Klarinet Archive - Posting 000094.txt from 2007/07

From: X-BakerBotts-MailScanner-tom.henson@-----.com
Subj: RE: [kl] ClarinetFest 2007 reflections
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:31:11 -0400

I also had a great time at the Fest.

I was completely overwhelmed with how beautiful the campus of the
University of British Columbia is. It was like the buildings were all
placed in a garden with a wonderful view of the water and mountains as a
background. Stunning is all I can say about it. The weather also could
not have been any better. Clear, with cool nights and warm days (a
little too warm in some of the recital halls), but still very pleasant
for being summer.
=20
Like Kevin Fay, I felt hard pressed to choose which performances to
attend. I ended up dropping out of the Festival choir because it simply
took too much time away from the other venues. One of the high points,
in my mind, was the performance that Ricardo Morales gave of the Brahms
quintet. In spite of him having very little time to rehearse with the
string players, it came off quite well indeed. I felt in the second
movement that the strings held back a little perhaps because they did
not want to cover Ricardo's incredible sound. They had nothing to worry
about, however, as Ricardo is quite capable of matching any volume that
they produced and they came on strong after that. Ricardo, by the way,
had pulled a completely stock Backun/Leblanc Legacy clarinet from
Morrie's booth for the performance in case anyone is interested. He
spent all of about 45 minutes playing on it prior to going to the Chan
Center for the performance.

While talking about Ricardo, I also want to convey a personal experience
that I had with him that shows just how caring a person he really is. My
wife and I were hanging out with some of the performing artists from
Mexico and Spain during the party that was given by Backun Musical and
Leblanc (more on that below). One of the 12 semi-finalist in the young
persons competition, a girl from Mexico City, had to borrow a clarinet
to perform on because she came from a poor family and her own clarinet
was simply crap. Her teacher asked my wife and I if we knew of any
charities or organizations that she might be able to apply for a grant
to purchase a better clarinet and I was not aware of any.=20

Having played on a crappy clarinet when I was first starting out, I
completely understood her frustration and longing to play on something
better. My heart really went out to her, but I also was frustrated in
that I was not able to personally help her. I went over to Ricardo and
asked him if he knew of any Latin charities that would be able to help a
person in her position. He immediately told me that he wanted to help
and that he also knew what it was like to play on a crappy clarinet.
After he took care of all the autograph and picture requests of the
people lined up to see him, he came over to our table and introduced
himself to her and her teacher who was with her. Speaking in Spanish, he
told them he would see what he could do to get her a better clarinet. He
told me he was going to talk to Morrie and Leblanc and see if they would
be willing to help out somehow. I have no way of knowing at this time if
Ricardo will succeed in getting a better clarinet for her, but just the
fact that he cared enough to come over and offer to help says volumes
about the kind of person he is. I can also say the same thing about
Morrie Backun who has a heart of gold and goes way beyond what any sane
person would give of their time and knowledge, and on a daily basis.

My wife, who is not a clarinetist, thought the Backun/Leblanc party was
one of the highlights of the whole Fest. That, and she feel in love with
Ricardo's playing (who didn't). I thought the party was a tremendous
success and had the opportunity to talk at length with one of the Vice
President's of Conn-Selmer. Needless to say, I took the opportunity to
make some suggestions when I found out that he was not a musician. He
assured me that Conn-Selmer was sincerely interested in preserving both
the history and tradition of instrument making and not just looking on
it as an investment. He also assured me that with Backun Musical at
their side more innovation is forthcoming.=20

For those that were able to take a tour of the Backun Musical workshop,
it was a rare, behind the scenes, view of clarinet manufacture at it's
best. I was very impressed to say the least. I was not aware that Backun
Musical made the wooden bodies of the new clarinets there at their shop
and then ships them to Kenosha for final assembly. For some reason I
thought the entire clarinet was being produced at the Leblanc, France
site, which is simply not the case. It is very much a Canadian and
American product, with some French parts. Morrie also has what he calls
the "wall of wood", an entire side of his shop lined with some of the
best and choicest wood stacked on shelves from floor to ceiling. Enough,
he said, to make 17,000 clarinets. He showed me some very old grenadilla
that was just beautiful and the densest wood I have ever seen. It was
unbelievable how heavy the blanks were.

For those of you that I finally got to meet face to face, it was a real
pleasure and I hope to see all of you again at another Clarinet Fest in
the future.

Until then,

Tom Henson

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