Guy Yehuda Discusses Upcoming Project and How to Find the Core to Your Sound

Guy Yehuda

Transcription

(0:16)

Hi there. My name is Guy Yehuda. I am the clarinet professor at Michigan State University and also the Principal Clarinet player at the Lansing Symphony. I am a soloist as well.

(0:55)

I’ve played Vandoren throughout my career. When I was a kid I remember I used to play, my first reed, was the blue box, the traditional Vandoren reed. I remember when the V12 came out, that was a wonderful surprise and quite a nice change from the blue box which was a nice change of sound.

Lately, I am experimenting with the Rue Lepic 56 and I find them very nice and responsive with a nice core in the sound and here you see it’s a nice combination with the Optimum ligature.

(1:49)

As I travel and perform concerts all over the world, I also record quite a lot and there is actually a new CD coming out in the next month of six commissioned pieces from composers around the world. The title of this CD is Rhapsodies Around the World. Of course, the most famous rhapsodies written for us is the Debussy Rhapsodie. So on that CD, it will be the Debussy Premiere Rhapsodie and six other rhapsodies from composers that are commissioned from Europe, from China, from Africa, etc. It’s a very interesting CD and you can find it on iTunes and in stores near you.

(3:17)

As a professor at Michigan State University, I work with many students on all aspects of playing the clarinet and music. Of course for us, clarinet players, sound is one of the most important things in playing music, if not maybe the most important thing. We always go back to the basics which, of course for us, is air (air support).

I think if the air support is correct from the beginning, everything else will fall into place. It’s like a pyramid. If you take the big block that you build a pyramid with right from the bottom there, you take it away, the whole thing will crumble. That’s why I work diligently with my students about sound and tone production. What I am trying to instill in their playing is really searching for the beautiful sound, the core of the sound.

Just to demonstrate, if I play a low G like I started to play Rigoletto Fantasy which starts with low G, it’s not just a G. G is the fundamental note and, as you know, we have overtones, a stack of overtones, over the G. The clarinet, of course, is a unique instrument that has the 12th as the most prominent first partial that gives the clarinet its unique sound. If you start to train your ear to hear those partials, your sound will grow to be a beautiful, round sound. So, as you play this G, try to see if you can hear the D and move into the D. If you get really good at it you can start to hear that D, that upper partial, embedded in the G. The more you train yourself to hear those overtones, the more your sound will be beautiful and an added bonus, your projection with actually be a wonderful projection when you play in the orchestra. You will be able to reach all the way to the back seat.

About Guy Yehuda

Clarinetist Guy Yehuda is recognized as one of the most outstanding and unique talents on the international concert stage today. Hailed by composer John Corigliano as “One of the most awe-inspiring clarinetists today”, Mr. Yehuda was the top prizewinner of several international competitions such as the 2003 Heida Hermanns International Woodwind Competition, and the 2004 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition (Gold Medalist as a member of Trio di Colore.) Since his North American Concerto debut with the Royal Conservatory Orchestra and conductor Peter Oundjian, Mr. Yehuda has toured extensively in Europe, North America, and Israel. As principal clarinetist, Mr. Yehuda has performed with the Lucerne Contemporary Festival Orchestra, Chicago Civic Orchestra, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, Haifa Symphony Orchestra, and Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, among others, as well as guest clarinetist with the Israel Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Yehuda performed on European and American tours under the batons of top conductors including Pierre Boulez, Zubin Mehta, Kurt Masur, Kent Nagano, Yuri Temirkanov, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Sir Andrew Davis, Kurt Sanderling, Roberto Abbado, Cliff Colnot, Fabio Mechetti, Peter Oundjian, and Daniel Barenboim. Currently, Mr. Yehuda is the Principal Clarinetist of the Lansing Symphony Orchestra. He performed and collaborated with the world’s top composers and performers such as Pierre Boulez, Steve Reich, John Corigliano, George Benjamin, Menahem Pressler from the Beaux-Arts Trio, and the Borromeo, Dali, Cypress, and Harrington String Quartets to name a few. An avid contemporary musician, Mr. Yehuda frequently premieres new clarinet concerti and solo works written for him by renowned composers such as Haim Permont, Gary Smart and Jim Stephenson to name a few. As a musician in high demand, he has performed as a soloist and chamber musician at festivals such as Spoleto (USA), Verbier, Lucerne (Switzerland), Vianden (Luxembourg), Ottawa ChamberFest, Parry Sound, Domain Forget (Canada),Woodwind Festival-Shenzhen (China), and the Israeli Chamber Music Festivals of Kfar Blum and Haifa.

Mr. Yehuda is sought-after as a recitalist throughout North America and Europe. He has performed as a soloist in prestigious halls and venues such as Carnegie Hall, Domain Forget, (Canada), Chicago Symphony Hall, Palacio Fuz and Casa di Musica in Portugal, Mann auditorium in Tel Aviv and Dame Myra Hess Chamber Series to name a few. He is a particularly active chamber musician and tours extensively with the award winning chamber music group: Trio di Colore (with Yuval Gotlibovich-Viola and Jimmy Briere-Piano) of which he is the founding member. Mr. Yehuda has appeared numerous times as a guest artist on CBC Canadian Radio, Radio-Canada, NPR, WFMT Chicago, KUHF Houston, DRS Swiss Radio, Portugal National Radio, and Israel’s Classical radio station, as well as TV appearances on Israel’s Channel 2 and Chicago’s Channel 25. Mr. Yehuda has recorded with Hal Leonard productions, IU New Music Ensemble, and a number of live recordings for the CBC. Yehuda’s discography recordings won many acclaims and rave reviews. His notable recordings consist of music for solo and trio music by French composer Jean Francaix on the XII-21 Canadian Label, several CD recordings of contemporary music with Albany records and recent releases of numerous recordings under the Blue Griffin Records label: The Brahms and Reger Sonatas, Rhapsodies Around the World and the most recent release, Forgotten Romantics.

Mr. Yehuda is an active clinician and has given master classes throughout the U.S, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Israel. He is a Selmer-Paris and Vandoren international performing artist and serves as an artist instrumental adviser for both companies. With Selmer-Paris, he has developed the new Privilege II clarinet and worked on the Selmer Recital prototype. Yehuda also worked in the past with the D’Addario-Reeds company on the development of the new Classic Reserve reeds. He has frequently been invited to judge national and international competitions, as well as to appear as a soloist at ICA ClarinetFest conferences in the U.S and abroad and the Oklahoma clarinet symposium. Mr. Yehuda has been the artistic director of the Florida Clarinet Extravaganza, and the Cummer Family foundation Chamber Series in Florida, and was the co-director of the Clarinetopia Seminar and director of the Michigan Clarinet Extravaganza. Currently he is the Artistic Director of the Henri Selmer International Summer Academy in Michigan. He served for many years as faculty resident at the acclaimed Orford summer festival in Quebec, Canada. He is the clarinet faculty resident at the Vianden Summer Festival in Europe, Aria International Music Festival in Massachusetts and Fresno Summer Orchestra Academy in California. Mr. Yehuda held visiting faculty positions at Indiana University and the University of Virginia, and has been the Clarinet Professor at the University of North Florida. Currently he is the Associate Professor and Artist Teacher of Clarinet at Michigan State University College of Music. Mr. Yehuda is also a published composer and winner of the prestigious America-Israel composition award, having worked individually with Pierre Boulez, P.Q. Phan, Alexander Rappoport, Yinaam Leef, Haim Permont, and Sergiu Natra.Mr. Yehuda studied with distinguished clarinetists James Campbell, Avrahm Galper, Eli Eban, Yitzhak Katzap and Yigal Cohen, and worked with Charles Neidich, Larry Combs, Howard Klug, and Alfred Prinz. He received his Doctorate and Master’s Degrees from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, as well as a Performer Certificate, the highest honor awarded to a performer at this venerable institution. Prior to that Mr. Yehuda received his Artist Diploma and Bachelor’s degree from the Glenn Gould Professional Music School at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.