Timely reflections on the career of Dr. Alan Woy by Julie DeRoche
Dr. Alan Woy, clarinet professor at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam in New York
Traveling for Leblanc and Conn-Selmer as I do, I have been able to work with so many fine students and have met many great teachers. I've always admired good teaching, and I enjoy seeing the special relationship that develops between a beloved teacher and his or her many students.
On one of my trips last year, I met and came to know such a teacher, Dr. Alan Woy, clarinet professor at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam in New York. I presented a master class for Dr. Woy's students, and later spent some casual time talking with them along with Dr. Woy. All of them were gracious, hard working, enthusiastic and simply nice.
Later, Dr. Woy traveled to the Leblanc factory in Kenosha to try clarinets. Just prior to that, we'd had a visit from three of his students. After getting to know them even better during their visit, it seemed a good idea to talk with Dr. Woy about the clarinet and teaching, as well as the fine program at the Crane School.
Julie DeRoche: First, tell us about yourself. What is your background? For example, where did you grow up, go to school and so on?
Alan Woy: I grew up in Chicago. I was born on the South Side in 1945 and then lived in Lake Bluff until I graduated from Lake Forest High School when I was 18.
Both my parents were from Chicago. My father played in the Austin High School band and sat in the same first-clarinet section with Benny Goodman. Following high school, he played professionally in a nightclub band in Chicago and at Wisconsin summer resorts. He also played in Bachman's Million Dollar Band and in the Chicago Businessman's Orchestra.
Later he married and started working for the American Can Company. My mother went to DePaul University and then studied art for several years at the Chicago Art Institute. Prior to marrying my dad, she was a staff artist in the advertising department of the downtown Marshall Field's store.
JD: Wow, let's back up to your father's early connection with Benny Goodman. Did your dad tell any good Benny Goodman stories?
AW: I can't add much that's personal. At that time, the mid-to-late 1920s, the Austin High School band was really an ROTC band. The school didn't have its own music program back then. According to my dad, you had to have studied with a major clarinet player or teacher in the Chicago area for two years before you were admitted into the band. The band was very large, approximately 150 members, and predominantly male.
Benny Goodman was a senior when my dad was a freshman, and I don't think they were close, but my dad did have a great deal of respect for him as a clarinet player. A number of prominent players in Goodman's famous band also came from Austin. They were all known as the Austin High Gang and comprised the nucleus of Goodman's band.
JD: What was your primary music education like? At what age did you begin playing clarinet, why did you choose clarinet, and how did you progress through school?
AW: Both my elementary and junior high schools had vocal music programs, but not much in the instrumental area. I remember going to a few band lessons in the fifth grade, but at that time I found baseball much more interesting. I tried clarinet again briefly in the junior high school orchestra. Again music lost out to baseball.
When I got to high school as a freshman, I noticed that band was on my class schedule. I found out later that the high school guidance counselor had signed me up after noticing that I had played in the junior high orchestra. Initially I wasn't too happy about this. However, I found out that the high school had a large band and that it even had a band room complete with practice rooms. I also found out that the band director played clarinet in the local community orchestra with my dad, so I decided I'd better leave band on my schedule. I started as last chair in the clarinet section, but this time the band experience was exciting and challenging.
After many years of not playing at all, Dad was getting back to clarinet playing and we began an every-night ritual of playing duets. I really learned how to play the clarinet using my dad as a model. He didn't actually teach me in any kind of structured process. If I wanted or needed to know anything, I simply asked. He would tell me what I needed to know, and we went right back to playing. We talked extensively about clarinet playing, about clarinet players and about music.
He began bringing home recordings and music for me to see and listen to. I really started to practice because I thought that pieces such as the Mozart concerto, the Brahms sonatas and Stravinsky's Three Pieces were really wonderful. Before I could play them, I knew what they sounded like. They got into my head because I listened to recordings constantly. I continued working on them until I could play them. So far I hadn't had any formal clarinet lessons. I just listened a lot, paid attention to what Dad was doing and how he sounded, and practiced a lot.
And I was still playing baseball locally and wrestling on the high school team.
JD: When and how did you make the decision to go into the field of music?
AW: I first thought of going to music school around my junior year. Music was actually beginning to eclipse my interest in sports. Even though there were a couple of universities interested in me as a wrestler, I felt that music was a better long-term route.
JD: What degrees do you have, and where did you get them?
AW: I earned my bachelor's degree in music performance from Illinois Wesleyan University, where I studied with John McGrosso. He was my first "real" clarinet teacher. He was a patient and supportive teacher who spent a lot of time systematically developing all of the basic fundamentals. It was perfect for me at the time.
The music department at Wesleyan was small, so one could perform with virtually no restrictions. I hooked up with a marvelous pianist, and we performed seven full recitals during my undergraduate years.
My master's and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees were earned at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where I had a fantastic experience. As graduate students in performance, we were expected to play in everything. Over the years that included symphonic band, wind ensemble, orchestra, chamber orchestra, operas, musicals, contemporary music, woodwind quintet, chamber music and, of course, recitals. The expectation was to learn fast, rehearse efficiently and perform artistically.
JD: Many students have a hard time knowing which college to choose. How did you make a college choice, and what do you tell students to look for in a college and/or degree program?
AW: I felt completely happy as a student in college. I was doing exactly what I wanted to do — studying music and clarinet, practicing, rehearsing and performing. Choosing a college involves looking at a number of different factors — the faculty (especially the teacher in your area, with whom you'll want to make a close connection), curriculum and programs, and the school itself.
College should be a reasonable challenge whereby you are good enough to be there as a freshman, but find yourself in the company of many better, older players. You shouldn't be starting out as the best or the worst player there. You will want to work to end up as one of the best players. The success of the experience depends on the connection established with the studio teacher and the school.
JD: How did you end up at the Crane School?
AW: I came to the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam in 1971 as a one-year sabbatical replacement. A timely retirement the following year enabled me to stay on for 32 more years.
JD: I am more optimistic than some about the possibility of a professional career in music. I feel that as long as your goals are not completely narrow, there is a way to make yourself succeed. How do you feel about this, and how do you advise your students concerning career goals?
AW: I agree completely. It's good to have goals, but also important to have a Plan B. You have to make your goals and your abilities match up with each other. I have former students who teach in colleges, public schools and privately. Many of them have found ways to keep playing clarinet — in professional orchestras, civic orchestras and bands, in jazz groups, on cruise ships. There's a way if you keep your options open and work at it.
JD: When I met your students, I found them to be enthusiastic, polite and eager to learn. And they supported each other very nicely. This attitude often begins with the faculty. Tell me about Crane. How do you and the other faculty members approach studio building, attitude molding and training students to be professionals?
AW: You could write a dissertation on this question! I feel that initially a good teacher will assume a large portion of the responsibility for teaching and learning. As students progress, they must assume more and more of the responsibility so that, by graduation, they are independent and in control of their artistic life.
When we as teachers tell our students every single thing they should do musically, we don't allow them to take on responsibility. Students really start to improve when they are able to make good value judgments about their own playing. The students in my clarinet major class provide written and verbal critiques of the performances they hear every week. It's important for them to practice making good musical value judgments and to be able to provide positive criticism.
I also feel that the student's work ethic is one of the most important components to future success. Hard work rarely goes completely unrewarded. The luckiest people are those who are prepared for success when opportunity arises.
JD: Now for a completely different question. What is it like to live in such a cold and snowy climate? And in a town that to me seemed — shall we say — at least a little out of the way?
AW: Here's a description of Potsdam's location: "On the map of nowhere, we're in the middle." Or you could call us "centrally isolated." There are many interesting places all around us; you just have to work to get there. And it isn't always cold — there are a few hot weeks in the summer. Seriously, it has been a very busy and rewarding place to live and work.
JD: Do you have problems with wood instruments in such a climate? What do you do to help prevent cracks?
AW: Yes, it does get intensely cold and very dry in the middle of winter. Every clarinet I played in Potsdam eventually cracked. That's one thing that interested me about Leblanc clarinets. I had heard good things about them, and several instrument-repair people told me that they don't pin very many Leblancs. You certainly have to be careful to take routine precautions — don't let your clarinet get too cold, oil it and so forth.
JD: Many of our readers enjoy hearing ideas for teaching the basics of clarinet playing, such as technique development, rhythm training, clarinet embouchure, tonguing, etc. Please take a few moments to describe one or two of your most effective ideas, whether technical or more general.
AW: We clarinet players should approach practice the way an athletes exercise. They build strength so that they can be stronger than their opponents. We practice fundamentals to gain strength so that we can have control in our playing. For example, long tones played for five minutes daily will help build embouchure strength and control of tone quality and intonation.
Recently one of my former students, Dr. Linda Cionitti of Georgia Southern University, shared with me a simple two-measure tonguing exercise on open G that she had come across. This exercise (in 4/4 time: four sixteenth notes and a quarter note, four sixteenth notes and a quarter note, bar line, 12 sixteenth notes and a quarter note, repeat sign), when played continuously for ten minutes — or as long as you can stand it — will build tonguing strength. I noticed improvement in my own tonguing within a few weeks.
Scale and chord exercises in the J. B. Albert book can be practiced daily to build finger strength and control. Practice should not just be about learning your part for an upcoming performance. It should also be about regular strength training in all the fundamentals. As with exercise for an athlete, practice has to happen daily to result in increased strength.
JD: I completely agree. So much of our practice is intended to train muscles that allow us to use our well-controlled playing to create good music. In the same way, performing on high-quality clarinets gives us yet another tool for making music. The combination of good training and good equipment allows us to continually achieve higher levels.
You were in Kenosha recently, and not only did you try a good many clarinets, but you showed a great deal of interest in the factory itself. You made some interesting observations about the factory, the instruments and your experience. Please share some of your thoughts about your visit and the clarinets you played.
AW: My recent trip to Kenosha was my first-ever visit to a clarinet factory. It wasn't what I expected. The factory itself is very modern, well lit, clean, organized, compact and friendly. I was interested to learn that 70 percent of the employees are women. Their expertise was impressive.
I went to the factory to pick out a set of clarinets for both me and my wife. What impressed me most about the clarinets I tried was their consistency. This made the selection process difficult. It boiled down to a comparison of minor details. I like these clarinets because of the tonal consistency throughout the range, the clarity and focus of the throat tones, their great intonation and their quick and responsive mechanisms. My colleagues have noticed a positive difference in my playing.
JD: You are retiring this year from your full-time university positions, although I know you will continue to teach students at Crane. Recently your students, both present and former, presented a concert in your honor to celebrate your career. This must have been a wonderful night. How do you feel about retirement? May I ask your plans for the future?
AW: I'm looking forward to retirement primarily as a chance to have more time for some of my own projects — a clarinet quartet project, guest performances and conducting engagements — and I look forward to more practice time. As I get older, I still believe I can improve. I'll continue to play in my usual venues — orchestra, wind ensemble and clarinet quartet. And I'll continue to have a few students. I also hope to spend more time at my hobby of self-propulsion — hiking, running, canoeing, kayaking and biking.
The tribute recital presented by my current and former students was an amazing and unforgettable evening — certainly one of the biggest highlights of my life. People stopped their busy lives to come from all over the country and perform individually and together. Listening to a 60-piece clarinet choir is a pretty amazing experience. I was overwhelmed and so proud of them and all their accomplishments. I'm looking forward to performing "Yellow Jersey," a clarinet duet by Libby Larsen that they commissioned as a gift for me.
Julie DeRoche, associate professor of clarinet and coordinator of winds at DePaul University, Chicago, also serves as director of performance education for the Leblanc division of Conn-Selmer, Inc.
