I wish I could have been a better clarinet player
February 11, 2007When I was growing up in Idaho about the only extra-curricular activity I did was concert band. I played the clarinet, probably not the smartest choice for somebody with asthma. I should have done percussion instead of a wind instrument. Maybe then I could have become good at it, instead of just mediocre.
I mention this because I just saw clarinet virtuoso Julian Bliss play at the Bomhard Theater this afternoon. The kid’s just 17 years old but he’s already recorded a CD with EMI, and gets to tour strange and exotic cities like Louisville, Kentucky. Well I’m sure it’s not that exotic, he may be British but he studied music not too far from here at IU.
He even has groupies. As I was leaving the theater I noticed that the line of people waiting for his autograph was almost eclusively female. In fact the only males in the line appeared to be the dads or husbands of women who were the actual autograph seekers.
While he certainly had a strong contingent of female fans, I was disappointed by the turnout overall. Bomhard is not that large a space, about 600 seat. If I was feeling charitable I’d say the place was maybe half full. In reality it was considerably less than half, I’m guessing maybe a third.
A little sad that Louisville couldn’t turn out more classical music fans for this Sunday afternoon show. We’ll fill the much larger Whitney Hall to listen to an over-blown Lord of the Rings Symphony but can’t fill tiny Bomhard for a world-class clarinet player.