Klarinet Archive - Posting 000530.txt from 1998/03

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: College Choices...
Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 19:53:13 -0500

On Sun, 8 Mar 1998, Shouryu Nohe wrote:

> Neil, my preference for Oberlin mainly stems from my lack of knowledge
> concerning DePaul University. I don't know very much about it - I didn't
> know that Combs and Yeh had graduated from there.

As Roger Garrett already pointed out, Combs and Yeh didn't
graduate from DePaul. Rather, they are the primary clarinet
instructors there. This does bring up another possible
means for determining which school is the best for a
particular individual, incidentally. If a student is
unfamiliar with the major teachers at each of the best
schools, perhaps that individual has particular clarinetists
in mind whom they personally admire. Finding out where one's
idols attended school -- and thus, with whom those idols
studied -- is another possible route to choosing the best
school and teacher for a given student. Knowing that
Shifrin studied at Curtis (and I particularly admire
Shifrin's playing), I might consider auditioning there if
I were young enough. Upon further investigation, I would
discover that Shifrin's teacher at Curtis, Gigliotti, has
since retired and has been replaced by Montanaro. Then I
would need to re-evaluate the suitability of the school
given that the person who had such an impact on my idol's
musical development is no longer available to me. At the
very least, I could then begin a query into Montanaro's
record as a performer and teacher. The results of that
query would yield knowledge that David Neuman, 2nd clarinet
with the San Francisco Symphony (and recently awarded the
Associate Principal chair in Cleveland -- and whose playing
I also find superb) studied with Montanaro at Curtis. Thus,
Curtis would remain on my list of prospective schools,
pending further, more detailed investigation.

Neil