Boston Conservatory at Berklee is pleased to host its inaugural Single Reed Weekend, a two-day celebration of musical artistry and innovation that all single-reed musicians and music lovers are invited to join.
In addition, the Conservatory will host a special solo clarinet competition for prospective undergraduate and graduate students, offering a chance to win a full-tuition scholarship to Boston Conservatory for the entire duration of their program. Learn more below.
Single Reed Weekend is presented through Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s Artistry in Action series, which celebrates exceptional artists and initiatives that exemplify Boston Conservatory’s core values of excellence, innovation, and community engagement. All Single Reed Weekend events are free, but registration is required for the master classes and clarinet competition—register here.
Professor, Colburn School for the Performing Arts Professor, USC Thornton School of Music
Yehuda Gilad is a renowned teacher, instrumentalist, and conductor who has earned numerous honors and awards throughout his career, including the Distinguished Teacher Award from the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars, the Ramo Award, and USC’s highest honor for excellence in teaching. In addition, he was named one of Musical America’s 2015 Professional Influencers of the Year. Gilad is the founder of the Yoav Chamber Ensemble and the Colburn Woodwind Chamber Players, and is a founding member of the Colburn School Conservatory of Music, where he currently serves as music director of the Colburn Orchestra and professor of Clarinet for the Colburn Conservatory, the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts, and the Colburn Music Academy. Learn more about Gilad here.
Tibi Cziger is artistic director and founder of the award-winning Israeli Chamber Project. Cited as an “exciting soloist” by the New York Times, Cziger is a passionate soloist and a sought-after chamber musician. He has appeared as a soloist with the Tivoli Symphony Orchestra in Copenhagen, iPalpiti String Orchestra at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic, among others, and served as the principal clarinetist of the Israeli Camerata Orchestra and coprincipal at the Norwegian Radio Orchestra. A winner of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarships, Cziger serves on the faculty of the Buchman-Mehta School of Music (Tel Aviv University), the Israeli Conservatory, and the Jerusalem Music Center. Learn more about Cziger here.
Jonathan Hulting-Cohen
Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Classical saxophonist Jonathan Hulting-Cohen’s performances as a soloist and chamber musician have been praised as “adroit” (ModernJazz.org), “impressive,” (Schenectady Daily Gazette), and “fun to watch” (Oregon Arts Watch). He has performed with Philadelphia Classical Symphony, the Adrian Symphony Orchestra (MI), Sequoia Symphony Orchestra (CA), and the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, among others. In recitals, he performs traditional and contemporary repertoire and enjoys a vibrant chamber music career, having performed at Chamber Music Northwest and at Carnegie Hall in the 21st Century Ensemble. He is cofounder of The Moanin’ Frogs, an internationally recognizedsaxophone sextet, as well as the Admiral Launch Duo, who commissioned and premiered 10 new works for harp and saxophone nationwide, and released their debut album, Launch, on Albany Records in 2018. He recorded the saxophone quartets of Emily Koh with New Thread Quartet in 2020 (innova Recordings), and joined the group in 2022. Learn more about Hulting-Cohen here.
YaoGuang Zhai
Principal Clarinet, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Professor, Boston Conservatory at Berklee
YaoGuang Zhai is principal clarinet with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and a professor at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Prior to that, he was associate principal clarinet of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and served as principal clarinet of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Long Yu. YaoGuang has been praised for delivering “the most beautiful lyrical playing” (the Boston Globe) and performing with “mesmerizing grace” (Toronto Star). He has won several competitions and awards, including the Hellam Competition, the Aspen Music Festival Concerto Competition, the Blount-Slawson Young Artists Competition, the Spotlight Award, and the Pacific Symphony Concerto Competition. Learn more about Zhai here.
Jan Halloran
Principal Clarinet, Boston Lyric Opera Professor, Boston Conservatory at Berklee
Jan Halloran is principal clarinet with Boston Lyric Opera and is a professor at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. She performs regularly with Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Odyssey Opera, Boston Philharmonic, Emmanuel Music, and the Portland Symphony Orchestra, where she has been a company member since 1993. Halloran is a founding member of the New England Reed Trio, with whom she performed, recorded, and commissioned dozens of new works for oboe, clarinet, and bassoon as part of their mission to enhance and share reed trio repertoire. Learn more about Halloran here.
Philipp Stäudlin
Associate Professor, Boston Conservatory at Berklee
Philipp Stäudlin is an award-winning virtuoso saxophonist who has performed hundreds of concerts throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. He has appeared as a soloist with the Sinfonieorchester Basel, Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), Sound Icon ensemble, White Rabbit Ensemble, Niederrheinische Sinfoniker, Callithumpian Consort, Bielefelder Philharmoniker, Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, Tufts University Orchestra, Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, the Providence Singers, and more. Stäudlin is an associate professor at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where he teaches in the woodwind and contemporary classical music programs. Learn more about Stäudlin here.
Matthew Marsit
Chair of Instrumental Studies, Boston Conservatory at Berklee
Matthew Marsit is an active conductor and clarinetist who has led acclaimed ensembles and performed as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician throughout the United States. He is chair of instrumental studies at Boston Conservatory and serves as artistic director of the Charles River Wind Ensemble. A champion for new music and advancing the wind ensemble repertoire, Marsit has led premiere performances of works by Christopher Marshall, Louis Andriessen, Daniel Basford, Christopher Theofanidis, Richard Marriott, Michael Gandolfi, Matthew Herman, Edward Green, and Thomas Miller, among others. In addition, he has spearheaded educational outreach work, leading ensembles on service missions that collect and donate instruments to schools, and give concerts and workshops to struggling arts programs. Learn more about Marsit here.
Solo Clarinet Competition (Grand Prize: Full-Tuition Scholarship)
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Single Reed Weekend’s solo clarinet competition is for prospective undergraduate and graduate students. The grand prize is a full-tuition scholarship to Boston Conservatory, covering the entire duration of their chosen program. Please note that scholarships are valid only upon full admission to Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
Interested Participants
Interested participants must meet the following criteria:
They must be eligible to enroll in a degree or diploma program at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, beginning in fall 2023.
They must have a completed online application on file for Boston Conservatory at Berklee prior to the competition finals on October 17, 2022. Boston Conservatory's application is open as of August 1—Learn more about how to apply and get started here.
They must submit a link to an unedited pre-screen video recording (with or without accompaniment) through this registration form, no later than September 15, 2022, meeting the following requirements:
one movement from a concerto of the applicant’s choice that is minimum of six minutes and a maximum of 15 minutes in length (memorization is not required);
video recordings must be recorded after January 1, 2022;
video should be captured facing the artist with a clear view of the player and instrument; and
all submissions must be captured in a single take and unedited.
Selected Finalists
Finalists will be notified by September 23, 2022 with an invitation to perform in the live round of the competition on Saturday, October 15, 2022. Accompaniment and rehearsal time will be provided to finalists on Saturday, October 15.
For this live competition round, finalists must perform:
their selected concerto movement, plus
one other solo work from any musical genre or cultural background about which they are passionate as an artist. This may include original works or arrangements by the applicant or any other selection from the repertoire. As part of Boston Conservatory’s mission to advance diversity and inclusion in all forms, we strongly suggest that one or more of your selections be written by a composer from an underrepresented group(s), such as, but not limited to, works by Asian, BIPOC, Latinx, LGBTQ+, and women composers, or other underrepresented identities. Please note: Solo work selection can include unaccompanied works if preferred.
Any other questions can be emailed to Matthew Marsit at mmarsit@berklee.edu.
Weekend Event Schedule
Saturday, October 15, 2022
Event Registration 9:00 a.m. Lobby, 8 Fenway
Exhibit Hall Opens 9:00 a.m. 8 Fenway, Seully Hall—Floor 4
