 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 big 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 (an 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.
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Author: Tom Piercy
Date: 2025-11-01 05:19
@Fuzzy, and others - Yes, social media can be a cesspool.
However, the ICA (International Clarinet Association) did not issue a permanent revocation of DB's membership and a permanent ban on his attendance or participation in any ICA event based on social media lies or one-sided stories. It was a several year process.
In 2024, the Board of the International Clarinet Association (ICA) determined, after reviewing submitted reports of events that happended since 2022 and before, that David Blumberg violated the ICA’s Policy Prohibiting Harassment and Discrimination. The Board voted to terminate his membership and bar him from ICA events through September 1, 2026. Following additional reports and further review by the Ethics Board, and in consultation with legal counsel, the ICA Board has made permanent the revocation of Mr. Blumberg’s ICA membership and prohibition from all ICA-sponsored activities.
The submitted reports or complaints were backed up by evidence and reviewed by the ethics board.
Also, in that link that was supplied was the information that DB has been issued several peace orders (called restraining orders in many places). These were issued after a judge heard BOTH sides, not just one side.
These complaints were not made out of jealousy but out of the their experiences of being harrassed and/or threatened.
The courts and the ICA take these things lightly.
There is no place in our clarinet community, or anywhere, for the behavior that caused the permanet ban and peace orders.
Tom Piercy
Post Edited (2025-11-01 05:37)
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