How to Master the Clarinet Family with John Bruce Yeh

John Bruce Yeh, Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Hi, My name is John Bruce Yeh - you can call me John! I play the clarinet in Chicago and I play in the Chicago Symphony since I joined in 1977. So that makes 40 years for me in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and it’s gone by in a flash. For the entire time, almost the entire time, I’ve been lucky to have Vandoren as my mouthpiece, my reeds, as my ligature, and if they made a clarinet, I’d probably play Vandoren clarinets, but, I play Yamaha clarinets.

I just love this new BD5 mouthpiece. It’s the cat’s meow. Plus, the Optimum ligature and the Traditional cut reed. Big, solid, projecting sound. Both at soft and loud dynamics. Full resonance. That’s what it’s all about.

(2:36)

So I also play the Eb clarinet. I’ve been trying various different mouthpieces: this is the one I’ve always played on in the orchestra. The B44 Vandoren. Recently, they have an M30 which I’ve been using in the orchestra and I hear there’s going to be a BD5 Eb mouthpiece coming out. I’m very anxious to try that. But, I’ve made a lot of recordings on the Eb and I’ve always used the B44. I’ve always used the Traditional cut and they work great. I’ve been playing some chamber music as you'll hear on the Eb - Jim Stevenson’s Sonata, that has one movement specifically for Eb clarinet.

I love my Vandoren mouthpieces. I depend on them and my Vandoren reeds. These ligatures are great. The Optimum: it’s like getting 3 ligatures in one with the different plates. I’m indebted to Vandoren and they help me do what I need to do.

(4:58)

I also play the bass clarinet. I didn’t bring it with me, but I think it’s very important to be as versatile as possible when you’re a musician. If you’re a clarinetist, play all the different members of the clarinet family. I started out in the Chicago Symphony as the solo bass clarinet player. I was so delighted to find out about the B50 mouthpiece that my very good friend, colleague, and former student, Michael Lowenstern turned me onto it. I think there’s avideo of him demonstrating the mouthpiece. I picked it up and put it on and I played my first concert with Maestro Muti. We did the Manfred Symphony of Tchaikovsky. There’s a very big bass clarinet part. Maestro sat me in the middle between the first bassoon and the first clarinet. I was sitting right there because I have a lot to play with the bassoons and the clarinets. That was the debut, in the Chicago Symphony, of the B50 Vandoren bass clarinet mouthpiece. I was very happy with that.

Switch between the Bb clarinet, the Eb clarinet, the bass clarinet. If you have really good equipment, that is stable and colorful, then you can do it really easily. You have to get used to switching, making sure your embouchure is just right, but I think it’s really helpful to have reliable, excellent equipment like Vandoren. I wouldn’t be able to do it with as much ease and as much comfort without the help of this amazing line of mouthpieces, ligatures, and reeds. It’s all here.

About John Bruce Yeh

John Bruce Yeh joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1977, the first Asian musician ever appointed to the CSO, and is now the longest-serving clarinetist in CSO history. Having joined the CSO at the invitation of Sir Georg Solti as Clarinetist and Solo Bass Clarinetist, John is currently Assistant Principal and Solo E-flat Clarinet of the orchestra. He served the CSO as Acting Principal Clarinet from 2008-2011, and has also performed as guest principal of The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Seoul Philharmonic in Korea. A prize winner at both the 1982 Munich International Music Competition and the 1985 Naumburg Clarinet Competition in New York, he continues to solo with orchestras and perform on chamber music series and festivals around the globe. A Yamaha Performing Artist since 1990, John has toured China under the auspices of the Yamaha Corporation.

John has performed concertos with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on several occasions, including the 1998 American premiere of Elliott Carter's Clarinet Concerto with Pierre Boulez conducting, and the 1993 performance of Carl Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto with Neeme Järvi. A concert recording of the Nielsen was released on the CSO CD set Soloists of the Orchestra II: From the Archives, vol. 15. In 2004, John was featured in Leonard Bernstein's Prelude, Fugue and Riffs in collaboration with the Hubbard Street Dance Company and the CSO conducted by David Robertson.

An enthusiastic champion of new music, John is the dedicatee of new works for clarinet by numerous composers, ranging from Ralph Shapey to John Williams. His more than a dozen solo and chamber music recordings have earned worldwide critical acclaim. A 2007 release by Naxos is a disc titled Synergy, of single and double concertos with clarinet featuring John, his wife Teresa and his daughter Molly. John is director of Chicago Pro Musica, which received the Grammy Award in 1986 as Best New Classical Artist. With clarinetist Teresa Reilly, erhu virtuoso Wang Guowei and pipa virtuoso Yang Wei, John formed Birds and Phoenix, an innovative quartet dedicated to musical exploration by bridging Eastern and Western musical cultures.

Passionately committed to music education, John has taught master classes at Juilliard, Eastman, Manhattan School of Music, The Cleveland Institute and many universities and arts academies worldwide. He is on the artist-faculties of Roosevelt University's Chicago College for the Performing Arts and Midwest Young Artists in Fort Sheridan, Illinois. John is the proud father of Jenna Yeh, a culinary artist and wine specialist in Chicago; Molly Yeh, a percussionist and award-winning blogger in Minnesota; and Mia Reilly-Yeh.