Hi. My name is Alex Ernenwein and I've been playing the clarinet in orchestras, studios and chamber groups for over 30 years now. In an effort to get more clarinet music played in Southern California, I started the Clarinet Institute.
At first, it was lots of fun. I made business cards and started handing them out to musicians. Every time I'd play a job, I'd hand out the cards. People started calling me. I soon realized that if I was going to have an institute then this institute had better do something.
Things got busy fast. I had a day-job and then students in the afternoons. Evenings were for music jobs and orchestras. I started promoting the Clarinet Institute as a place for clarinet players to come together and play lots and lots and lots of chamber music. We started giving concerts in my garage for the local neighborhood. Then we moved to other outdoor public venues.
With a little bit of time on my hands, I got to start doing what I really love.... writing and arranging music for clarinets. Throughout my clarinet career I kept coming across music either edited or arranged by Himie Voxman. I always wondered who he was and what his story was. With the internet, now everyone can know about him. Some people dream of fame, fortune or power. I dreamed about being a famous clarinet music arranger!
I've arranged hundreds of works for all sorts of instruments. I really enjoy it. I've learned so much about music performance of every instrument. It's the kind of learning you can't get from a book.
We now have up a problem that was totally unexpected when I started this whole thing. The Clarinet Institute was no longer just about clarinets. Our get-togethers and concerts included all sorts of musicians on every kind of instrument. Our archives cover a huge assortment of instruments and ensembles. We've really outgrown the name "Clarinet Institute." We are kind of like the March of Dimes. Inflation has made dimes less relevant, but everyone knows the name. We decided to keep the Clarinet Institute name for the same reason.
With a little bit of time on my hands, I got to start doing what I really love.... writing and arranging music for clarinets. Throughout my clarinet career I kept coming across music either edited or arranged by Himie Voxman. I always wondered who he was and what his story was. With the internet, now everyone can know about him. Some people dream of fame, fortune or power. I dreamed about being a famous clarinet music arranger!
I've arranged hundreds of works for all sorts of instruments. I really enjoy it. I've learned so much about music performance of every instrument. It's the kind of learning you can't get from a book.
We now have up a problem that was totally unexpected when I started this whole thing. The Clarinet Institute was no longer just about clarinets. Our get-togethers and concerts included all sorts of musicians on every kind of instrument. Our archives cover a huge assortment of instruments and ensembles. We've really outgrown the name "Clarinet Institute." We are kind of like the March of Dimes. Inflation has made dimes less relevant, but everyone knows the name. We decided to keep the Clarinet Institute name for the same reason.
If you live in Southern California and would like to play solo and chamber music with other clarinet players..... click here. We meet regularly throughout the year. It is a casual atmosphere and lots of fun!
Keep in touch and let me know how you like and use this service. The Clarinet Institute is a completely profitless organization. The feedback I get from clarinet players around the world makes this project worthwhile! Click here to send an email.
Send In Your Old Music
Do you have any old music for clarinet, other woodwinds or brass? If the copyright date is before 1933 (or it has no copyright date at all) it is probably out of print and lost to the music community. There are thousands of these works sitting in boxes all over the world. You can save these works and do your part to expand the growing clarinet repertoire. If you have a scanner, scan the music and save it either in .tif or .pdf format. Then email it to me. I'll check the copyright information and, if it is out of copyright, I will post it.
When scanning the music, don't use the "color" or "256 shades of gray" settings. While they do make beautiful scans, those settings create huge files. Instead, set your scanner software to the "black and white" or "b/w" setting with at least 250 dpi. That will create a good scan and a small file size. If you have any questions, please email me and I'll walk you through the process. Always check your spam folder. My emails seem to end up there a lot!
Composers! We Love Composers!
If you write music and want a wider audience, feel free to email us. Send in your music in PDF format. We love to post music of modern composers. Besides merely archiving music, one of our goals is to get new music into as many hands as possible. There is a lot of exciting new music being written every day. We want you to find that music and we want composers to get their music found!
Keep in touch and let me know how you like and use this service. The Clarinet Institute is a completely profitless organization. The feedback I get from clarinet players around the world makes this project worthwhile! Click here to send an email.
Send In Your Old Music
Do you have any old music for clarinet, other woodwinds or brass? If the copyright date is before 1933 (or it has no copyright date at all) it is probably out of print and lost to the music community. There are thousands of these works sitting in boxes all over the world. You can save these works and do your part to expand the growing clarinet repertoire. If you have a scanner, scan the music and save it either in .tif or .pdf format. Then email it to me. I'll check the copyright information and, if it is out of copyright, I will post it.
When scanning the music, don't use the "color" or "256 shades of gray" settings. While they do make beautiful scans, those settings create huge files. Instead, set your scanner software to the "black and white" or "b/w" setting with at least 250 dpi. That will create a good scan and a small file size. If you have any questions, please email me and I'll walk you through the process. Always check your spam folder. My emails seem to end up there a lot!
Composers! We Love Composers!
If you write music and want a wider audience, feel free to email us. Send in your music in PDF format. We love to post music of modern composers. Besides merely archiving music, one of our goals is to get new music into as many hands as possible. There is a lot of exciting new music being written every day. We want you to find that music and we want composers to get their music found!