Commemorating the significant influence of the renowned artist-teacher,
Sidney Forrest (1918–2013), who taught clarinet to hundreds of students
nationally and internationally while teaching at the Peabody
Conservatory for 40 years, Interlochen Center for the Arts for 45 years,
and the Catholic University of America for 50 years
Location and Eligibility
This competition will be held at the University of Maryland Clarinet
Symposium at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park,
MD on April 8, 2018. Clarinetists in high school or high school
graduates who have not yet attended college are eligible to participate.
Prizes
Grand Prize $750
2nd Prize: $250
3rd Prize: 5 boxes of DiLutis Clarinet Reeds
All finalists will earn certificates.
Application Package Deadline – January 14, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. EST
Application Package – Application Form, Fee–$25, YouTube Video Recording
(Qualifying Solo)
Repertoire
Qualifying Solo – Capriccio for Solo Clarinet by
Heinrich Sutermeister (unaccompanied for A or Bb clarinet acceptable)
Final Round Solo – Five Bagatelles by Gerald Finzi
(accompanied)
PLEASE READ THE RULES PAGE FOR DETAILS.
Sponsors
The Sidney Forrest Clarinet Competition was established in 2015 by Paula
Forrest, in memory of her father. Ms. Forrest lives in Ames, Iowa and is
active as a pianist, teacher, and artistic director of the Ames Town and
Gown Chamber Music Association.
The competition will be hosted by the University of Maryland’s Clarinet
Professor, Robert DiLutis, as a major event during Clarinet Symposium on
April 8, 2018, on the University of Maryland campus.
Sidney Forrest’s vast collection of music for clarinet has been donated
to the library of the International Clarinet Association, located in the
Music Department’s Special Collections Library at the University of
Maryland. We look forward to the collection being available shortly.
About Sidney Forrest
Born in 1918, Sidney Forrest was awarded a scholarship at a young age
from the New York Philharmonic to study with its renowned solo
clarinetist, Simeon Bellison. He subsequently studied with Bellison at
the Juilliard School, and also attended the University of Miami and
Columbia University. In addition to Bellison, he studied with Alexander
Williams, principal clarinetist of the NBC Symphony under Toscanini and
Otto Conrad, principal clarinetist of Berlin Philharmonic.
Mr. Forrest began his professional performing career in Washington, DC,
as clarinet soloist with the prestigious United States Marine Band (the
President's own) through the entirety of World War II. Immediately
afterwards, at age 26, he became principal clarinetist of the National
Symphony Orchestra, professor of clarinet at the Peabody Conservatory in
Baltimore, and established an enviable career as an acclaimed clarinet
soloist and chamber artist. Among his numerous recordings, his landmark
renditions of Berg's Four Pieces,
Weber's Gran Duo Concertante,
Hindemith's Sonata and
Mozart's Quintet in A major
(with the Galimir String Quartet), and the Brahms
Trio (with Bernard Greenhouse and Erno Balogh) are
still highly prized.
As a highly
respected teacher, Sidney Forrest was most notably professor of clarinet
at Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University from 1946 to 1985.
And for 45 summers (1959–2004) he was a member of the faculty at the
Interlochen Center for the Arts. He also taught for 50 years at the
Catholic University of America, and served on the faculty of American
University. As evidence of his success, his former students have taken
major orchestral positions in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco,
Boston, Cincinnati, Columbus, Baltimore, Memphis, Stuttgart, London, and
Paris.
Numerous solo and chamber performances took place at such venues as the
Library of Congress, the Phillips Collection, and the National Gallery
in Washington, as well as many other places throughout the country. One
very special occasion was when he performed Copland's landmark Clarinet
Concerto with the composer as conductor, at the Pan American Union in
Washington.
Mr. Forrest was
also a respected clinician/adjudicator, judging and presenting master
classes throughout this country and in Canada, and serving as a juror
for the United States Fulbright Commission. He published numerous
arrangements of music for the clarinet, and regularly contributed of
articles for various woodwind journals. He was actively teaching until
his death just before his 95th birthday.