Jay Hassler: Yes.
Jay Hassler: Okay.
Jay Hassler: Welcome to a… let me do that without hitting the microphone.
Jay Hassler: Welcome to the Clarinet Ninja Podcast. My name is Jay Hassler. As always, I'm doing my best to bring you the finest in Clarinet information and entertainment. Today, I've got something special. We are talking about Clarinet Fest, what it is, why you should go.
Jay Hassler: And I have brought the foremost experts in the clarinet, the esteemed, the person that makes things all happen, Miss Jessica Harry. She, you know, there's really nothing that happens in the clarinet Association without Jessica.
Jay Hassler: there, and making sure we're all supported, coming up with great ideas, and making things happen. I've got Josh Gu here with me, and if you follow me a little bit, you know that Josh Gu and I have been taking, control
Jay Hassler: of the Clinton Enthusiast Committee, which is a really, I think, probably the most important part of the Clinton Association in general. Just kidding, not really, but it is to me, and I think it is to Josh. And then, I have with us here today the president of all things clarinet.
Jay Hassler: It's Cathie Wood. Now, I do want to remind everybody who you heard playing us in. That is Mr. James Danderfer. He is a great clarinet player. I'm going to put all his information down in the description of the show notes. Please go check out James and hear all the wonderful music he makes. But now, let's get focused on the clarinet.
Jay Hassler: And, more specifically, the clarinet, is it clarinet Fest, or is it a clarinet convention? Or is it interchangeable?
Cathy Wood: Clarinet first.
Jay Hassler: It's Clan at Fest, okay. And this year, it is in Korea. And now, my first question.
Jay Hassler: It used to be that we would do two conventions in America, and then one internationally. But, based on my calculations.
Jay Hassler: We just had one in Ireland, and we're doing another international one. Is there a particular reason for that?
Cathy Wood: Yeah, there's a couple of reasons. As we become more and more international, we're trying to change up where we go to, and also the pandemic messed up things, of course, and sort of changed the order of that.
Jay Hassler: We have an excited clarinet community member there.
Jessica Harrie: The pandemic, really.
Jay Hassler: And speaking of the Clinic Convention this year, we are doing the second
Jay Hassler: Prelude to the convention event. And, we had one last year, when we were in Fort Worth. It was really, really terrific. And, you know, since this podcast
Jay Hassler: hopefully has a lot of people who are coming back to the clarinet, maybe have been playing it again for a couple years after a long layoff. This prelude to the event is really focused on you.
Jay Hassler: And…
Jay Hassler: you have the experts of the Enthusiast Committee right here. Josh, you and I have been working really hard to put this Prelude event together. Could you tell me a little bit about what we did?
Josh Goo: Yeah, yeah, yeah, so the Prelude event, I think is something actually that Jessica has been wanting to have for years as a thing that could be really cool, and then when we took over the Enthusiast Committee, Jay, you were kind of ran with the idea and thought it might be a great opportunity, and
Josh Goo: I love the idea as well, where basically, Clarinet Fest is awesome and amazing, and you get to see all these fantastic performances, and try all the gear, and have
Josh Goo: Millions of clarinetists, or…
Josh Goo: maybe a couple thousand clarinetists around you. And hearing all these sounds and all this great stuff. But, especially for, kind of, the enthusiast community.
Josh Goo: there isn't a whole lot of opportunity to actually play and make music beyond the Enthusiast Choir or some of the other clarinet choirs and things like that. So, we thought it'd be a great opportunity to make some events a little bit more tailored to the non-professional player, and also just get us playing more at Clarinet Fest and making more music as well.
Jay Hassler: Right, because you mentioned, and I think this is important, for everybody
Jay Hassler: for everybody that comes to clarinet Fest, there is a clarinet choir or two that might be right for you. And it is a wonderful opportunity to get together and play with other clarinet players, make new friends, like, that is one of the big takeaways that I think we'll probably get into a little deeper, is how many friends you make when you're at Clarinet Fest, and how powerful that is.
Jay Hassler: And so, yeah, so there is an enthusiast-specific choir, and there are, enthusiast-specific, are they still billed as warm-ups? I mean, they're hour-long sessions that are for us, and then, there's a master class as well.
Jay Hassler: But that… that's something that somebody would have to show an interest in the piece, take some effort to play for, but it is really,
Jay Hassler: the kind of masterclass that is directed at the level that people come to, because some of the master classes, when you're, watching extraordinary, you know, college players play, or, you know, like, it can be a little bit intimidating,
Jay Hassler: So, I think it's a real special opportunity, and one that does create opportunities to play even more.
Jay Hassler: And get an educational.
Jay Hassler: thing.
Jay Hassler: an educational component. You know, although, I don't know about you guys, I carry around a notebook, like a total nerd, and I write down things all day, every day, of a new thought that I had.
Jay Hassler: or something that I didn't ever think of, before, whether somebody's playing, I never heard that before, or, you know, somebody, you know… I'm still working on some things that I heard in master classes.
Jay Hassler: From last year. So Josh, I think your memory is better, and you made the spreadsheet. Can you tell us a couple of the things that are gonna happen, at, like, actually during the Prelude event?
Josh Goo: Yeah, absolutely, and I think you kind of touched on the social component, too, of how we make friends at Clarinet Fest, and that's another value of the Prelude, is that
Josh Goo: for people like me, who is a huge clarinet nerd and went to school and studied with teachers and colleagues, Clarinet Fest is a really fun time to get together and be like, hey, I see you, I see you, like, we're all kind of reconnecting, and it's kind of like a family reunion of all these people.
Josh Goo: But for the average enthusiast who didn't necessarily get degrees in clarinet, they don't have that kind of built-in family, so that's also part of the Prelude event, is so we sort of get people connected with each other, ahead of time, so we'll have some social activities, like we're gonna get together for brunch before the Prelude starts, we're gonna have some kind of, like, icebreakers, get to know each other, things like that.
Josh Goo: And then you also mentioned the kind of educational component of it, which is also very important. So we're gonna have some great workshops led by myself and Lynn Snyder and Christine McDonald and Mickey Ryan, who are all fantastic teachers and very accomplished players who are gonna be
Josh Goo: Kind of working, the participants through…
Josh Goo: things like getting more confident with rhythm, having better sound quality, those kinds of things. And, of course, we're gonna be doing lots of playing, so some rehearsal of the enthusiast choir music, some really creative stuff to get kind of a chamber music experience with that,
Josh Goo: Enthusiast choir music as well, so… It'll be all the things.
Jay Hassler: That sounds fantastic. And I say this very authentically, I wish I could be there, because I can't go this year. And, like, since I started going to clarinet conventions, like, I haven't missed one. And this is the first one I've missed since I missed 40 of them earlier in my life. This one seems bigger, though.
Jay Hassler: So, yeah, one of the things that I've noticed over the course of this year is the magic that happens knowing somebody, getting to know somebody at ClareFest, and, like, we had the group chat from last year, and still, every once in a while, somebody puts something in it, and it's just so wonderful to, like, have
Jay Hassler: this sort of, like, living document of what the people that we got to know are doing. And then when I see them on Facebook, it definitely makes the whole Facebook clarinet community come more alive, too. And it makes me happy, the experiences that we had, and really excited to see them the next opportunity.
Jay Hassler: That I get to see everybody. It's a really, it's a pretty wonderful thing.
Jay Hassler: And now, my question is, let's say somebody's just heard this.
Jay Hassler: And they said, hey.
Jay Hassler: That's for me. And I hope everybody that just heard this thought that. What do they do next, Jessica? What should they do next?
Jessica Harrie: Yeah, so you can go to the ICA website, and…
Jessica Harrie: pretty clearly at the top of the page, you'll see a navigation menu that kind of goes the gamut across, but there's a tab that you're looking for called Events, and then you're going to drag down to the Clarinet Fest menu, which is at the very top.
Jessica Harrie: And you'll see the Prelude to Clarinet Fest Enthusiast Workshop page there in the navigation menu, and it'll give you details on what the schedule looks like, the cost of attending, and how you can register.
Jessica Harrie: On that page, and all the links are provided there, as well as information about hotels, if you are still looking for a hotel, if you needed, information about that, so…
Jessica Harrie: You could also just email me, I'm happy to kind of walk you through that process if you need help with it.
Jessica Harrie: This event, as Jay mentioned, is super, super important to me, because, at this point in my career, working for the ICA, I consider myself, first and foremost, to be an enthusiast, even though I was that college student playing in those hard master classes at one point in my life.
Jessica Harrie: This community is the…
Jessica Harrie: most vital part of the ICA, because it encourages any person to pick up a clarinet, and love it, and play it, and be a part of something really, really, truly special, which is a music community like this, so…
Jessica Harrie: Yeah, I hope you'll consider coming, I think…
Jessica Harrie: This has been one of the best additions to the Climate Fest, format.
Jessica Harrie: In the last couple of years.
Jay Hassler: And, you know, when I think about, you know, what's happened, I mean, I guess it was already happening, but the pandemic really pushed us, was having so much of our lives happening, like, virtually, but also within that.
Jay Hassler: You know, if somebody had… you can get in touch with anybody you want to at any point in time, and I think it's a much more normal thing to be able to contact a famous Klana player, if you wanted to.
Jay Hassler: But they're just standing around at the clarinet convention. And it's a pretty wonderful thing, you know, like, no matter where you are, if, like, you just decide, I'm gonna buy a clarinet, and I've never played, and I'm gonna go to this thing.
Jay Hassler: you can… there's people that you have seen on the internet, and that you might be able to see as they pass through your town. Like, it's a real nice way to connect the online world and real life in a way that's really, really organic, and really…
Jay Hassler: Special, even up until the last day in, in Fort Worth.
Jay Hassler: I was sitting… sitting there.
Jay Hassler: And the headliner was sitting next to me. I'd never met them before.
Jay Hassler: And I… it's very weird, like, I've got social anxiety. I hope it's not obvious, but I do, and I was sitting there, and I was like, geez, should I say something? I really like this clarinet play, you know, so that I just decided to do it, and I said, hey, I think you're so-and-so, and I really enjoyed your performance, and then we had a nice conversation.
Jay Hassler: And then… and then he got into his cabin left. At least he said he got into his cabin left. He may have… he may have just been wanting to get away from a weirdo. I'm not entirely sure. But, so you, Jessica, I notice that it is… there's…
Jay Hassler: much light coming out of your window, which means you're in a different part of the world than us, and…
Jay Hassler: if my sources are accurate, which is Facebook. You're in Korea now, because that's where you live. And so, tell us a little bit about, like, the site that we're going to, and what's in store there in terms of outside of the Klanite Convention, you step outside, and then you can do…
Jessica Harrie: What can you do when you get to Korea?
Jay Hassler: Well, but you're at the convention, like, are we downtown somewhere, or are we, like…
Jessica Harrie: Yeah.
Jessica Harrie: It's so… we're not in Seoul, we're in Incheon, which is Airport City, and we are only 25 minutes from the airport. Public transit, as you can imagine here, is incredibly convenient. You can take a bus direct from the airport, you can ride the subway, which is super…
Jessica Harrie: Both transportation means are super inexpensive. There's also a cab ride that'll be about, I don't know, 40,000 won, which isn't much…
Jessica Harrie: It's, like, $28 or something like that from the airport, if you have a lot to schlep with you. Our facility is the Songdo Convencia, which is a state-of-the-art convention center located in Songdo, Yeonsu, which is a suburb of Incheon.
Jessica Harrie: It is a brand new city, and it's an international city. They consider it to be an international city, so it's a lot more accessible for, businesses, to…
Jessica Harrie: operate in that area if they have English management, English-speaking management, so it's a, it's a pretty…
Jessica Harrie: Easy city to get around.
Jay Hassler: Oh, that's fantastic.
Jessica Harrie: Yeah, just outside of the convention center, there are two major hotels. There's Oakwood Hotel and the Sheraton Grand Hotel. Both of those are 5-star properties, but within that block there, there are tons of other accessibly-priced hotels.
Jessica Harrie: There's a beautiful park called the Central Park that has a lake out front, and it's summertime, so there's little boats that you can rent and ride in that are like Cinderella carriages. It's just super, super picturesque. There's state-of-the-art
Jessica Harrie: shopping center, I don't know if that's not the right… a really fancy shopping center, the Hyundai department store, along with Triple Street, which is, like, a whole street full of restaurants that you can just…
Jessica Harrie: explore and try, and one of the main reasons I wanted to live here was the food, so, you know, that's a place that I have visited very often, in my time here.
Jay Hassler: So, it sounds to me like I got very fixated on this idea that somebody who's concerned about traveling international and not speaking the language, that's actually less of an issue in the city than
Jay Hassler: many cities in Korea?
Jessica Harrie: Almost all of the signage that you're gonna run into, is…
Jessica Harrie: available in both Korean and in English. And in many cases, on the subway, especially in these larger metropolitan areas, the subway announcements are pronounced in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and in English. So it'll… it'll be much easier for you to navigate that. All of the sign boards as well, like accessing buying train tickets and bus tickets, those are all available in those languages as well.
Jessica Harrie: There's concierge assistance at the airport, so if you're looking to get a bus and you need help, there's somebody that can help you there. And then, of course…
Jessica Harrie: I have, since I've been living here just a couple months now, I've not gone anywhere without my phone. You can do an eSIM, you can also pick up a travel Wi-Fi at the airport with the counter staff.
Jessica Harrie: and use translation software, and it works really well here, and people are familiar with using it. I had some…
Jessica Harrie: medical things that I had to do, and I just had to go into the hospital and use my phone, and they were doing it before I even brought my phone out, because they were like, I don't want to talk to this foreigner, and try to figure out what they're trying to say, let's just make sure that we…
Jessica Harrie: you know, we can communicate adequately, so… I think it's just a really accessible place, and honestly, Korean people are very modest, and they all speak generally a good amount of English, to get through some social interactions, and are always, in my opinion, really helpful when you have a question about something, so…
Jessica Harrie: Yeah. I mean, I think it's a beautiful place, and we haven't had the opportunity to be here as a country… not the country… as an organization.
Jessica Harrie: And,
Jessica Harrie: Yeah, we had only one conference in 50-something years in Asia, and it was in Japan in 2005, and so, really, we want to bring this community of players back into our fold and expand our reach.
Jessica Harrie: And most importantly, learn from them. There's so much pedagogy and great playing that is going on every single day in this country and all of Asia, and you're gonna see and hear all of that be represented in this conference, which is just so exciting to me.
Jay Hassler: Well, no.
Jay Hassler: It is nice having you living there to really know stuff, I mean, because as you know, you know.
Jay Hassler: and I'll just reiterate that I'm going to put the links that you need to register for the Clinic Convention, and Jessica is always…
Jay Hassler: really kind in terms of responding to emails, and for that reason, she gets even more emails. I know that's how it works… that's how it works with me, for me, with Jessica. But, here's… here's what I want to know. My question stood out of my head a little bit,
Jay Hassler: I'm gonna edit this part out.
Jay Hassler: We can't have this in the podcast.
Jessica Harrie: Sorry, can you edit the part out where I said that I was a country? I don't know.
Jessica Harrie: that early, there's just, you know, the time between when the board meeting ended and the time that I woke up and slapped some makeup on is really not that much.
Jay Hassler: Yes, Jessica, for you, I will do that. Normally, when I edit podcasts, I only edit out my garbage, and I leave everybody else's garbage in there. But for you, I'll do it.
Jay Hassler: This is shit too, what's a… So…
Jay Hassler: It was a question for Kathy, and it was, and it was related to plane, and… oh, no, here it was. I got it, I got it.
Jay Hassler: So this is a difficult question to answer. I get that.
Jay Hassler: And I'm looking at Jessica and Kathy specifically. Can you obviously not give us an entire rundown of everybody that's playing, but who are some headliners that we could expect to hear at the Clarin Convention this year?
Jay Hassler: I mean, I know that, like, there's always that fear of leaving somebody out, or forgetting somebody, but,
Jay Hassler: I do want people to know what excitement lays ahead. Maybe not all the excitement, you gotta save some for…
Jay Hassler: Surprise.
Jessica Harrie: Yeah, so the opening… we're having, an opening gala concert.
Jessica Harrie: And it's gonna be actually hosted off-site. Just nearby, there is an incredibly beautiful art hall called the Art Center Incheon.
Jessica Harrie: and it is super stunning. And so, we're gonna be hosting the orchestra concert as a gala concert on the night of the 7th, so if you're coming to the Prelude event, you will finish up the Prelude event, and everybody will, you know, get a bite to eat, and then head over to the art hall together to take in that concert. But in that concert…
Jessica Harrie: There's just some incredible musicians performing. Jerry Che, who is the professor at Seoul National University, is going to be performing, and one of my
Jessica Harrie: personal excitements about that concert in particular is there are two young Korean players that, actually were both winners of our competition for our high school students, and they're gonna be playing a duo concerto on that performance. So, I love seeing young players get the opportunity to be showcased, and…
Jessica Harrie: they're high schoolers, but you would not know. They just sound like seasoned professionals, and just gorgeous sound, beautiful people, so that's exciting. And then on the Jazz and Global Night, personally, excited about Kokoya.
Jessica Harrie: For the longest time, I have been a huge fan of the Japanese trio Kokuya, and they do Brazilian-style choro music, and
Jessica Harrie: years ago, I wrote to the clarinetist in, you know, not in Japanese, expecting a reply, and, finally, I'm gonna be able to hear them live in person, and probably will just hunt her down and buy all of her CDs, so I have physical copies of her CDs.
Jessica Harrie: So that one is a big, like, childhood collegiate expun… you know…
Jessica Harrie: Excited child memory that is gonna be coming to fruition, so…
Jessica Harrie: And weirdly, they did music for an anime, and that was how I found their music, and I was like, oh, I just love this. It's so fun and engaging, and so then I just bought all of their music. So, that's gonna be on the Jazz Night, and they're also performing with, Oriel Madez and his group, the Tal Quartet, and they are…
Jessica Harrie: doing some fusion, which is really fun, and then Eiji Tanaguchi-san, who's also playing on that, so it's just gonna be a really fun, engaging night, of global jazz music, so that's really fun.
Jay Hassler: That's fantastic.
Jessica Harrie: Kathy probably has other people that she's looking forward to, but that's my… Am I really excited?
Jay Hassler: Will you call some people out, Kathy? Like, like…
Jay Hassler: Who's excited? But, like, you know, I know you're essentially equally excited to hear everybody play, but if you had to pick one that was particularly special to you for any particular reason, who is it?
Cathy Wood: Oh, the tough questions. I think, I mean, Jessica named a lot of the, headliners. I think, I get really excited to hear the clarinet choirs, too. There's something really wonderful about, not just high-level clarinet choir playing, but communities, getting together. I always get really excited to hear some of these festival choirs. And, being from Canada, I'm also excited for
Cathy Wood: the, Bass Clarinet Choir of Canada is playing on one of the headlining concerts, too.
Cathy Wood: But yeah, it's really hard to pick a favorite day, that's the hardest question. I know.
Jessica Harrie: It's a favorite, it's not even a favorite, it's just, like, people who maybe are following, I think? But she's right, we actually have a whole night, of clarinet ensemble headliners, which is a really unique, presentation, and there's just some incredible playing ensembles that,
Jessica Harrie: we don't offer to have the opportunity to feature. Even our opening recital, on Wednesday is the Soul Clarinet Ensemble, and that group has been together for years and years and years, so that's gonna be a real treat for people. Magic Clarinet Quartet is also coming, and they're just insanely good, like, just…
Jessica Harrie: the, the…
Cathy Wood: I'm excited for them, too.
Jessica Harrie: Yeah, their precision is just so special to hear, so… Yeah, there's an article on the website, for those that might be curious, it has, like, a full roster of artists.
Jessica Harrie: That are programmed, and so you can kind of take a look, and we will have a grid schedule that's like a quick glance, and you can take a look at that to kind of plan out your day.
Jessica Harrie: There's also a mobile app, which we'll have, which is really convenient, because you can take a look at the schedule as it is, like, bulk, and it's a lot to take in, but you can find the things that you truly want to do, and, like.
Jessica Harrie: pick and put them into your own personal schedule, and it'll say, hey, you were wanting to go to this concert, make sure you get there, it's in this room, or whatever. It does all that for you, and it's also a good way to get in touch and connect with the people that you meet at the conference.
Jay Hassler: Well, that's one of the things that we do at the Prelude event, is help people kind of figure out, like, what's here, and how to navigate it, because, like, my first clarinet convention.
Jay Hassler: Even as, like, a 50-year-old person.
Jay Hassler: like, I was like a child. Like, there was so much happening, there was a lot of overwhelm. There's 4 things happening at a time.
Jay Hassler: how do you sort it out? Like, you can't go in there without a plan. I feel like it's like a… it's like a sporting event. Like, if you're playing the other team and you have no plan and no strategy, you're just gonna get demolished.
Jay Hassler: And, like, you're not gonna have any idea what happened when you're over, when it's over. But, like, so, like, one of the things that happens at the Prelude is we teach people how to use the app.
Jay Hassler: So that they can, like, budget time to hear people play, to hear masterclasses, to spend time, which we haven't even talked about yet, on the exhibition floor.
Jay Hassler: Because there is everything that's ever been made for the clarinet available all in the same room, which is really incredible. And the people that made them, which is just as exciting. I mean, that's a really unusual experience. And then how do you fit that all in with getting enough sleep.
Jay Hassler: And, you know, going out to eat, and making new friends, and doing everything. I mean, by…
Jay Hassler: like, for me, the first two days, I'm strict on the schedule. I'm like, I'm going here, I'm going here, I'm going here, and then by the end of the week, I'm like.
Jay Hassler: I'm so tired.
Jay Hassler: Who can I hang out with now? I just want to stand around and BS for a little bit. So, it's, it's,
Jay Hassler: there's a lot that goes into it, and I think it's really spectacular, and
Jay Hassler: Like, I… it's funny, like, I… I'm really happy with all my clarinet equipment right now.
Jay Hassler: And so, what I really want to do is go try a bunch of stuff.
Jay Hassler: To make me insecure. I want to go try stuff to make me unhappy with what I have. You know, just to, like, you know, get things fired up a little bit, because it's, you know, like, God, I love this mouthpiece, and I've loved it for years now. You know, like…
Jay Hassler: How, you know… That's not really supposed to be part of the experience of playing the clarinet.
Jay Hassler: We do not really?
Cathy Wood: reads, though, Jay?
Jay Hassler: Like, this is a larger topic for not the podcast. I have found a read that I love.
Jay Hassler: And it's almost impossible to find more of them. I can't find them, and I'm angry about it, and… so I've literally spent… I just spent $104 on 2 reads.
Jay Hassler: Between the cost of the reed, which is $40 each.
Jay Hassler: And then the cost of the shipping from France.
Jay Hassler: And, so, like, yeah, I gotta get a YouTube video out of this. You know, like…
Jay Hassler: It's like, that is a stupid amount of money to spend, but I am so optimistic about the read, I don't want to…
Jay Hassler: put the cat out of the bag yet. I don't even think it's a new product, but they're really hard to get here. And so,
Jay Hassler: I can't wait to find the right strength for me, because, like, I've got one that's way too hard, but man, it seems promising.
Jay Hassler: I was like, oh, God, this is gonna be so good. And I don't know, maybe they're gonna be at the convention. Because I emailed them, and they did not email me back.
Jay Hassler: So, the next email will be, do you… don't you know who I am?
Jay Hassler: Which I'm sure will be ignored. So,
Jay Hassler: Listen, here's, here's… I'd like to just, like, do a little thing, like they do on, on, on, big-time podcasts. Kathy, give me your very favorite memory that you ever had at Clinet Fest, of any time you've ever been there.
Cathy Wood: Oh, I mean, I think every clarinet fest has a lot of memories, but my first one definitely was just… made such an impact. My teacher at the time,
Cathy Wood: took me with a friend, and we drove 30 hours, 33 hours, from Winnipeg down to Oklahoma, and, it was just mind-blowing. I got to hear Julian Bliss's, American debut. He was 11 at the time. I remember hearing, Joseph Balog play some Hungarian folk music, and he played faster than I could almost hear. It just…
Cathy Wood: And then just hearing different sounds from, like, Carvonara, different countries, and, just completely blew my mind. 8 AM till 11.30 p.m, clarinet, clar… I was young at the time. Clarinet, clarinet, clarinet.
Cathy Wood: Yeah, it just… I think the first one just had made such an impact, and I've been going ever since.
Jay Hassler: Okay, so Jessica, what's the favorite memory of all the clarinet conventions you've been to? They probably get less and less. Now that you are so involved in organizing them, you probably have more memorable moments, but less fond memorable moments.
Jessica Harrie: Well, no, it's… it's… it's a different kind of experience for me now, and the things that really bring me joy are not gonna be, like, as…
Jessica Harrie: meticulous about hearing this person play or seeing this masterclass, because I don't really get to do those things as much as I would like. But, obviously, my first experience at Clarinet Fest in 2006 Atlanta is my favorite, but I talked about that last time. And so, I'm just scratching my brain. I think…
Jessica Harrie: In Belgium in 2018, it was really, truly a special ending with the fireworks on the beach, with the clarinet choir playing. I just…
Jessica Harrie: taking in that moment and thinking about how truly special it is to be a part of the clarinet community and what we do, and I was working as an assistant to the director at the time, so I had been running around, like, doing a lot of the things that I do now, but for less pay. No, but it was sort of the truly…
Jessica Harrie: Beautiful encapsulation to the end of that wonderful conference, and it made me realize that The conference itself
Jessica Harrie: is special and important in so many ways for so many musicians, but the people that you meet and the cultural exchange that takes place in these different places, and it goes back to that earlier question where you were like, why are we not in the U.S. two years and then going to one international location?
Jessica Harrie: It's because we want to bring people to new places, to hear new players, and to experience what the world has to offer outside of our clarinet bubble. Because those are the memories that you carry with you. Like, that 30-hour road trip that Kathy's talking about is…
Jessica Harrie: There are moments on that road trip that will live with her forever.
Jessica Harrie: I had a similar road trip going to Atlanta with 8 of my colleagues from the University of Tennessee, where we rented a day's Inn, and stayed on two beds, and just kind of, like, used the same towels for the entire conference, and that probably was why people wouldn't get on the elevator with us.
Jay Hassler: Josh.
Jessica Harrie: Those are the reasons and the experiences that we truly want you to walk away with, and Korea more than has those… more than enough experiences that you can have at our conference, but also just in the city as you experience this wonderful, wonderful place.
Jay Hassler: Well, Jessica, let me just be the first to say.
Jay Hassler: You deserve a fresh towel every day this year, at the convention. And if it doesn't happen.
Jay Hassler: I will be on the phone, from Alaska.
Jay Hassler: You know, crushing skulls, as they say.
Jessica Harrie: You know hotels are trying to cut back on washing towels.
Jay Hassler: Josh, give me a convention memory, if you would.
Josh Goo: Yeah, I think it's interesting, because for me, it's also my first convention, and I think it's just such a testament to, like, how special Clarinet Fest is, and if you haven't been to one, you should be to one, and come as soon as you can. Jay, was Denver your first Clarinet Fest?
Jay Hassler: Yes.
Josh Goo: Yeah, Denver was also my first in 2023, and…
Josh Goo: yeah, Jay, you've been to every one since then, I've been to every one since then, and it's just because, like, you can't miss out on this experience, because it's so much fun and so special, and that was definitely one of mine, was also Julian Bliss, but just walking by him in the hall and being like.
Josh Goo: Wait.
Josh Goo: Did I just walk past Julian Bliss? Like, that's crazy. And then going into the vendor hall, and seeing people like Michael Lowenstern, and Maury Bakun, and all of these people who I know and have seen, and having them come up and be like, hey, like, you do the quick start clarinet thing, and like, oh, it's great to see you, and come try my stuff, and also having…
Josh Goo: other people there be like, oh, I've seen your videos, and it was so helpful, is really special to, again, have that in-person connection, because it's awesome having the YouTube comments and replying there, but then actually seeing somebody in person who's like.
Josh Goo: I'm here and doing this thing, and you helped me with X, Y, or Z is really, really special.
Josh Goo: And I will throw out one specific one, that just kind of came up again recently, at Denver on the jazz night, was hearing Virginia McDonald
Josh Goo: Who I didn't know at all before that.
Cathy Wood: Radio!
Josh Goo: Yeah, yeah. And she's amazing, and I'm still, to this day, like, she does this thing that's, like, it's a gliss bend thing, but sounds so much like bending a string on a guitar, or something like that, and I still, like.
Josh Goo: have not been able to figure out how to do it, but am listening to her playing all the time still to be like, man, how does she make the clarinet sound like that?
Jay Hassler: Well, let me just say… I… I was… Virginia has…
Jay Hassler: at least is living part-time in New York now. And, you know, you guys know that, like.
Jay Hassler: you know, what I'm like when I decide I want to do something. So I bugged her until she would be on the podcast with me, and then I invited myself over to her house, and I am now editing that podcast, because she has an album coming… a brand new album coming out at the end of the week that we are recording this. It will be the end of May.
Jay Hassler: And, then my podcast with her is coming out, the following Monday. And what you're talking about with that pitch bending, like, she was so, amenable and articulate in talking about…
Jay Hassler: her conception of the clarinet and where it came from, it makes all of it come out, like, it kind of makes sense, like, because there's a way that she plays the clarinet that is very, like, in the most honest version of the word, unique.
Jay Hassler: And she's able to pinpoint where that comes from. And it's super interesting, and she is an absolute delight, and
Jay Hassler: Yeah, so I'm excited to have that coming out. So…
Jay Hassler: Yeah, and it's funny, when you're talking about people recognizing you, like, to me, like, meeting people…
Jay Hassler: in person is such an interesting thing, right? Because we all have parasocial relationships with people, and they have them with us, you know, if we have an online presence. And so, like, you know, I remember I was sitting on the bus, where we were going from one place to the other in the Denver thing.
Jay Hassler: And I was going to the enthusiast warm-up, so it made sense. Michelle Anderson's on the bus, and I'm like, oh my god, that's Michelle Anderson. And it turns out she's just as nice as she seems online, right? But I'd never spoken to her. And, you know, it is, and this goes for everybody at any point
Jay Hassler: in the world, if you ever see me walking around, and you say, hey, you're the clarinet ninja.
Jay Hassler: you are my best friend. Like, I love being… the idea that I have done anything to bring anything good to anybody's life just sends me over the moon. So, like, that is something for me at ClanFest, too, that I can very much associate with.
Jay Hassler: So all that is awaiting
Jay Hassler: everybody that loves the clarinet at Clarinet Fest, and thank you to everybody that has come here to,
Jay Hassler: talk to me about this, because I, you know, I could do this myself, but it would be 4 times as hard, and 1 fourth as good, if it weren't for you. So,
Jay Hassler: Listen, if you are interested in Quick Start Clinet, I'll put that link down in the description, although they could be considered a competitor to the Clarinet Ninja Dojo, which will also be in the description. You know, Cathie Wood, do you have anything you want me to… any links you want me to put? Do you have a website I can put down there?
Cathy Wood: Oh, it's alright, no.
Jay Hassler: No, no, well, then I will. It's not alright, I'll find it whether you want me to or not.
Cathy Wood: And…
Jay Hassler: And Jessica, you know, I'm just gonna put your email down there so people can just email you every question they have. So, anyway, thanks for listening to the Clarinet Pod.
Jay Hassler: Cut
Jay Hassler: Thanks for listening to the Clinton Ninja Podcast. As always, if you are interested in getting better at the clarinet, and doing it as fast as you can, and you are an adult who's coming back or just getting started, check out the Clarinet Ninja Dojo.
Jay Hassler: Or you can check out Quick Start Clan at 2. It's very good. It's very good. Okay, and thank you, Kathy, thank you, Josh, thank you, Jessica, and we'll see you next time on the.
Cathy Wood: Thanks for having us.
Jessica Harrie: Thanks, Jay.
Josh Goo: Yeah, thanks, Jake.
Jay Hassler: Gotta hit this.
Jay Hassler: Stop. You guys are the best.
Josh Goo: Good.
Jay Hassler: Thank you for that.
