Tom Ridenour - Thursday, March 3, 2005

In addition to the clarinet clinic held at our store on the above date, Tom Ridenour also held three clinics in local school band halls. This is the second time that we have invited Mr. Ridenour to our area and we are proud to be one of his sponsors. There is no doubt that all of the musicians attending both enjoyed were enlightened.

Tom Ridenour, a native of Kentucky, received his Bachelor's Degree in performance from Murray State University and his Master's degree in clarinet performance from Yale University.

He taught for more than a decade at Wesleyan University, Hartt College, and the University of Connecticut. He also was active as a chamber musician, soloist and recording artist in the New York, New England area. In 1984 Tom gave the North American premiere of Robert Muczynski's Time Pieces for clarinet and piano.

He served as manager of the Woodwind Company at Leblanc Corp. where he participated in a number of activities, including the creation of new products, clarinet design, giving educational work shops, and working with artists. In 1997 Tom moved his family to Duncanville, Texas where he resumed his work in Ridenour Clarinet Products, specializing in artist hand made mouthpieces and clarinet acoustical and mechanical work.

Tom has lectured, performed and presented workshops and master classes all over North America. He has written extensively on virtually every aspect of the clarinet. His book, Clarinet Fingerings: A Guide for the Performer and Educator has sold continuously for almost two decades and is widely regarded as the standard reference on the subject. Tom has also written the first complete pedagogy of the clarinet in the instrument's history; The Educator's Guide to the Clarinet, and his new book, The Definitive Guide to Successful Reed Finishing presents a completely revolutionary new and easy method for fine balancing reeds, making the ability to finish reeds accessible to players of all levels of development. Tom seeks to combine his skills as an artist, educator, acoustician and technician to create a complete approach to clarinetistry.

Mr. Ridenour appears courtesy of Arioso Musical Instruments.