10 Great Summer Projects for Clarinetists
by Mitchell Estrin
Date Posted: June 18, 2019
Calling all clarinetists! Summer is here, so take this opportunity to engage in some fun and rewarding musical activities.
Here are my top ten picks for productive summer projects for all of my clarinet friends.
1. Learn a New Piece
Summer is a great time to select and learn new repertoire. Start working on a piece you’ve always wanted to work on but just never found the time. Consult with your teacher for some suggestions, if needed.
Photo by Marius Masalar
2. Get your Instrument Adjusted by a Qualified Repair Technician
Don’t put off scheduled instrument maintenance until the end of the summer, when repair technicians are busily getting dozens of instruments ready for area school music programs to start up again. Have the keys oiled, replace torn or suspect pads and corks, and quiet down any noisy keys.
3. Go to Concerts and Hear Live Music
Summer is the season for free outdoor concerts! Music festivals, municipal bands, community orchestras, and chamber music are everywhere.
4. Go to ClarinetFest®
The biggest and best clarinet festival in the world. Five days of non-stop concerts, lectures, exhibits, vendor displays, and the best way to meet fellow clarinetists from around the world.
5. Play Chamber Music with Friends
Get together with your musician friends and read through duets, trios, quartets, or whatever combination of instruments is available. This is a great way to learn new chamber music repertoire, improve sight-reading skills, and meet new friends.
6. Revisit Your Scales
Summer is the perfect time to revisit your scales – major, minor, chromatic, whole-tone, pentatonic, thirds, arpeggios, diminished sevenths, dominant sevenths, et al. Revisit the Baermann Third Division and Klosé scales (or your own personal favorite scale book) and get working with a metronome. Nothing will improve your playing more than practicing scales!
7. Play Some Etudes
For advanced players, read through Rose 32 and 40, Cavallini Caprices, Uhl 48 Études, Baermann 4 and 5, Jeanjean 18 Études, or whatever books you find interesting and challenging. For younger players, read through pages in the Rubank Intermediate and Advanced Method books followed by études in the Baermann Second Division.
Photo by Dayne Topkin
8. Open a New Box of Reeds
Summer is a great time to clean out your reed case and replenish with some fresh new reeds.
9. Join a Community Band
There can never be enough clarinets in a band! Do a little research about your area to find a band that performs summer concerts – they are a blast!
Photo by Norbert Waldhausen
10. Peruse Free Online Music Depositories
There is so much public domain music you can download for free! Check out the following sites:
About the Author
Mitchell Estrin is Professor of Music Emeritus at the University of Florida where he was founder and music director of the University of Florida Clarinet Ensemble and a University of Florida Research Foundation Professor. He served as the Artistic Director of the Vandoren Clarinet Ensemble Festival and was founder of the Buffet Crampon USA Summer Clarinet Academy. Prof. Estrin was the 20th President of the International Clarinet Association (ICA). He is the author of the biography Stanley Drucker, Clarinet Master published by Carl Fischer and Writing the Vandoren WAVE published by CAMco. His critical edition of the Weber Concertino for Clarinet, Op. 26 is published by Jeanné.
Prof. Estrin is a 2023 recipient of Honorary Membership in the International Clarinet Association. This accolade, marking the highest honor in the clarinet world, is said to acknowledge individuals with a distinguished background in the areas of professional service, teaching, performance, and lifetime achievements.
Mitchell Estrin studied clarinet with Stanley Drucker at The Juilliard School where he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. His other influential teachers include Jerome Stowell, Walter Wollwage, Leon Russianoff, Larry Combs, Robert Bloom, and John Moses.
Prior to his academic appointments, he had a 25-year association with the New York Philharmonic. He performed in hundreds of concerts and on 19 international tours with the Philharmonic as principal, second, and E-flat clarinetist under music directors Alan Gilbert, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Pierre Boulez, Leonard Bernstein, and many distinguished guest conductors including Erich Leinsdorf, Sir Georg Solti, Claudio Abbado, Klaus Tennstedt, Andre Previn, Sir Colin Davis, and Leonard Slatkin. He performed on dozens of recordings with the Philharmonic and on numerous occasions performed with the orchestra on the PBS award winning series, Live From Lincoln Center.
As an international concert artist, Mitchell Estrin has performed in over 40 countries on 5 continents. He performed and recorded the world premiere of The Shadows of October for clarinet and orchestra by Michael Whalen with the Janacek Philharmonic.
“This beautiful and lushly scored tonal piece…. is performed by clarinetist Mitchell Estrin…. He plays beautifully with a lovely colored tone.”
The Clarinet
As a chamber musician, he has performed with such notable ensembles as The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, New Arts Trio, American Chamber Winds, at the Newport Music Festival, and was a founding member of the Amadeus Ensemble.
Prof. Estrin has an extensive discography of solo and chamber music and recorded hundreds of television commercials and Hollywood motion-picture soundtracks. He has performed and recorded with many leading popular artists including Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Peter, Paul and Mary, Ray Charles, The Fugees, Wynton Marsalis, Benny Golson, Smashing Pumpkins, and Natalie Merchant. His motion picture soundtrack credits include recordings for Columbia, Walt Disney, Paramount, MGM, 20th Century Fox, United Artists, and Warner Brothers on feature films including Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Alamo, Intolerable Cruelty, The Score, You’ve Got Mail, Primary Colors, Fargo, Batman Forever, Interview with the Vampire, Home Alone 2, Pocahontas, Doc Hollywood, Regarding Henry, The Untouchables, Reds, and Dressed to Kill. His television credits include recordings for ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, HBO, TBS, and ESPN. Prof. Estrin was principal clarinetist for the NBC 75th Anniversary Special; broadcast from the famed NBC Studio 8H in New York City. He has appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Phil Donahue Show, the television series Nurse, and in Kramer vs. Kramer, the 1980 Academy Award Winner for Best Picture. His clarinet playing has also been heard on hundreds of television and radio commercials. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences recognized him as a Most Valuable Player nominee for his outstanding performances in the recording studio.
Prof. Estrin has presented recitals, masterclasses, workshops, and seminars at many prestigious educational conferences and institutions. This list includes the Eastman School of Music, Peabody Conservatory, Arizona State University, Florida State University, University of Maryland, University of Alabama, University of Arizona, University of Illinois, University of Texas, Texas State University, Texas A&M University, Midwest Clinic, New York State School Music Association, Connecticut School Music Association, and Florida Music Educators Association. In 2019, he was a guest clinician in Australia at the University of Melbourne. He has performed in recital with clarinetists Stanley Drucker, Karl Leister, and Mark Nuccio.
Widely acclaimed as a conductor and proponent of the clarinet choir, Prof. Estrin has served as director of the International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest® College, Festival, and Professors Clarinet Choirs, Texas State Clarinet Fiesta Clarinet Choir, Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium Clarinet Choir, Texas Clarinet Colloquium Clarinet Choir, and United States Navy Clarinet Choir. He held a Guinness World Record for conducting the world’s largest clarinet choir (367 members) in 2019. He has conducted the University of Florida Clarinet Ensemble throughout the United States and Europe, including three feature recitals at the International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest®. The ensemble has produced four critically acclaimed CD’s for Mark Masters, Christmas Clarinets (2016), Clarinet Choir Classics (2012), Clarinet Thunder (2009), and Wind in the Reeds (2006). Each of these recordings was selected for the Grammy Nomination eligibility list. Prof. Estrin has authored multiple articles on the history, development, repertoire, and logistics of the clarinet choir.
As a music producer and annotator, he has worked on projects with such renowned artists as trombonist Joseph Alessi, jazz pianist Lynne Arriale, and saxophonist Mike Smith. He has produced five clarinet choir CDs for Mark Recording.
Prof. Estrin’s students have performed with such prestigious ensembles as the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, New York Pops, United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own”, United States Army Field Band, and West Point Band. His students hold educational positions at several major universities including Indiana University, University of Arizona, University of Florida, and University of South Alabama.
Mitchell Estrin is a Buffet Crampon Legacy Artist and performs exclusively on the Buffet R13 clarinet. As a Vandoren Performing Artist, he endorses and performs exclusively on Vandoren reeds (V.12) and mouthpieces (BD2). Prof. Estrin’s educational articles are published regularly in the Vandoren WAVE and his biography is listed in Who’s Who in Classical Music, Who’s Who in American Music, and Who’s Who in International Music.