The highlight of the evening will be the presentation of a book to Kal and Louise, containing photos and best wishes from people who have had the

good fortune to know them through the years.

We hope you will take a few minutes to write something to add to the book.  If you'd like to write a letter or note, please send it to:

John Hamann
4931 N Dixie Highway
Boca Raton, FL  33431

If you would rather send an email that's OK too: we will print out your email and include it in the book.

Photos would be really great; if you have some you would like to share, please send them to us and we will copy them and return them to you.  

Or, you can have your photos scanned at your local Kinko's and then send the images to us electronically.  We will print them and add them to

the book.  Please have your materials to us no later than November 15 so we can include them in the book.

 

PLEASE SPREAD THIS EMAIL

We are trying to get the word out to as many people as possible, so please forward this email to anyone you think might be interested in attending,

or anyone whom you believe would want to send an email or note of best wishes to Kal and Louise.

If you are willing to so, please send us the email addresses of anyone you think might have an interest in this special event, so we can add their

names to the contact list we are building.

Thanks so much,

Richard Stoltzman and John Hamann

MASTER CLARINETIST, TEACHER, COMPOSER AND AUTHOR KALMEN OPPERMAN IS CELEBRATED ON

THE  OCCASION OF HIS 90^TH BIRTHDAY AT WEILL RECITAL HALL AT CARNEGIE HALL, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2009, 8 P.M.

 STUDENTS AND FRIENDS OF KALMEN OPPERMAN PAY TRIBUTE TO THEIR MENTOR WITH AN EVENING OF

MUSIC HOSTED BY FAMED CLARINETIST RICHARD STOLTZMAN

 

“Great artists may get the spotlight, but the greatest teachers deserve the accolades and rarely receive a thank you, let alone a standing ovation,” says Richard Stoltzman,

famed clarinetist and the evening’s host, who remains a student of Kalmen Opperman.

 

“The one-to-one relationship of teacher to student in music is perhaps more intense and life changing than that of parents and yet an artist’s bio may rarely mention teachers.

 

“Kalmen Opperman has been my teacher since 1967.  After 40 years, I am still his student.  He is the complete master of the clarinet in all of its aspects - physical,

psychological, tonal, and technical.  His lineage flows from Simeon Bellison, former principal of New York Philharmonic, through Prosper Mimart, Debussy’s

chosen clarinetist, to Ralph McLane, former principal of The Philadelphia Orchestra.

 

“He has held an unwavering torch of truth for honesty, beauty, and discipline on the clarinet, and in life.  His dedication to each of his students is absolute, his judgment is

fierce and his life is a testament to commitment. I invite all who wish to honor the life of a great clarinetist and teacher to join us.”

 

The students and friends of Kalmen Opperman will pay tribute to their teacher with a concert in honor of his 90^th birthday on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at 8 P.M. at

Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

            The evening will be hosted by world-renowned clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, who will also perform, and will feature performances by Adam Ebert, Joel Rubin,

Alex Bedenko, Orlando Tognozzi, Paul Neubauer, Fred Sherry, Mika Yoshida, and the Kalmen Opperman Clarinet Choir. In addition, students of Opperman’s from as

far away as China may attend, as well as special guests including members of the New York Kammermusiker Double Reed Society. 

 

          The evening’s program will feature music composed, arranged, transcribed and edited by Kalmen Opperman using mouthpieces and equipment of his design.

 

          Tickets for the December 1 event are $15 and available online at www.carnegiehall.org, or by telephone at Carnegie Charge: (212) 247-7800, or by visiting the

Carnegie Hall Box Office: 57th Street and Seventh Avenue.

 

The program is as follows:

 

 About Kalmen Opperman (From his website)

 

              Born in 1919 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City and raised in Spring Valley in upstate New York, Kalmen Opperman’s introduction to the clarinet

came at the age of ten when his father, an artist and flutist from Vienna, became his first teacher. As a teenager, he studied with Simeon Bellison, principal clarinetist of the

New York Philharmonic. By the age of 19, he had enlisted in the army, joining the West Point Band, and shortly thereafter began an intensive six-year period of study with

Ralph McLane.

 

            After being discharged from the Army, he began a career that would span more than 50 years playing in the orchestras of Broadway musicals. Opperman was also principal

clarinetist of the American Ballet Theatre, Ballet de Paris, Ukrainian Folk Ballet and played in commercials on radio and television.

 

           In 1952, he published his first volume of Modern Daily Studies for Clarinet, followed by volumes two and three. In 1956, he completed the Handbook for Making and

Adjusting Single Reeds, the first authoritative book on clarinet reed-making, and in 1960, his Repertory of the Clarinet was published by Ricordi (Italy).

 

About Richard Stoltzman, Host and Clarinetist

 

           Clarinetist Richard Stoltzman's virtuosity, musicianship and sheer personal magnetism have made this two-time Grammy® Award winner one of today's most sought-after

concert artists. As soloist with more than 100 orchestras, as a captivating recitalist and chamber musician (performing the first clarinet recitals in the histories of both the

Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall), and as an innovative jazz artist, Stoltzman has defied categorization, dazzling critics and audiences alike while bringing the clarinet to the

forefront as a solo instrument. A prolific recording artist, Stoltzman can be heard on Parma Recordings, BMG/RCA, SONY Classical, MMC, NAXOS and other labels. His

recordings include the Grammy® winning recordings of Brahms' sonatas with Richard Goode; the trios of Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart with Emanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma;

and Hartke’s “Landscapes with Blues,” a New York Times “Best of 2003.”

 

Copyright © 1999 WKA-Clarinet.org. All rights reserved.
Revised: November 26, 2009