 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2025-10-30 22:41
Maybe he thought he was.
He seems to have gone a bit quiet as of late.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
Independent Woodwind Repairer
Single and Double Reed Specialist
Oboes, Clarinets and Saxes
NOT A MEMBER OF N.A.M.I.R.
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: donald
Date: 2025-10-30 23:07
In fact, in the last 48 hours the ICA has permanently banned him from membership (in light of recent abuse, he was previously under a 1 or 2 year suspension). He also stalks FB and forum such as this using fake IDs.
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2025-10-30 23:47
I decided to delete the linked article about David Blumberg.
All of the negative comments and especially the picture began to convince me that the article had to be removed.
I slowly began to feel that that type of material simply doesn't belong on this BB.
Post Edited (2025-10-31 09:08)
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Author: David H. Kinder
Date: 2025-10-31 02:58
I don't know enough about it all. I am in Blumberg's Facebook group. He has posted how others mocked him, made up fake profiles and offending pics, etc. No idea how it all started. I believe he said it's out of jealousy - and I must admit that when someone is at the top of their game, they easily become such a target... but again, I don't know how it all began or why the ICA would make such a decision.
Ridenour AureA Bb clarinet
Ridenour Homage mouthpiece
Vandoren Optimum Silver ligature (plate 1)
Vandoren Traditional #4 reeds
ATG System, Cordier Reed Trimmer, and A.L.E. Reed Balancer
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Author: SecondTry
Date: 2025-10-31 03:45
I have no horse in this race.
That said, it is, IMO difficult for noteworthy people and brands in our or any space to have an internet presence.
Many lay low under the reality that to post, especially to a large enough and anonymous audience (or at least an audience having distance that's longer than an arm can punch someone in the nose) increases the odds considerably that some dissenter may respond in ways that might be less savvy than they'd risk in face to face discussion, critiquing things (sometimes because) they lack the aptitude to achieve.
It then becomes an exercise in discipline for the original poster to weigh the benefits of keeping hush and flying above the noise, or responding back in the belief that if they don't said noise will only get worse.
There's a vendor I'll keep nameless who once posted to the board more frequently, that I established an internet friendship with. It would incense him that no matter how hard he tried to please customers there were always some haters out there that would disparage the products that put food on his table.
It helped him to for me to remind him how many supporters he had, and how the vast majority reading liked, or had no issue with his products or need to respond.
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Author: Fuzzy
Date: 2025-10-31 05:06
I tried to go through the voluminous (and extremely one-sided) info at the link provided by Dan (thanks for the link, Dan - I had no idea about any of this until you provided the link), but I couldn't make it all the way through. Social media is the cesspool that it is, and that's what it looked like to me.
For a person to take it to the point of creating websites to share the information seems a little overly excitable to me, and hints towards the possibility that there might be some underlying/unshared info (agenda?) beneath. I don't know the folks involved.
Maybe given enough information, I'd change my mind - but I'll say it again: Social media is a cesspool, and I have a tough time getting too excited about such interactions.
Fuzzy
;^)>>>
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Author: donald
Date: 2025-11-01 02:54
I'm not sure what was linked above etc re Blumberg, but I know this. He was always to me a bit annoying, however it was true that much of the information he imparted was also "good" or "useful", even if at times his motivation seemed self serving rather than altruistic.
In more recent years he has moved into the territory of abusing, stalking and threatening people (a number of whom I know, and trust to be giving an accurate account). At some point, a long time after I blocked him, he made a mild threat to me, nothing to be too stressed by but also so oddly out of proportion to the significance of our disagreement that it definitely was strange and unsettling. If I threaten someone, I'm not surprised by a threat in response. If all I do is make a mild commentary I expect the same in response- not a response that is escalating the level of disagreement to a more threatening level.
If he chose to do that IN PERSON he'd discover some truths quite quickly, but it's actually against the law of most countries to threaten to do that in writing.
Let's take another example....
Tom Ridenour, for example, was in the same boat- he imparted good and useful information, and it was a bit more apparent that his motivation WAS altruistic (this is of course in both cases open to interpretation). Tom, having somewhat iconclastic political and social views, also riled up a few people the wrong way but NEVER threatened, stalked or abused anyone. He is not banned anywhere, and still imparts his good and useful information.
Post Edited (2025-11-01 11:41)
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Author: kdk
Date: 2025-11-01 18:11
Chris P wrote:
> Maybe he thought he was.
>
> He seems to have gone a bit quiet as of late.
>
I don't believe this thread has quite reached the level of character assassination that would require closing it, but it certainly qualifies as character-based discussion regarding a (mostly former) contributor to the BBoard and could be interpreted as violating the 2nd of the BBoard's Rules (see Help/Rules above),
"No ad hominem attacks (discuss the question/answer, not the person. Sometimes it's hard to separate the two - discretion is the better part of valor)."
Did something specific prompt this mention of David? His last post here that comes up in the Search utility was in 2005.
Karl
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Author: RBlack
Date: 2025-11-02 01:01
The ICA’s banning him from events is what brought it up.
They did this in response to him harassing and/or threatening multiple members of the ICA. If you’re curious about this, you can pretty easily research more specific details of these issues.
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Author: Tom Piercy
Date: 2025-11-02 01:50
The statement below, regarding the permanent ban, was sent to and approved by a Board member of the ICA before it was made public.
Both the initial temporary ban and the permanent ban have been made oublic.
UPDATE: DB ICA ban
In 2024, the Board of the International Clarinet Association (ICA), upon review of reports presented to it, determined that David Blumberg engaged in conduct constituting violations of the ICA’s Policy Prohibiting Harassment and Discrimination. As a result, the Board voted to terminate Mr. Blumberg’s membership and prohibit his attendance at any ICA events through September 1, 2026.
Based on previous and further reports/complaints of conduct constituting violations of ICA policies, the ICA Board, acting on recommendations from the ICA Ethics Board and in consultation with its attorney, has converted the temporary suspension into a permanent revocation of membership and a permanent prohibition on participation in any ICA-sponsored activities or events.
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This is not character assassination. This is factual information of an ICA action.
Many of us thank the International Clarinet Association for its commitment to maintaining a safe and respectful community for all members of the ICA and the general clarinet community.
Tom Piercy
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2025-11-02 09:53
Dear BB members,
Whether David Blumberg is still relevant or not is...irrelevant.
To some he is and to others he is not. There is simply no right or wrong answer here.
To me, this kind of discussion has a very slippery slope that leads to defamation. Any kind of communication that causes harm to one's reputation is defined as defamation. That is why I removed the link to an article that had numerous negative comments about him. It took me a while to fully realize how wrong I was to post it in the first place. mea culpa.
I believe that none of us knows or understands precisely what is and was going on in David Blumberg's life...and even if we did, it still would be wrong to discuss his behavior because...David Blumberg is not here to defend himself.
Just my opinion...
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