Brief Clinician Biography: A master woodwind maker, François Kloc, is a graduate of the Institut Technologique Europeen des Metiers de la Musique, a European School for the instruction of musical instrument makers and technicians. François began his apprenticeships at age 15, receiving his introduction to oboe manufacturing at Mignot and Rigoutat, both in Paris. Upon completion of his apprenticeships, François worked at Bertet in Grenoble, a musical instrument retail store and in 1991, became instrument technician and final finisher for oboes at F. Loree de Gourdon in Paris. In 1995, François joined Buffet Crampon of Boosey & Hawkes and began working with Reasearch and Development Manager, René Lesieux, on innovations within the clarinet and oboe families.

In addition, he traveled to Germany to view and assess the manufacturing of bassoons and saxophones at Schreiber and Keilwerth, both companies of The Music Group.

François moved to the United States in January of 1997 to work as Woodwind Product Specialist at The Music Group Musical Instruments, Inc., the North American distributorship for The Music Group group products. He continues to be a major creative force, implementing the Platinum Service quality control program and providing effective feedback to the Buffet and Schreiber factories.

Brief Clinic Description: Tuning Principles of wood instruments. Anyone who has ever heard Francois speak knows that we are in for a very informative and entertaining clinic. Francois was given both of the morning sessions with a break during the three hours.

Brent Rosborough is Operations Manager for Jupiter Band Instruments and Ross Mallets. Prior to his promotion into this position, Brent was the Customer Service Wizard. (I. E. he took care of the repair techs) He has 18 years experience in music retail in the role of manager and owner, and has worked at Jupiter since 1997. As operations Manager, Brent deals daily with operations, packaging, design, and directly with the factories.

The topic of his clinic was quality procedures for modern band instrument factories, and continuing improvements and innovation in the field of band instrument manufacture and repair. This included innovative designs in bracing, mechanisms, and critical parts.

Dave Ferens started his career at the Allied Music Corporation, in 1975. He had the opportunity to work with some of the bet guys in every department. He worked at Allied as the Reed Department Manager before he went into the repair field as a tech. Twenty eight years later and many NAPBIRT conventions and regional clinics later he says he is still learning the business. He enjoys sharing any and all knowledge with anyone interested. Dave has recently returned to Texas and is happy to be back in the state.

Daves clinic discussed tips and tricks of the trade and was warded two CEU credits.

As has been true of most regional clinics in the past, several of the technicians arrived the afternoon before the clinics started on Saturday. We all met at American Band Instrument Service and then went to Ryan's Steak House and had a great leisurely dinner together. The discussion included everything from where our old friends are currently working to new tools for the trade. Everyone had a great time.