The International Band and Orchestra Midwest Clinic

On Friday December 18, 2009 I went to the Midwest Clinic for Band and Orchestra at McCormick Place downtown. My friend Nathan and his mom were going, and they invited me to come. They came and picked me up at 9:30 in the morning. We got there at 10:00 and bought our tickets. First, we wandered around the vendors looking at instruments. There were many vendors. Nathan found a horn stand where he tried every horn there. He especially liked one of the Holtons which he had been wanting to get for a long time, but his mom thinks that it costs too much money. At 11:00 we went to see the Hebron High School Clarinet Choir from Carrollton, Texas. A clarinet choir is when a whole ensemble of clarinets plays together. They had Eb clarinets, a bunch of Bb clarinets, a few bass clarinets, and two contra-bass clarinets. They were amazing! We watched them for an hour. I loved how smoothly they connected their notes and their phrasing was pretty good too.

Next we went to lunch. Nathan and I had a piece of pizza. We couldn't find seats for a while, so when we finally found seats, our plastic silverware had melted on our pizza! After lunch we went and looked at sheet music. I found a song I really wanted: Mozarts clarinet concerto in A major, but it was too expensive. We went back to the vendors and I tried out some clarinets. I tried a Bliss clarinet, the wooden one, which was a lot different than the clarinet I normally use. It felt different in a good way, and it was easier to get used to than my new clarinet, which is a Buffet R13. I got the R13 for Chanukah, and I love it, but I want a Bliss clarinet now too.

After Nathan and I finished trying out instruments his mom drove us home. We wanted to stay to see another ensemble that played in the evening, but Nathan's mom didn't want to stay that long. It took us a whole hour to get home because of traffic. When we got to my house Nathans mom stayed around a talked for a bit and then left. It was a wonderful day. I hope I can go to the Midwest Clinic next year! And I'm going to remember to bring a mouthpiece so it is easier to try out new clarinets.