Quintessential Clarinets

On this course your tutors Daniel and Margaret offer a combination of individual rehearsals coached from the piano alongside technique and musicianship classes. You will have the opportunity to explore works in depth, to grow in understanding of the relationship between the clarinet line and the piano part, and to learn from the technical issues and musical interpretations of other course participants presenting the same piece, as a particularly rewarding aspect of the course.  

There will also be opportunities to play pieces for two clarinets and piano, and Margaret will organise clarinet ensembles for those who wish to explore works for bigger clarinet forces.

Everyone is encouraged to perform in each evening’s sharing session, testing out their new technical and musical discoveries.  

Repertoire for solo clarinet and piano is the focus of this course, developing your technique and musicianship. By the end of this course, you will be able to engage with a wider choice of repertoire and reach a new level of musical understanding and will have enjoyed time spent with other like-minded clarinet players!

The course includes individual sessions with tutors, and some group work and sharing sessions where all course participants perform to one another in open forum.

The course accepts students from Learner to Skilful level (see the Benslow Guide to Ability Levels) and is ideal for players who simply wish to improve their performing confidence or are perhaps preparing to take exams. All are welcome to share in the process of discovery, whether relative beginners or players with decades of experience. 

You should bring their own copies of both the clarinet and piano parts of the works you have chosen to concentrate on. Your tutors will bring copies of many standard pieces and a wide variety of clarinet ensemble music.  

In the weeks before the course, you will be asked to choose works for clarinet and piano you would like to concentrate on, and this information will be shared with your fellow participants. You will receive advance notice by email of one or two set works, chosen by tutors Margaret and Daniel, that can be studied by everyone.

If you have them please bring bass, Eb or other clarinets, either to play study pieces with piano or to play in an ensemble.