 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Le9669
Date: 2011-09-02 04:30
Hello. I'm curious as to which clarinet players studied with Russianoff on a regular basis. So far, I only know the Druckers and Charles Neidich. Please let me know. Thanks!
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Author: brycon
Date: 2011-09-02 16:48
There may be a list somewhere of former Russianoff students. I know that a lot of players from the New York area studied with him: Charles Neidich, Alan Kay, Frank Cohen, Ed Palanker (who posts here rather often), and many others I'm sure.
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2011-09-02 18:49
I know Phil Faith, may have spelled his last name wrong, a former principal on the SF Phil. There were many players that are no longer playing or even living that studied with him as their major teacher and so many that studied with him for a while. I can't even begin to spell the names I remember. It would be interesting if someone had a listing. I believe at one time all the players in the NY Phil were his students, or at least studied with him for some time. I believe Eddie Daniels was his student as well. I believe it is a very long list, especially if one includes those that studied with him for a year or so like Larry Coombs and MIchelle Zukovsky, sp? (I think I butchered that one.) . It's not uncommon for a player to study with one or two other teachers after their "principal" teacher. ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: hartt
Date: 2011-09-03 02:50
Ed is correct.......many players are no longer playing or living. Additionally, many who took lessons did not pursue their clarinet playing beyond the lessons or schooling (some had Leon as a teacher when attending Manhattan Scl of Music or other educational institutions.)
Thomas Piercy not only took lessons but in Leon's later years of teaching, Thomas was his Teaching Assistant.
I took lessons from Leon my last 2 yrs in HS, 64-65 and then 1 yr at Manhattan (offsite at his 1590 Bdwy studio) and then for 2 summers while at Hartt and taking lessons thru the school with Opperman and Hadcock.
As Ed mentioned, Larry took lessons from Leon. He did so while he was in the West Point Band and traveled down to NYC. Michelle Z came to NY to take lessons. She chose Leon over Opperman.
The list is not endless but is of considerable length.
Leon accepted private students on an audition basis.
To give an idea, In the summer of 1966 I paid $65 / hr for lessons. (that was my take-home pay from my summer job)
be well
dennis
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2011-09-03 16:14
Thanks Bob, I'm not shy about that,I'm very proud of it. It states that on my Website, I consider myself a Russianoff student even though I studied with others. I studied with him for my last three years of college. Brycon made reference to me being his student on the 2nd posting so I didn't feel I needed to agree, I do.
Russianoff's greatest strength was the way he bought out the best in his students and the fact that he didn't try to make clones of his students as so many teachers try to do, especially in his day. ESP
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2011-09-03 20:53
In 8th/9th grade before I moved to PA, my Clarinet Teacher Eddie Knakal would fly once a month from Norfolk to study with Leon. I played for him in a MasterClass.
Eddie taught among other players Scott Andrews (Principal St. Louis)
So what would $65 Hr be in today's $$$'s?
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
Post Edited (2011-09-04 10:37)
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2011-09-04 07:50
Thanks Eddie, Just want people to know a few of the great teachers produce great students that are now great symphony players and teachers! The never ending cycle continues to get better and better. I think a similiar case would be Bonade and his fellow students. Gennusa, Mitchell Lurie, I think Harold Wright and so on. I'm not sure about Marcellus.
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Author: Dileep Gangolli
Date: 2011-09-04 17:49
Actually it may be easier to look at all the successful clarinetists from the generation between Drucker and Neidich and then look at who DID NOT study with Leon.
I never did study with him but now wish I had as each of his students plays very differently from the other.
And they all vouch for his abilities as a teacher and his ability to bring out the best in the individual.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2011-09-04 18:03
The Clarinet volume 18/ number 1, volume 18 number 2
have tributes to Leon by many of his past students.
...GBK
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Author: MarlboroughMan
Date: 2011-09-04 19:12
I was accepted into Russianoff's studio as a high school student the year before he died. Never got the chance to study regularly with him, but the audition itself was a learning experience.
I played the Mozart and Copland Concerti for him, and remember being quizzed on the chord structure of the Copland Cadenza.
When asked what I wanted to begin with, I said "Mozart," and as I placed the music on the stand, he smiled and said "So you're going with the hardest piece first. Good choice."
It was probably the most relaxed audition I ever took. He was a kind man.
Eric
******************************
The Jazz Clarinet
http://thejazzclarinet.blogspot.com/
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Author: David Niethamer
Date: 2011-09-05 02:16
Those of you interested in Russianoff may be interested to read Stephen Clark's dissertation "Leon Russianoff: Clarinet Pedagogue." It gives a biography of Russianoff and how Leon felt his life related to his teaching style. Clark also interviewed five Russianoff students about his teaching style - very interesting. The dissertaion is available from ProQuest through their Dissertation Express service. A PDF copy costs $37.
I studied with Leon for three years in the mid '70's. We had a lot of battles over how to play the clarinet, because I wasn't smart enough to respect his knowledge and practical experience as a successful teacher. After I got my job in Richmond, I thanked Russianoff every week for 23 years for giving me the tools to do my job successfully - he was a wonderful, patient (especially in my case!!) teacher. One of his best characteristics was teaching you to solve your own problems. Another equally important aspect of his teaching was to poke holes in all the preconceived notions you might have about playing the clarinet. As others have said, he didn't create clones. He brought out the potential in each student.
When he died in 1991, it was a very sad day for me.
David
niethamer@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/index.html
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Author: Tom H
Date: 2021-05-18 08:25
1972 through '76 as a student at Queens College.
The Most Advanced Clarinet Book--
tomheimer.ampbk.com/ Sheet Music Plus item A0.1001315, Musicnotes product no. MB0000649.
Boreal Ballad for unaccompanied clarinet-Sheet Music Plus item A0.1001314.
Musicnotes product no. MNO287475
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Author: MarkS
Date: 2021-05-18 20:39
I noticed that in one of the earlier postings in this thread, hartt mentions that Russianoff was charging $65 for lessons in 1966. A few years ago, I happened on a letter in the Daniel Bonade archives at the University of Maryland. The letter is from Bonade to an American college student in the early 1970s. The student was asking about the possibility of taking a few lessons from Bonade in the south of France while they were studying abroad in Italy. Bonade replied that he would be happy to give the lessons, and that the cost of each lesson would be $25. That seems to have been a veritable bargain given what Russianoff was charging several years earlier!
Mark S
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Author: rmk54
Date: 2021-05-18 21:55
When Russianoff was teaching at MSM, they would send him a contract with the salary line blank and let him fill in the amount.
I studied with him in the early 1970's and I can tell you he taught many students for free or for a minimal amount of money. In any case, I never heard that he charged $65 a lesson, even then.
Perhaps there was an extra charge for being a PITA...
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Author: 2E
Date: 2021-05-24 08:24
Stephen Clark is definitely the man to talk to about this, search him on youtube/facebook.
I know Heather Monkhouse (Tasmania, Australia) studied with him for a time, she's now at University of Tasmania (UTAS).
I think Andy Simon studied with him too?
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Author: Tom Piercy
Date: 2021-05-24 17:37
Re: Russianoff lesson fees.
I studied with Leon from mid-80s until his death in 1990.
His lesson fee for me ranged from $0 to $50.
He charged me $50/hour at first (which was a bargain at that time) but soon stopped charging me a fee as I was assisting him with things in his studio.
He told me that if anyone asked what his fee was, I was to tell them it was $100. He was very generous with his time and would often charge different fees for different people. If he thought someone could afford more, he would charge more, and vice versa.
Tom Piercy
Post Edited (2021-05-26 16:21)
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Author: ruben
Date: 2021-05-24 21:57
Tom: Jimmy Hamilton-Duke Ellington's great clarinetist-studied with Russianoff and was charged...nothing.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: nellsonic
Date: 2021-05-24 22:46
DavidBlumberg wrote:
>
> So what would $65 Hr be in today's $$$'s?
>
$535 in 2021 money!
Anders
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Author: Ed
Date: 2021-05-25 01:16
Not sure where you got that figure. According to inflation charts I have seen it seems to be more like $160
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Author: Ed
Date: 2021-05-25 05:12
OK, got it. I thought the date in question was in the 80s. I now see that there was previous mention of an earlier year. My mistake
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