Author Archives: mgrout4Reachwalt0n
The tale of a school, a school principal and a clarinet
I want to share with you a very precious and inspiring musical story about what should happen at every school. The school is an inner city Catholic School in Christchurch. For many years Catholic Cathedral College has been suffering from a declining roll due to the changing demographic of a spreading City that is seeing […]
Some Other Things Wind Teachers Need To Know
In the course of the last two weeks I have lost track of how many instruments I have had to hurriedly fix for students so they could play in an ensemble or have their lesson. One saxophone with a key that wouldn’t close correctly was fixed with three bits of very skillfully place sticky tape. […]
Catastrophic Winds
Catastrophic Winds is an elite group made up of some of the best wind players in Sydney. Instrumentation 6 Flutes 1 Soprano Saxophone 2 Oboes 4 Alto Saxophones 9 Clarinets 2 Tenor Saxophones 2 Bass Clarinets 2 Baritone Saxophones 2 Bassoons Catastrophic Winds will play challenging repertoire, especially written or arranged for the group by […]
Christchurch School of Music Saxophone Ensemble
The CSM Saxophone Ensemble like the clarinet ensemble is made up of saxophone players of all ages who enjoy ensemble playing, fine music and good company. You would not meet a nicer group of congenial saxophone players anywhere. They rehearse on every second Thursday in Room 217 upstairs at the Christchurch Music Centre and they […]
Christchurch School of Music Clarinet Ensemble
The CSM Clarinet Ensemble is made up of clarinet players of all ages who enjoy ensemble playing, fine music and good company. They rehearse on every second Wednesday in room 217 upstairs at the Christchurch Music Centre. The ensemble gives several public concerts each year. If you are interested in joining this fun ensemble please […]
High Spirits 2
All the music on this CD was composed by Mark Walton available from AWMP Read the entertaining programme notes for this CD Wonky | sheet music audio sample Snakes Alive | sheet music sample audio Winter in the Tropics | sheet music sample audio Late Arrival into Cairns | sheet music sample audio Termites | sheet […]
Capricious
The artistry of solo playing You can listen to these audio clips: Paganini – Caprice 23 sample audio Bozza – Etude-Caprice 6 sample audio Bozza – Etude-Caprice 7 sample audio Paganini – Caprice 24a sample audio Paganini – Caprice 24b sample audio Uhl – Etude 14 sample audio Uhl – […]
High Spirits 1
Mark Walton, Clarinet & Saxophone, Iola Shelley, Piano You can listen to these audio clips, full list of tracks below: Who’s Sorry Now sample audio Hora Staccato sample audio Praeludium sample audio Allegro sample audio Adagio & Tarantella sample audio Black & White Rag sample audio Devil’s Rag sample audio Serenata sample audio Czardasz sample audio […]
Favourite Encores
Listen to these audio clips: The Flight of the Bumble Bee sample audio Stick of Liquorice sample audio Contents Clarinet Marmalade Melancholy Mood Who’s Sorry Now Saxophobia Ragtime Dance Minute Waltz Flight of the Bumble Bee Carillon Valse Vanité Little Rock Getaway Arrival of the Queen of Sheba Plaisir d’Amour Allegro by Fiocco Stick of […]
Bozza – 12 Etudes-Caprices for Solo Saxophone
You can listen to these audio clips: Caprice no.1 sample audio Caprice no.3 sample audio Caprice no.7 sample audio
Cavallini – 30 Caprices for solo Clarinet
30 Caprices are on 2 CDs – you can listen to these audio clips: Caprices nos. 1-15 Caprice no. 7 audio sample Caprice no. 12 sample audio Caprices nos. 16-30 Caprice no. 20 sample audio Caprice no.22 sample audio
Uhl 48 Etuden for Clarinet
Uhl – 48 Etudes for Clarinet (1-24) Etude no. 5 sample audio Etude no. 12 sample audio
Parisi – Studies for Saxophone 1-20
Parisi – 40 Technical and Melodious Studies 1-20 You can listen to these audio clips: Study no.15 sample audio Study no.18 sample audio Study no.21 sample audio
Ferling 48 Etudes for Saxophone
Ferling – 48 Etudes for Saxophone are on 2 CDs You can listen to these audio clips: Etudes 1-24 Etude no.10 sample audio Etude no.19 sample audio Etudes 25-48 Etude no.10 sample audio Etude no. 13 sample audio
Tracks
Recorded by the ABC Mark Walton, Clarinet & Saxophone, David Miller, Piano. You can listen to these audio clips: Rigoletto sample audio Peregi verbunk sample audio Schulhoff – Hot Sonata sample audio Bozza – Aria sample audio Bellini – Casta Diva sample audio Dubois – Sonatine sample audio Carnival of Venice sample audio Merry Go […]
The biggest new development in teaching for decades
For many years I have been teaching students in remote areas of Australia via video conferencing and some of my earliest of students have now graduated from Illustrious tertiary Music Institutions with multiple degrees. When I first embarked on this daunting task the technology was expensive, unreliable, scarce and my colleagues were justifiably skeptical. Now […]
Clarinets that have owned me
I didn’t actually want to play the clarinet as a kid growing up in New Zealand, it was the trumpet I wanted to play. However some family friends who were coming to visit us couldn’t find a cheap enough trumpet so they bought from a busker in London a terrible old clarinet that needed to […]
The Music Food Chain
As I write this article I am in the Upper Hunter Valley running workshops and visiting schools to talk to their principals about a major musical project sponsored by a coal mine which I am developing across this area. In the course of today I hosted a school concert where I explained to the kindergarten […]
Exciting times for adults at the Christchurch School of Music
My definition of an optimist is a 92 year old who goes out and buys a clarinet for himself after participating in one of my Australian summer camps for adults who have never played a musical instrument before and cannot read music. I believe passionately that it is never too late to learn. So, on […]
The Great Clarinet and Saxophone Bite
Wherever I travel giving clarinet and saxophone classes, I find that clarinet and saxophone players often make life unnecessarily difficult for themselves by biting. I need to explain exactly what I mean by biting before you get too worried because although biting is not a life-threatening situation it does in my opinion shorten one’s life […]
Back to the Grass Roots
For nearly 19 years whilst I was teaching at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music I always knew that I had the teaching job that many teachers dreamt about. I was so busy with a large teaching load at the Conservatorium I did very little teaching outside of the Conservatorium until I started working with outreach […]
Students far and wide
These days I spend my life commuting between Australia and New Zealand and in both countries I have students scattered far and wide. My students range in ability from almost complete beginners through to University students preparing for graduation recitals. My students at Auckland University seldom see me as when I am in New Zealand […]
Historic Wind Masterclass
In my last Woodwind Wisdom I wrote about the trials, tribulations and jubilations of being a schools visiting instrumental music teacher and, in contrast, I promised you that my next article would be about the classes I would be giving at the Royal College of Music in London. On May 21st musical barriers were dismantled […]
My dual music career
If I could have $1 for every time one of my senior students said to me “I don’t want to teach, I only want to play” I would be very rich! Is it the repetition of teaching that young teachers don’t like or is it the pressure from over-ambitious students’ parents? Do young teachers find […]
A very special outback orchestra
I arrived in Australia in 1985 from England and within a few months I was lucky enough to be invited out to conduct the Broken Hill Civic Orchestra. It was a truly unique experience that was so very different from anything else that I had ever done before and immediately Broken Hill captivated me, the […]
Tuning up your woodwind players
Teaching inexperienced wind players how to play in tune is not an easy task. Every instrument has its own particular quirks and of course extreme temperatures can change all known pre-conceived ideas. It is very easy for wind players to become totally used to hearing the wrong pitch of the out-of-tune notes on their instruments. […]
Instrumental Music Teaching – overcoming the negatives
As a teacher how often do you feel totally drained after having put in 150% effort with a student to be rewarded with a 10% effort from them in return? How can you give inspiring lessons week after week when your student does virtually no personal practice between lessons? How many times have you said […]
The tale of a school, a school principal and a clarinet
To start the year I want to share with you a very precious and inspiring musical story about what should happen at every school. The school is an inner city Catholic School in Christchurch . For many years Catholic Cathedral College has been suffering from a declining roll due to the changing demographic of a […]
Archive Recordings on Chalumeau Records
Clarinet Carnival Vol 1 Clarinet Carnival Volume 2 Brahms Clarinet Sonatas