Clarinet Studio

Welcome to the Drake Clarinet Studio page!

The studio is comprised of active and talented students unified by their love of music, clarinet playing, and their desire to be lifelong musicians, regardless of their major area of study. Clarinet students majoring in music at Drake are a multi-faceted group, pursuing careers in performance, education, and music business, often in conjunction with other programs of study outside of music.

We hold frequent studio classes in which we play for each other and discuss topics relevant to clarinet performance at any level, including reeds, intonation, and dealing with performance anxiety. Once a year, students attend Iowa Clarinet Day, a full day of master classes, recitals, and presentations centered around a prominent visiting clarinetist and their unique contributions to clarinet playing and music education. Past guest artists have included Daniel Gilbert, Robert Spring, Jana Starling, Burt Hara, Michael Lowenstern, Wesley Ferreira, and Charles Neidich.

Drake clarinet students are also active recitalists, performing in degree-required solo recitals as well as chamber music recitals and large ensemble concerts. We value the opportunity to collaborate not only with other clarinet players but also with musicians of other instruments, and to learn from their different perspective. Drake clarinetists cover a wide range of solo and chamber repertoire, from standard canonical repertoire to newly commissioned music! Studio members and alumni have also participated in and performed at international clarinet events, including the Belgian Clarinet Workshop, International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest, and the Orfeo Music Festival.

We invite you to visit Drake to meet the members of the clarinet studio, see them in action in a concert or recital, and join in one of our events to get a feel for what it’s like to be a part of our studio community and a part of the internationally-recognized Drake University Department of Music. Please contact Clarence Padilla for more information.