Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Archives -

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”

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”

Tag Archives: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

Grateful