Grateful

Posted on April 15, 2025 by singerclarinet

I have said this before but it more than deserves repeating – I did not achieve my success in life without many nurturing, loving people helping me along every step of the way.

My first motivation in music

Looking back, I remember the first girl I tried very hard to impress back in fifth grade and her name was Amarie Rockey. If she had not entered a certain talent contest at Sunny Brae Elementary School, I might have never learned any instrument and my life would have gone in a completely different direction.

Thanks, Dad

From the beginning, I gained much of my boldness from my father. I still remember my dad’s audacious phone call to Professor Jettel, then the principal clarinetist of the Vienna Philharmonic. After one minute on the phone, he asked Prof. Jettel if he would give me clarinet lessons. In baseball terms my father might as well have called Sandy Koufax, Hall of Fame Pitcher of the Los Angeles Dodgers, to teach me to become a more successful pitcher!

Rudolf Serkin

I think also of Rudolf Serkin, one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, who became the Director of the Curtis Institute of Music after my first year there. Mr. Serkin was responsible for many steps forward in my life, providing me (actually providing ALL the students at Curtis) opportunities in chamber music which for me led to the formation of the Aulos Wind Quintet – we won the Naumburg Competition in NYC. Winning the Naumburg Competition (with the Emerson Quartet, 1978) enabled us to commission John Harbison to write his now famous “Quintet.” Then came the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and eventually Grammy Awards, along with 70 recordings for Deutsche Grammophon.

Unique opportunity

Mr. Serkin also invited me to the Marlboro Music Festival where we performed and recorded a Max Reger Sonata together. Mr Serkin could have recorded with any clarinetist in the world, yet he chose me. It is difficult to imagine how I would have had the same opportunities of performing with the greatest musicians at both the Marlboro Music Festival and in NYC without Mr. Serkin’s guiding presence and influence.

Love matters

I am grateful for Barbara Greco, wife and dear friend from childhood, who brought so much love, comfort, happiness and security to my life at a time when I desperately needed it, until her passing in 2017. Today, I am so blessed to be with my wife, Barb Thorne Singer, who has been my rock in so many ways. Barb is my Go-To in all matters regarding From Cab Driver to Carnegie Hall and has been a kind and loving partner who continues to make my life and future something worth looking forward to. I strive to be as good a husband for her.

It takes a village

I also want to thank Deryn Riggs for his talents assisting and inspiring me with ideas writing my blog. With his partner, Laura Singer (my daughter!) I want to thank you both for continuing to create opportunities for me and us to reach a bigger audience. Laura, thanks also for your great work on the website!

I appreciate the time and energy that we have, with Barb and my sister, Deborah, working together on this labor of love. More about Deborah at a later time.

Space does not allow me to mention everyone who has made a difference in my life, but here is a partial list of dear friends and family who have been an inspiration and have helped me, especially emotionally, through some very tough times. These dear family and friends appear in no particular order: Ellen Faulk, Sharon Darnov, Allen Darnov, Morrie Darnov, Norman Sadofsky, Lisa Febre, Rodney Punt, Heidi Lehwalder, Hans Boepple, Arthur van Gelder, Brian Feinblum, Alexis Humes, Betty Oberacker.

David Singer

David Singer, Grammy Award-Winning Professional Musician for 55 years
Author of “From Cab Driver to Carnegie Hall“
www.singerclarinet.com
Blog updated frequently

Click here to view the last blog entry, “To find more joy, choose a passion project”

From Cab Driver to the Grammys

Posted on February 5, 2025 by singerclarinet

It is Sunday evening, February 2, 2025 and I am watching the Grammys. It makes me think of my group, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, of which I was a member for 36 years (1978 – 2014). Fact is, we won a Grammy – at the 43 rd Annual Grammy Awards in the category of Best Small Ensemble Performance for “Shadow Dances,” music of Igor Stravinsky, on February 21, 2001. I was one of the principal players on the recording. Over the years we were also nominated three different times for Grammys.

Orpheus started out (1973 – 77) performing mostly for free. In 1978 we got a big break. What I remember is that an orchestra canceled at the last minute in Carnegie Hall and we (Orpheus) were asked to substitute for them. We had been rehearsing, just in case something like that might happen, and when it did, we were ready. What a thrill it was to see and hear the stamping of seemingly thousands of feet and listening to the cheers from the audience as we took our bows. Maybe we were on to something.

As a member of Orpheus, it seemed that our career just took off after that concert. The following season, 1979/80 we went on a tour through Italy, Israel, India, Northern Europe including Vienna and Amsterdam. Deutsche Grammophon, perhaps the most prestigious classical music recording label in the world at the time signed us to a 70 CD contract and we made regular appearances in the music capitals of the world, from Tokyo to Vienna, New York to New Delhi for the next 30 plus years after that.

What is most impressive, in my opinion, is that to my knowledge, there has not been another large classical music ensemble in our country of at least 25 – 30 musicians that has gone from playing for free to reaching the very heights of the classical music world in terms of artistic accomplishment, commercial success and recognition, before or since Orpheus.

How did it happen?

In 1978, I remember meeting other musicians from Orpheus at Empire Szechuan Restaurant on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, 100th St and Broadway, around 9/10:00PM to discuss musical ideas. We ate quite a lot of cold Szechuan noodles – probably because they were the cheapest option. I also remember going over to my new colleague’s apartments, listening to their favorite recordings. I brought my favorites too. Truth is, although Orpheus continued to evolve in the years and decades to come, a lot of the talking and theorizing about how we were going to go about creating the orchestra of our dreams without conductor was pretty much in full swing by the time I joined the group. In the years ahead it wasn’t always clear how we were going to turn our ambitions, our ideas and ideals into reality, but we made it work.

It turns out that our recipe for success included: rehearsing a lot, having many great musicians in our group from the Juilliard, Curtis, Eastman Schools and others, with a little Marlboro Festival spice thrown in. That, and quite a bit of good fortune was all we needed. Today the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra is celebrating its 52nd year of making music!

You can read more about Orpheus and the musical life of NYC in the 1980’s and 90’s: Leonard Bernstein, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Andre Previn, Stockard Channing, Kathleen Battle, Yehudi Menuhin, the Marlboro Music Festival, and plenty of funny stories in my memoir, From Cab Driver to Carnegie Hall, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and most anywhere quality books are sold.

David Singer, Grammy Award-Winning Professional Musician for 55 years
Author of “From Cab Driver to Carnegie Hall“
www.singerclarinet.com
Blog updated frequently

Click here to view the last blog entry: “Goodbye, President Carter”

Taxiing Toward Success

Posted on September 16, 2024 by singerclarinet

(Chapter 2)

Yehudi Menuhin and I perform together in Carnegie Hall

A Banner Year and an Unforgettable Experience

1983 was to be a great year for me. Over the past few seasons I had received critical acclaim, including a terrific review from The New York Times written by Joseph Horowitz on December 16, 1980. In 1977 Rudolf Serkin and I recorded The Max Reger Sonata at the Marlboro Music Festival, and I was featured on several “Music From Marlboro” tours in major cities throughout the East Coast including NYC. In addition, being a principal player with an up-and-coming group, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, all had a very positive effect on the top musicians and their managers making decisions regarding who to hire for the biggest chamber music concerts in New York for the coming season. As a result, I got a call asking me to perform in a special Carnegie Hall concert with Yehudi Menuhin – recognized as one of the greatest violinists of the twentieth century – commemorating the tenth anniversary of the passing of another great violinist and legend, Joseph Szigeti. Isaac Stern, as spokesman and the Guarneri Quartet also performed on the program.

One Rehearsal

On February 19, 1983 Yehudi Menuhin and I performed Bela Bartok’s Contrasts with pianist Gyorgy Sandor. Both Menuhin and Sandor were friends and colleagues of Bela Bartok and premiered several of his pieces back in the 1940’s. In fact, Bartok wrote and dedicated important works for both Menuhin and Sandor. I was more self-conscious playing for these two champions of Bartok’s music in the one rehearsal we had together than I was at the performance the following night.

Yehudi Menuhin and My Mother

When I called my mother weeks before and told her I was to perform with Yehudi Menuhin in Carnegie Hall, right away she became very excited. She had to be there. Her sudden enthusiasm was very uncharacteristic for her at that point in her life as she had been living as a hermit and was deeply depressed, but now, suddenly, my mother had come back to life. She bought a plane ticket and flew across the country, from LA to NYC. I told Menuhin that my mother idolized him – she was an aspiring violinist at one time and went to the Mannes School of Music in NYC. When I told Menuhin she was coming to the concert he told me to be sure and introduce her to him after our performance.

Our Performance

I was so proud to walk out onto one of the most historic stages in the world with Yehudi Menuhin and Gyorgy Sandor. The walk to center stage at Carnegie Hall is very long and felt quite different from other times I had performed there with Orpheus or with other larger orchestras. Instead of looking at the conductor or my twenty or so colleagues to begin the concert, there, standing just a few feet away was a smiling Yehudi Menuhin looking right at me. It was all I could do to notice that he was bowing to the audience, packed to the rafters, and so I bowed too.

Honored by an All-Time Great

Right after our performance, Yehudi Menuhin grabbed my hand and it felt like he was about to pull it off my arm. He told me how “wonderfully musical” and “inspired” my playing was, how much fun he had playing with me and how he hoped we could play together again in the near future. It was quite a thrill!

A Highlight for My Mother

I brought my mother back stage and holding her hand walked her up to the front of the long line of people waiting to talk with Menuhin. As politely as I could, I waited for a break in the conversation and Menuhin smiled at me as I introduced him to my mom. Many admirers were vying for his attention but he only had eyes for my mother. He actually took her into a quiet room and I noticed that they sat down together. When they came out of the room some minutes later my mother was absolutely beaming. She told me later that hearing Yehudi Menuhin and me play together and speaking with him in Carnegie Hall that evening was one of the highlights of her life.

*From my memoir From Cab Driver to Carnegie Hall

Footnote

A few months after my concert in Carnegie Hall with Yehudi Menuhin I moved to Seattle with my wife, daughter and step daughter and began my short-lived career selling welding rod products.

Thank you for reading this latest chapter in my ongoing blog. If you haven’t already, feel free to sign up at the bottom of this page to be kept informed whenever a new chapter is released, and to stay on top of any and all performances coming up for me.

One exciting new event coming up this season is that I will be performing the Aaron Copland Clarinet Concerto with conductor Michael Stanley and the Burbank Philharmonic Orchestra.
Date(s) to be announced.

See you online! David

David Singer, Grammy Award-Winning Professional Musician for 55 years
Author of “From Cab Driver to Carnegie Hall“
www.singerclarinet.com
Blog updated frequently

Click here to see Taxiing Toward Success – Chapter 1