrived.
Registration for the Prelude was on the 3rd floor of the Omni near the Sundance 1 Conference room where our classes would be held. After picking up my badge, I spoke with Jessica Harrie, ClarinetFest organizer extraordinaire. I thought I remembered there had been 1700 attendees at ClarinetFest in Denver and she clarified there were actually 1900 in Denver and we way outdid that in Ft. Worth. She said there were over 2100 registered so far!
At 8:30 we headed into the Sundance room for the morning warm-up session with Jay Hassleler. He led us in some mouthpiece only exercises to help us focus on what pitch we were trying to achieve and then we did some with part harmonies focusing tone. He also taught us how little area we needed to touch with the tip of our tongue to stop the reed from vibrating. He had us keep the mouthpiece out of our mouths, look at the tip rail (slight flat part at the top of the mouthpiece) and then touch our tongues to touch no more than the tip rail. Game changing!
Next we had a Clarinet Choir practice to get us acquainted with playing in a group for those who hadn't done that in a while, if at all. I remember how intimidating it had been in Denver to play in the Enthusiasts Choir without having played in a group since high school so this was quite useful. It also helped us focus in on some of the trickier bits in the Enthusiast Choir music.
After we put away our instruments and stands, we heard a presentation on "How To ClarinetFest" helping people get the GuideBook App loaded, understand how to find concerts and sessions of interest and get them assigned to "MySchedule" so navigating the options would be greatly reduced.
Lunch was on our own so Tish and I headed out to find a restaurant nearby. Despite being in the 90's, a little breeze and diving into building shade helped keep it manageable, and we found a great little "bowls" restaurant named Salata within a few blocks. It reminded us of Zupa's in Logan, Utah, with a long cafeteria style counter where we picked out our salad options and fixings and ended it up with a choice of bread (I opted for a delicious whole wheat croissant).
After lunch, there were more sessions with Josh, Jay and Lynne, talking about vendors, reeds, metronome usage and such, along with plenty of question and answer discussion.
We ended the day with a rehearsal of the Enthusiast Choir music so we would be ready for the real practice sessions with our director, Marilyn Woodruff, of the Plano Clarinet Choir.
Some "How to ClarinetFest" tips:
Some "How to Visit the Exhibition Hall" tips:
Other random tips picked up during the sessions:
Dinner was at Cast Iron in the Omni. May, Reilly and Zadie joined the other Prelude to ClarinetFest attendees as well as early ClarinetFest arrivals. We filled two tables. I sat next to Tish and accross from Jay and Alessandra. Jay has a pre-teen daughter so he has plenty of variety in his life. Alessandra runs a website called "Practice Not Perfect" with Graciella who will be giving a talk later in the week. I had some trouble hearing conversations but the trusty EarPods Pro 2 had Conversation mode so I enabled that and it worked great to hear whoever I was looking at. Dinner took forever because the staff refused to split the bill so Josh graciously went from table to table, tabulating orders, adding tax and tip, and taking cash/Venmo/PayPal/Zelle. What a trooper.
July 9, 2025 Wednesday, Prelude to ClarinetFest Day 2, ClarinetFest Day 1
With all the craziness around restaurant service, Tish and I decided to just pick up oatmeal and coffee from Starbucks and have breakfast in our room. We did this the rest of the week, taking turns going down to get the food while the other got their morning started. Tish found the restroom on the 2nd floor so we were able to give each other privacy early on. This turned out to be quite nice despite my having procured the essential roommate toiletry, "Poo-Pouree", just prior to arriving in Ft Worth. The only downside was there was only one chair in the room, which we remedied later in the week just by asking the hotel staff to bring us another one.
The Prelude Event wrapped up with a half-day this morning. Today's happenings were taking place in the Convention Center across the street from the Omni. We took the three story escalator to the 2nd floor (curiously) and found conference rooms that had dividers so they could be enlarged as needed.
This turned out to be the best part of the whole session since they had a few vendors who agreed to come show their wares to a subset of students at a time in a room small enough that we could actually hear ourselves try things out.
First, there was a gear talk discussion of how exactly to try out equipment. Some tips:
Other gear talk covered mouthpieces that work with French Cut Legere reeds:
Next, we were visited by ClariNerds John Kurosawa and Stephanie Gardner who happily took questions from the audience.
When John was asked what he plays, he said he uses Yamaha GSC3 and CSVR which comes with inverted barrels. Stephanie recommended tuning throat tone G by pulling the barrel but tune Clarion C by pulling out the top joint. What is their practice routine? Long tones, scales, Baermann/Klose, articulation, but also deliberate practice (goal, perform/record, reflect) and sight reading practice. And don't forget to scare yourself!
Next, Lynne Sanders gave a presentation on adjusting cane reeds which I had no need for since I use synthetic reeds exclusively. It was at this time, they started sending groups to the vendor room. The vendors included Brian Corbin in collaboration with Royal Global and Brad Behn.
I was in the market for a mouthpiece that would be my backup in the event that my Grabner was dropped or became unusable. Walter Grabner had retired last year so no more of his could be ordered and I had already dropped another of his on tile and it shattered, being made of a resin rather than hard rubber.
First I tried Brian Corbin's mouthpieces. I explained my situation and he took my Grabner and found what his best fit for me, the B1 and B1+ mouthpieces. These were very easy blowing but I wasn't sold on the tone.
Next, I tried Brad Behn's table. Josh was very keen on him. When he heard my story, he took my Grabner and measured the opening and facing, then produced his Prescott Dark with a Long facing. At first, it didn't work for me, using the French Cut 3.75 that was so easy with my Grabner. I explained this to Brad and he pulled a cane reed out of his mouth and asked if I would mind trying that?! What, are you crazy?! Have we learned nothing from Covid? Well, okay. Lo and behold, it blew easily and sounded very clear and strong. The tone was a bit harsher than I was used to with the Grabner but I chalked that up to hard rubber vs resin and figured I could break it in after getting a softer synthetic reed on it. Sold!
Next I tried the Behn adjustable barrel since I really wanted one that would keep my top joint stable while I adjusted tuning. The Backun Lumiere barrel I had bought in Dublin needed to be pulled quite a bit to be in tune as it warmed up so unless the tenon cork was new, it was a bit precarious in its perch. The Behn adjustable barrel fit securely and helped my intonation and Brad offered me a good deal, $300 off on the pair of both mouthpiece and barrel. Of course, I had to buy them right then and there would be no returns. So I broke 3 of the rules I learned that morning: bought on the first visit, had to change the setup to make it work and didn't care about the return policy. Whoops! But the thing I liked most about Brad's approach was the measurements! He was very technical about the details and since it's all measurable physics, I really appreciated having data to go on more than just gut feel.
For lunch today, Tish and I teamed up with Charlotte from Allen and her Plano Clarinet Choir cohorts, Cindy and Kevin who also brought along a private lesson student, Laine. We returned to Salata and everyone was very keen on the healthy food having already tried the area BBQ.
After lunch, the official ClarinetFest started. Registration was on the 2nd floor of the Omni at the top of the escalator. We picked up our swag, using the badges from the Prelude event, including t-shirts, water bottles, and poster, then went up 2 floors to our room to drop off the extra baggage.
The first concert we attended was Jenny MacClay aka "Jenny Clarinet". She did a multi-media piece she created while visiting Greenland for several months, with video projecting her traversing the frigid tundra playing her instrument to the haunting melodies. It was quite moving.
Next up was Purple Mountain which included our CTC buddy, Randi. They were pretty good and even did a great job of the Irish Washerwoman which Joyful Noise was never able to get up to speed and ended up dropping off the medley of Irish tunes we did at our last fall concert.
Finally we headed to Josh Goo's performance of "Insignificant Amidst Immensity", a five movement multimedia piece with artwork that depicts the various sensations of being overwhelmed by insignificance, like the Pelagic (open sea), Synaptic (nerves), Enochlophobic (crowds) and immensity in general. It was so cool, incredibly immersive and his playing was spell-binding. Members of the audience were invited up on stage to capture what makes them feel insignificant on a blackboard, touch the clouds embedded with hidden toothpicks, and examine the seas and crowds in the artwork while Josh played surrounded by the artwork. It was a phenomonal piece and truly one of the best of the festival. Hannah and Josh were gracious enough to let us grab a photo with them along with the CTC'ers in attendance: Bill Powell, Cindy Bartz, May, Tish and me. Despite urging her to join us in the photo, his mom Deb opted to be the photographer.
For dinner, we joined up with May, Reilly and Zadie who had been touring Dallas in the afternoon. Tish and I along with the Ryan family were joined by Cindy Bartz, Ken Ewald, Bill Powell and Sarah Wilder from the Prelude Event. I really enjoyed getting to know Sarah. She had an underbite that made her top and bottom teeth actually line up vertically. I found out at Julie Deloach's master class that this bite was perfect for jaw position on the mouthpiece! Sarah is a very good clarinetist.
We had a fun meal at Riscky's BBQ (meh food but great company) and then walked the Sundance Square area getting the obligatory tourist photos of the cattle drive and silver cowboy hat.
The 8pm headliners concert in the Omni Texas Ballroom opened with Calvin Falwell on bass clarinet. He had been the director of the Enthusiasts Choir in Dublin and had introduced us to such diverse tunes as Shanendoah and Evil Robot Spooky Space Jam. That was brave.
After intermission, string and clarinet ensembles provided a lovely relaxing evening. Lara Diaz performed on Bass Clarinet followed by Jon Manasse playing Mozart's Clarinet Quintet in A major, K 581. Such excellent artistry that introduced what promises to be a week of sublime music making.
July 10, 2025 Thursday, ClarinetFest Day 2
Breakfast was again eaten in the room, picking up Starbucks and oatmeal from downstairs. Then we were on our way for an 8am warm-up.
Jay led the warmup, part clarinetist, part stand-up comic. He was funny and engaging with great tips to take home. I failed to capture many of them today but did grab a hard copy of his warm-up sheet.
Next was rehearsal for the Enthusiasts Choir. Waaaaahhh! Rush rush rush. Director is Marilyn Woodruff who conducts the Plano Clarinet Choir. Clearly several members of the Enthusiast band are ringers from her choir. They play the songs often in their concerts so know them very well. As a result, Marilyn did not take the tempo down for us, even for Molly on the Shore which many of us could not keep up with. Her advice was that there were so many players, someone else would cover for us. That is not what the Enthusiast Choir is about.
After rehearsal, Tish and I decided to check out the Exhibit Hall. The place was immense, and full to the brim with "clarinet spit" (Stewart's term for anything I get in the mail.)
We immediately hunted down the big names for photo ops. First we found 8x10 photos laying at the Backun table so I grabbed one of Richard Hawkins who was nearby and snagged an autograph to Susan Housen, his first band director and Andrew's mother Sharon's BFF. Sharon is my niece Emily's mother-in-law. Susan had given Richard his first clarinet in Houston. She's referenced (but not named) at 1:45 into this video.
Next we found Kristen Dennny-Chambers whose new scale book was just released at ClarinetFest so we grabbed copies from the table and looked around for someone to take our photo with them. Score!
Suddenly I recognized the photographer: Cameron Hewes of Camco! How could I not know him with his pulled back thick curly blond hair and pink round glasses! He's the guy that always sends a Linocut of clarinet related whimsy when you order sheet music from his store. I was embarrassed not to know him but apologized and he was quite gracious and let us get a photo with him too. That dude is tall!
Didn't talk to him but passed by Carrado Giufreddi as he was deep in conversation with a student / customer.
On to the Earspasm booth. Michael Lowenstern had been there earlier but when we dropped by to look for swag, he'd wandered off. Tish and I shopped small but fully. I came home with a mouthpiece swab and clarinet swab (both made of extremely absorbent material), a humidity guage that fits in the case, and some silicon mouthpiece guards.
Moving on, we spotted Plano Clarinet Choir Kevin trying out bass clarinets. Wonder if he bought one? Next the Buffet Crampon booth was very easy to find since it had a huge Eiffel Tower centerpiece. Finally, I had to solve my travel music stand problem. We wandered by the Tarpley booth and I spoke with them about the On Stage stand. My Dolfinos tiny travel iPad stand has too many issues so I looked for one that didn't pinch my fingers putting on the iPad, let me keep the iPod in its case with the pencil so the pencil could be charged while playing, didn't rock when turning pages, allowed room to also hold my phone to act as a metronome and tuner, and still fit in my suitcase. This On Stage model is perfect. It's a normal stand but the top comes off! So simple, a little heavy but checks all other boxes. The vendor rep had to run to his store 20 minutes away to get it but I told him I'd come by later and pick it up.
By this time, I was remembering how ClarinetFest is always jam packed with events so I decided to just grab some food from Starbucks for lunch and eat in the room. I got a really good peanut butter based bar and a dried fruit packet. Each packet had multiple servings so I stuck the peanut butter bar in the fridge and saved the fruit bar for later.
The first session after lunch was a Chedeville presentation with James Kanter. He had a well know mouthpiece that has been picked up by Chedeville and branded as their "Kanter" mouthpiece. The Kanter models are the Cinema (109 mm medium tip opening), Opera (wide opening) and there is a new smaller opening mouthpiece to be released soon. All are hard rubber and are said to work fine with Legere reeds as well as cane.
Here are some notes from the talk:
Next it was off to a presentation from the Health and Wellness committee called "Fit for the Stage." The talk was given by Shannon Kiewitt who plays in United States Marine Band. She was totally buff!
Shannon gave tips on exercises for musicians:
At 4pm, we met with Josh and Jay for the Enthusiasts Committee session. They asked about our experience regarding the Prelude to ClarinetFest Event and everyone was very positive regarding the overall concept and content, and the organizers were exceptional.
People really enjoyed the vendor area tryout options, and believe me, products were sold! (Ask me how I know). Walking through the Guidebook App was said to be extremely helpful expecially for those having trouble downloading it and managing their own schedule with it. All of the Prelude Event presentations were well received, and the ClariNerds session was particularly fun with John Kurokara and Stephanie Gardner.
One suggestion for improvement centered on the Enthusiast Choir, including dissatisfaction with the Ethusiast Choir's choice of music being too difficult or at least too fast for non-professionals to learn in the short amount of time and few rehearsals, although thankfully the Prelude had a valuable additional rehearsal. The director could have reduced the tempo but did not due to the number of ringers she had from her own choir. Alan Woy, who originated the New Horizons bands that are now all across the country, was a fantastic director for this level and mix of players when he conducted the New Horizons clarinet choir at ClarinetFest in Denver in 2023. But we learned that the ICA governance did not tie together the Enthusiast Committee with the Enthusiast Choir. What on earth?! This seems like a major oversight The Enthusiasts Committee can make suggestions but can't really influence the choice of director or music. So confusing and disappointing. We all know however that for the ICA to make changes, the members need to speak up so it's up to us to make ourselves heard.
The Prelude itself was a big hit and was heartily endorsed to be continued at future ClarinetFests.
For dinner, we walked up toward Sundance Square past the Hell's Half Acre sculpture of several ruffians of the old west who frequented the area. A nearby plague described the location as visited by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid along with the other members of the Wild Bunch who robbed banks to the tune of $4 million in today's money. We walked on and landed at Mi Cocina. It was very busy but Cindy got us seated soon at the high stools near the bar. Most of our party were CTC'ers including Sarah McNair-Groves and her husband, David, plus Sarah Wilder from the Prelude group. Cindy and I split a meal which was extra nice not being too stuffed at dinner for once.
Afterward Tish and I walked with Sarah and David and happened upon Melt, an ice cream shop across the street from their hotel. So much for not being too stuffed. Surely the coffee ice cream will keep me awake through the concerts? It was well worth it.
Headliners for the evening included the Fabulous Four Quintet including Lara Diaz and later David Cook, Sunshine Simmons and the incomparable Corrado Giufreddi who livened up the crowd with swing including Gershwin and Artie Shaw. Then, Carrado unveiled a total surprise duet. Apparently he had run into Michael Lowenstern earlier in the week and they decided to slap together a quick (blazingly fast!) bass clarinet/clarinet duet of Guisganderie. The crowd went wild! I believe some were standing on their chairs. Definitely they received multiple standing ovations!!! It was mind-blowing and possibly the best concert of any I've seen at ClarinetFest.
Following the concert, Corrado and Michael agreed to sign autographs for free for anyone that wanted one. Tish, May and I positioned ourselves on the mid-floor stairs to watch the line that wrapped around the corner and down the hall, chatting with Jay Hassler about the already crazy fun week. But I finally had to say goodnight since we had an early warm-up the next day and Tish agreed so we both headed to our rooms to crash. Some CTCer's got their photos signed, incuding Ken Ewald, Sarah McNair-Groves and yes, even May. She had gone to her room on the 10th floor at the same time as Tish and I but when she told Reilly what had happened, he said "Get back down there and get an autograph!" so of course, she complied. Meanwhile, Tish and I were so wired, we had trouble relaxing enough to get to sleep and Tish was a bit punchy, retelling a story she had told in the lobby about a G# (or was it Ab?) scenario that really had her giggling and me totally lost trying to follow the story with my sleep deprived brain.
July 11, 2025 Friday, ClarinetFest Day 3
Another early warm-up day so we once again got Starbucks and coffee downstairs in the Omni and ate in the room.
Got to clarinet choir session in time to assemble my instrument and stand for the 8am warm-ups, hauling in my newly purchased stand. It is a tad awkward with the legs in one hand, the top in the other and the backback with my instrument and accessories on my back. But it easily met every need, including setting up quickly since I just had to pop the top on, being able to share with neighbors and having plenty of room for the phone aka tuner.
Next, I attended the "Body Mapping in the Clarinet Studio" presentation. It focused on attention to your body's actions and reactions to performance such as tension in hands, arms, neck and shoulder. We brought our instruments and broke up into groups where other members watched you play a scale or small phrase, then told you what they saw or asked what you felt. I notice my right arm and hand were quite rigid. One team member turned out the be a teacher of this technique and recommended I float my arm in the air and let it swirl before bringing it to the instrument. The playing was much more at ease. Now if I can only remember this one.
Next was the second full Enthusiasts Choir Rehearsal, but it was just as frustrating as before. The ringers sang out all the songs while some of us just got lost repeatedly and listened. At least it sounded good.
I decided to wonder off to catch the Cedar Park Clarinet Choir. They had set up outside the Convention Center Exhibit Hall to perform, reminiscent of Dublin 5 story windows outside the escalators that adjoined the lobbies on every floor. Here light streamed through the immense windows behind them that looked out over the trees lining the Water Gardens while the audience stood along the Exhibit Hall walls. Very cool vibe and they did well, so I texted the Austin thread that included Mia who now lives in Cedar Park, along with Stewart, Emily and Andrew.
Then it was back over to the Omni for the US Navy Band Clarinet Quartet. I ran into Sharon Atwood in the line going in. Finally we connect! She was hanging with a student of hers who helped her get around with her scooter and said she was having a great time. We agreed to get together later in the week and enjoyed a fantastic concert by the Navy although I'm not sure I would want to be listed in a program as Musician 1st Class vs Musician 2nd Class.
Back again to the Convention Center for the ICA Utah Clarinet Choir with Tish and May. This was the group we met in Utah this past April, with director, Laura Grantier and Madeline LeBaron who coordinated the event. We were able to chat with Madeline a bit later but the concert itself was outstanding from "A Butterfly Coughs in Africa" musically conveying the butterfly effect to a new piece by Jessica Rudman capturing the emotional response to current events and their evolution, powerful stuff. This year featured many premiere pieces and this was one of them.
We could not miss seeing more of the Exhibit Hall so we sync'd up with Cindy Bartz who had set up a time to chat with Brad Behn. Tish and I asked for maintenance tips on my our mouthpieces and barrels. He recommends organic lip balm for O rings, and full strength lemon juice for 5 minutes to remove tartar, followed by almond oil to restore the sheen. O rings can be replaced. He will ship them for $6. Then it was on to the Legere booth where I scored a new 3.75 FC Legere along with 3.0 and 3.25 FC for my new Behn Prescott Dark MP. Fingers crossed!
Dinner was at Salsa Limon, a small seemingly family owned restaurant with counter service. Prices were very reasonable but service was erratic with some orders coming quickly and others waiting till several tables around us were served and they had to ask what we ordered. But the food was good, the conversation was fun with mostly CTC'ers, and the vibe was very informal and comfortable.
After dinner, we walked over to Sundance Square between 3rd and 4th Streets on Main. A musician was just starting up on stage and kids were running in the splash pool while an ice cream vender sold from a cart nearby. Lots of relaxed folks sauntered nearby grabbing seats in the shade to catch the music and chill. I would love to have an evening just hanging out at Sundance Square. Even here in Texas in the middle of July it was quite comfortable.
The evening Headliner Concerts had featured backup ensembles that stayed on "stage" (this venue oddly did not raise the performance area). They played a piece or two on their own, then backed up every performance for the rest of the night. What an exhausting gig that must have been. Wednesday featured a string ensembles, Thursday the the Dallas Asian Winds. This time the backing was provided by the ClarinetFest 2025 Orchestra. They accompanied Charles Neidich, a national clarinet treasure, and Ayako Oshima. What legends this conference brings!
Next was Thomas Percy using his clarinet to impersonate some traditional Japanese horns (ryuteki, hichiriki, and sho) which were also present and playing. It wasn't my favorite segment, very harsh tones but I appreciate the horizon widening experiment.
Jonathan Russell came next and performed "Still Here". I cringed recalling his "Evil Spooky Robot" piece that we had played in the Enthusiasts Choir in Dublin. It was difficult, fast, wide ranging, supposed to sound like outer space beings, and frankly screamed in the high notes to where I didn't even want to hear it much less play it. But this Jonathan Russell piece was absolutely wonderful. His style was present but played correctly, it sounded great and in this case didn't overwhelm the pieces with its presence. Some parts were quite lyrical and it ended "Defiantly Joyful". I'm now a huge Jonathan Russell fan.
Finally, Wesley Ferreira played "Latin American Chronicles" and nailed it. I only knew him as the organizer of ClarinetFest 2023 in Denver which he did quite well. A group of CTC'ers had met him on our way out of the conference in Denver and he obliged us with a group photo. But his clarinet performance was fantastic and he ended the evening on the nice high.
July 12, 2025 Saturday, ClarinetFest Day 4
It's Clarinet Choir concert day so no early warm-up or rehearsal. The choirs include Middle and High Schools, Collegiate, Professors, Festival (anyone in attendance can be in it), Enthusiasts and this year, the Buffet 200th Anniversary Concert. But first a Master class with Julie DeRoche. She received a lifetime achievement type award at the ceremony later in the evening but at this point I only knew she had great poise and confidence and spoke to her three performing students with clarity and conviction without degrading their playing. It was great instruction on how to instruct.
Some key tips from the Master Class:
I had lunch with Sharon at the Cast Iron in the Omni where we had great food and fun conversation, covering all things clarinet and lots of Emily & Andrew. We reminisced about the speeches at their wedding and the long, long time they dated prior to being engaged, then more time till the wedding. Can't not talk about little Andrew in 2nd grade coming home so excited to have met Emily, the girl with "golden hair". Sharon has taught clarinet for a long time and still does, yet doesn't follow YouTube clarinet teachers or performers much. I found this to be true with many attendees who taught. They were baffled that the CTC'ers had so much insight into the clarinet professional community.
The first concert after lunch was the Buffet Crampon 200 Years Anniversary Clarinet Choir. They had invited lots to participate and easily has over 100 on the stage under the direction of Corey McKay from TCU. I scanned for Tish but couldn't find her in the crowd. The concert was very good though.
Next, the Festival Choir performed. Sharon was in this one. I had to sit in the back because the Enthusiasts had a warm-up before this one would be over. That turned out to be good though since I could stand up for photos and videos without bothering anyone behind me.
The Enthusiasts Choir participation turned out to be quite an experience. We learned early in the afternoon that our concert was being moved to a different room and time changed from 3pm to 3:15pm. The new room was intended to accommodate the large choir size because the folding wall between two rooms could be removed to make one large space. It was disappointing though since Anthony McGill was scheduled to do a Master Class at 4pm. He is wildly popular among clarinetists and if you weren't there early you would certainly be left standing in line in the hall.
Warm-ups were held in the original room 202D. As usual, there was a lot of setting up stands, getting music ready, putting together instruments, etc. so we only did about 15 minutes of warm-up before we had to shuffle down the hall to the other room. Once there, we found the room was not ready since they were waiting for the prior occupants to leave both rooms and still had to remove the wall to form 202A-B. So we stood forlornly in the hall, stands and instruments in hand until a good 20 minutes passed and we were allowed in the room.
At the Enthusiasts Choir Concert, all started well, the Florentiner March was executed quite briskly and sounded good from my seat in the middle of the choir. Sharon was in the front row taking photos and got full view of the chaos that happened next.
Someone tapped the director on the shoulder just as she raised her baton for Libertango and said "We need all the stands that say CHS on them immediately!" "But we're in the middle of a concert!!" "Doesn't matter, the truck is here now!!!!" so a cluster f*** ensued with borrowed stands being passed over musicians' heads (someone was conked quite hard) until finally the intruder left the room. Then more delay followed while members tried to find stands they could share and chatty joking carried on. Wow! Jay had a long talk with the ICA leaders leaders expressing concern that the interruption was disrespectful, inappropriate and offensive.
The rest of the concert went off without a hitch, if you ignore how we nearly came unglued in the middle of Molly By the Short due to ... maybe I've mentioned this ... it being played too fast, but it came together again and all was well. Libertango was fun and Fantasia on Red River sounded great given that the alto clarinet soloist was in the Plano Clarinet Choir and had therefore played it lots before and was very familiar with the time signature that changed every few bars. I didn't even lose my place, well, not more than once or twice. Ending on Twisty Turny Thing left everybody upbeat and smiling.
We quickly packed up and headed to "Anthony McGill's" Master Class only to find the line in the hall extremely long as expected. However we soon got word that he was still in flight. His plane couldn't land at DFW due to unsettled weather. There was no rain that we noticed outside so there was hope he would make it back for his headliner concert. Meanwhile, Richard Hawkins was in the room to introduce Anthony. Richard had known him since he was his student in college and when it became clear there would be no McGill, Richard Hawkins gamely took on teaching the master class himself. Still there was no room so we headed off to dinner but not before I stopped by the Exhibit Hall for one last peek and to score a Buffet Anniversary concert t-shirt. I had participated as an audience member but didn't want to take one away from the actual choir members so I didn't grab one earlier. As a result I ended up with a large but it will be a fine night shirt.
Dinner was at Picchi Pacchi Pizzeria, a delightful little Italian place not far from the Omni near Burk Burnett Park. A single slice of pizza covered the entire plate and others enjoyed conventional Italian pastas. We ordered at the counter and took our seats, pulling tables together in the tiny restaurant which filled up before long. We were lucky to get to have our last evening dinner together in such a fun environment. As we left, I recalled that a huge silouhette statue called "Man with Briefcase" was at Burkburnett Park so I hurried to grab a photo of the sun starting to move down in the sky behind it while the others sauntered away slowly enough that I had no trouble catching back up with them.
The last night typically includes an Award Ceremony and this year was no different. Several luminaries were given honors including Julie DeRoche whose master class I had seen just that morning. Raffles had been held and pins and t-shirts were awarded including clarinet gear for some lucky winners.
Finally the last evening's Headliner Concert was up. We anxiously awaited word on Anthony McGill's arrival but the first half of the concert was scheduled with other performers including Julianne Doyle, Sarah Manasreh-Decker and Kimberly Cole Luevano, whose fingering exercises we often play in Josh's Guided Practice Sessions. One more act was scheduled before intermission but lights went up and the intermission music played so we figured another snafu happened. I ran up to my room to get a light jacket since the room was pretty chilly and got back in time to see the start of the next half. This part was scheduled to be all Anthony McGill, but Rob Patterson appeared (the performer for the 1st half's final act) and did his session. Very nicely done including a premier piece and ending with Sizzle Reel which in fact sizzled.
After Rob's applause died down, Richard Hawkins took the podium and everyone knew what was coming. He apologized that Anthony's plane had been re-routed to Phoenix and the audience moaned. But Richard then took the extraordinary step of asking if we would mind if he himself played the Poulenc Sonata and the Brahms Sonata. Cheers erupted and he took a poll regarding which piece should be done first. Having engaged the audience and gotten them on his side, he started with the more agitated Poulenc and wrapped up the evening with the calming Brahms, accompanied by an amazing pianist who was just as heroic as Richard taking on such an assignment so late in the game. Imagine playing an unplanned concert with just a few hours notice but in front of 2100 performers of your very instrument! It was astounding and he reminded us all of the great advice to always be prepared. Everyone enjoyed the concert despite the divergence and we left the ballroom cheered by Richard's optimism.
July 13, 2025 Sunday, ClarinetFest Day 5
Enjoying a leisurely morning with no early rehearsals or warm-ups, Tish and I joined May, Reilly and Zadie for breakfast at the Cast Iron. Avacado toast was a switch from the oatmeal and service was great this morning. There was a Sheriff's Convention happening at the same time and the restaurant was full of guys in white cowboy hats. After breakfast, I had to go find the Water Garden stairs that had eluded me. The others all agreed to go and we found it! With water flowing down from street level over pebble paved stone steps into a pool nestled 30 feet or more below the street. We carefully descended, staying to the outside of each step where the surface was drier. It was a bit of a vertigo challenge though and Tish opted to stay at the top and take photos for us. It was really an incredible experience but it was best Tish didn't risk it since some people had actually drowned there in the 1980's. No one died this day though so we headed back to the Omni, our phones filled with new photos and videos, some featuring the "Wind Sisters" in our album cover ready t-shirts with a merged photo of the three of us ironed on the front courtesy of our resident graphic artist, May.
I had three sessions on my schedule for today but checkout was at 11am and I hadn't even started packing. Tish was also leaving for the airport this morning so we hurriedly threw our stuff into our bags, then repacked, trying to find room for all the extra stuff. She was quicker than me as I realized I couldn't fit my new stand in the already full suitcase (it would fit, just not with this much other stuff.) Finally, having blown off my first two sessions, I made it to the lobby with my backpack, large suitcase and box with the stand stuffed back in. I found the luggage storage area right there at the side of the lobby with bell hops guarding tons of bags, and one of them tagged by luggage and stand box and I wondered off to check out.
Tish and I said our goodbyes and I finally looked at my GuideBook app schedule. I had missed the Health and Wellness Committee Session that Cindy Bartz had been excited to attend but I didn't read any deeper about it.
Still I had time to catch the Plano Clarinet Choir under the direction of Marilyn Woodruff, our Enthusiasts Choir conductor. They were very good, and I quickly spotted Charlotte, Cindy and Kevin, the three who I'd met throughout the week and who had played at the little old church in Allen Heritage Village as part of the library's weekly programming while the library was closed for expansion. They had played "When I'm 64" and I recorded it to pass on to Tish and May so we could hear it since we had planned to play it together and did when we stayed at the VRBO in Logan for the Utah Clarinet Festival in April. Here, the choir performed two premiers, "Texas Star" and "As Through a Glass", both very impressive, as well as a Klezmer Suite they executed very well and ending on "Lone Star Portrait". A choir member stood to direct the audience in the appropriate times clap during "Deep in the Heart of Texas" which was a perfect way to wrap up ClarinetFest Ft Worth.
Afterward, I wondered outside and paged an Uber, only to find Susan Abler who plays in the Joyful Noise clarinet section with me. She had volunteered all week, driving back and forth from Frisco, but was heading out just then too. She offered me a ride so I cancelled the Uber and we looked for a place to eat. Little Red Wasp was open so we settled into a booth and put in our orders. Just as the food arrived, who should walk in the door but Kornel Wolak! I am a huge fan of his. He had led a discussion on Embouchure Drills in Michelle's class once and I got his book which has great tips. Then at ClarinetFest 2023 in Denver, I saw him play with his partner on digital accordion (you read that right), Michael Bridge. They played music from their album "Bach to Benny Goodman" which was equal parts clarinet and accordion mastery and humor. Susan had never heard of him. So much fun!
When we finished our meal and he and his lunch buddy were wrapping up theirs, it was time for us to go but I told Susan I had to stop by and get a photo with him. She was closer so she went straight to him and said "We're big fans. Would you mind if we got a photo?" He said, "Why no. Why don't you sit next to us and we can chat a bit and get some photos." I couldn't believe it, but Susan started sliding in next to him. I threw her to the other guy (turned out to be Charles du Preez who coordinated the Health & Wellness session) and slid in next to Kornel, peppering him with questions about his session and performances. Turns out, he had been on the Health & Wellness panel with Diane Barger, Julianne Kirk Doyle and Josh Gardner, discussing embouchure! So sad I missed it but hey, this made up for it. He discussed upcoming performances and said he plays regularly in Milwaukee so maybe a trip to visit Ellen, my roommate from college at UWM, is an option. Finally we flagged down a server to get our photos and we let them get on with their day. What a phenomenal coincidence!
Susan took me on home and we said our goodbyes as I gladly got back to home life, Stewart's hugs and purrs from Sea Breeze, Marley and of course Cooper. Later, working on this log, I emailed the director of ClarinetFest, Jessica Harrie, and she confirmed the final attendance was 2,118 people! What a great turnout for an exciting week of squeak!