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RE: Short bio - John J. Moses

Author: ken
Date: 2002-07-31 20:57

ChattyClar said: "She knew more about clarinet than most who play professionally. I say this because her students consistently outperformed students who studied with professionals in the DC military bands."

I restfully disagree. This is an interpretation and personal opinion. You�re also comparing apples and oranges between a full time TEACHER who earns her living strictly as an educator and a full time PLAYER that teaches on a part time basis. A DC band clarinet players' job while in uniform is to play, NOT teach. Also, the colleagues I know (about a dozen) have earned Bachelor's and Masters degrees in "performance" NOT "education". That by no means makes them any less qualified as teachers, but if all conditions were equal, they quit playing and hung out a shingle anyone of them could produce/turn out just as fine students/players. And what about the quality/talent and work ethic of the students themselves that the teacher is saddled with? Clarinetists in the DC bands hold down incredibly hectic concert/touring schedules, over 300 performances annually and anywhere between 60 and 180+ days a year traveling the globe. And that�s just the beginning; they�re also required to maintain daily administrative/additional duties that amounts to a 50-80 hour week while the horn stays in the case. Not to mention working every holiday, often Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years and some have recently been mobilized getting rotated/deployed overseas 90 days at a time. These people earn every dollar they make in spades; many are world-class players that could easily enjoy a top orchestra, solo and/or teaching career. I know two DC bands clarinetists that are first-call alternates in the National and Baltimore Symphonies. One DC Band in the past 8 years alone have recorded 25 multiple-ensemble full-feature CDs.

Also in response to one other comment, I say money is money and still "green" whether paid/earned in the private sector or with Federal/taxpayer dollars. Collecting a military income as a working musician has no bearing on a clarinetist�s musicianship, professionalism and/or teaching acumen. And those who are of the opinion DC band clarinetists aren't pro players, that's a perpostrous and uniformed position. They can visit any one of their websites, request free CDs and hear/judge for themselves instead of blindly stereotyping. v/r KEN

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Short bio - John J. Moses new

Mark Charette

2002-07-28 15:06