Richard Stoltzman

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Richard Stoltzman (born 1942) is an American clarinetist. He is perhaps the most well-known clarinetist who primarily plays classical music. He has played with over 100 orchestras, as well as many chamber groups and solo recitals, and has won many awards and made many recordings.

Stoltzman also plays some jazz music on the clarinet. Some of his recordings, such as his album "New York Counterpoint," feature his jazz and modern music.

He has also recorded with the Opperman Clarinet Choir.

Stoltzman was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of a jazz-playing railwayman, and spent his early years in San Francisco, California and Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating from Woodward High School in 1960.

Stoltzman earned a Bachelor's Degree from Ohio State University with a double major in music and mathematics. He then studied with Professor Keith Wilson at the Yale School of Music, where he received the Master of Music degree. He worked toward a doctoral degree at Columbia University. He has been a longtime student of master clarinet pedagogue Kalmen Opperman of New York. Together, they founded the Clarinet Summit, a semi-regular international gathering of clarinetists since the 1990s.

Today, Stoltzman is part of the faculty list at the New England Conservatory.

[edit] Performance experience

Stoltzman began to make his name professionally at Vermont’s Marlboro Music Festival, and was a founding member of the chamber music group TASHI in 1973. Stoltzman has appeared as a soloist with numerous major symphonies, and international jazz festivals, and with stars such as Mel Torme, George Shearing, Judy Collins, Woody Herman, Wayne Shorter and others. In 1993, he was featured in the BBC series "Concerto!"

[edit] Awards and recognitions

Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance:

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