Performer Blogs@Sequenza21.com

David H. Thomas has been an orchestral clarinetist for 25 years. Additionally, he is also an experienced soloist, with numerous critically acclaimed performances.

Starting his performing career directly after undergraduate studies, he won a position with the Greensboro Symphony in 1982. The next year he was offered the principal position of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra in Washington, DC. The grueling demands of opera and ballet repertoire honed his skills as a versatile player. In 1989, he won the principal clarinet position of the Columbus Symphony in Ohio.

A noted orchestra among several giants in Ohio, the Columbus Symphony had its Carnegie Hall debut in 2001. The review was glowing.

For the past 16 years David has impressed audiences with his music making, both as orchestral and solo performer. Columbus Dispatch chief critic Barbara Zuck offered these comments in a 1994 review of Thomas' rendition of Rossini's Introduction, Theme and Variations:

"Thomas, ...has steadily grown in stature and confidence. Even so, I'm not sure anyone was prepared for the absolutely bravura display of virtuosity Thomas delivered last night. Who would have expected him to emerge as the clarinet equivalent of Cecilia Bartoli? I don't recall a bigger or better reception for any artist, anywhere."

From an April 30, 2005 review of the CSO in a concert of opera overtures and tenor arias, Zuck noted: "(Thomas) had as many great lines as the singer, and his brilliant performances once again reminded us how his playing has spoiled us over the years."


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7/02/2005
Jazz yoga

I don't improvise. I never did it growing up, except to play a little blues improvisation at a bar with an open mike, when very drunk. My friends made me do it. I don't remember how I did.

We often play jazzy tunes for the summer pops. Any arrangements for the orchestra which include jazz or Dixie solos usually have something for the clarinet. And usually they're written out solos. Even thought I'm not really improvising, I fiddle around a bit, add a few notes, "fake" a little.

This week we are featuring the Columbus Jazz Orchestra led by Byron Stripling, who is a fantastic trumpeter, singer, scatter and band leader.

We're playing several arrangements for his group with the orchestra blended into the arrangement. So we get to swing along with them.

Playing jazzy solos and arrangements loosens me up. The rhythm is looser, the notes are looser. My mouth, jaw, and body go with it, rather than trying to control the phrase.

Overall, I think it improves my playing. If I take the same physical approach when playing classical, I feel more in touch with the instrument, more in touch with my air.

Maybe I just have to start playing along with some good jazz CD's to keep this good "flow" going! (at home, maybe after a drink, maybe two)