I agree with the guy (person?) from houston. I've heard the guy in charleston (Charles Massershmitt is how he spells it, he's a good friend of a friend of mine). He is totally rad. Probably the raddist clarinetist I've ever heard. He plays jazz too. I heard (from my friend) that he once was ticketed in california for driving while playing the Nielsen First Clarinet Concerto at the same time when he was only 14!

I also like Drucker, Goodman, Cohen, a guy in Idaho named Jeff, and the teacher in Sacramento (Deborah Pittman).

Hi clarinetgeek!

Are you serious about Charles Massershmitt playing the Nielsen First Clarinet Concerto when he was only 14!??! That definitely puts him in a category above Drucker and Sabine Meyer combined. I can't even imagine any person playing such a hard clarinet concerto at such a young age. Moreover, being able to play it in a car WHILE driving definitely puts him in the BEYOND-WUNDERKIND category. Was there a recording made of this? I would think something like that would be ALL OVER the Internet. Someday if I ever learn Nielsen's first clarinet concerto, I plan to get a couple of lessons from Mr. Massershmitt if he had time to teach me his tricks, especially tricks for the cadenzas with the snare drum. I drive a Saturn SL2 but I'm sure by the time I learn that concerto I'll be driving something a little bit easier to play the Nielsen in (I would definitely need all the help I could get...like maybe a Honda Odyssey). Do you think he would give me a lesson, clarinetgeek? And should I ask him to teach me in his car, or my car. I'm not sure about the protocol here dealing with professionals, I'm only an amateur, although some of my friends have said I'm too modest for my own good calling myself an amateur. Just recently I've rearranged my schedule so I can practice a little every weekend.

So nice to find someone on this board with similar tastes as myself. Clarinet RULES!!!

houstonclarinet
PS - Last week, one of my old clarinet buddies down here lent me two CD's of a Mr. Paul Votapek who plays in the Naples Philharmonic. Man, he is amazing too! His sound is 'to die for' - he must have been a Marcellus student or something. Where do all these amazing clarinetists come from? Maybe I could play the Nielsen First Clarinet concerto for him someday as well. That is the raddest concerto ever written I think.