Bill Cahn Presents Clinic at University of Kansas - Lawrence
On Monday February 12, 2007 Bill Cahn, as guest artist/clinician, presented a workshop/masterclass titled “The Orchestral Snare Drum” at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas hosted by Prof. Kevin Bobo. In attendance for the 5:00 pm session were approximately forty participants - students from the University and from the Lawrence community.
In the first part of the session Bill Cahn presented fundamental concepts of snare drum performance - having a relaxed playing position, setting up the snare drum, producing a good concert sound, and getting an even concert roll.
In part two, Bill Cahn responded to three UK students performances. One student played the Delecluse Etude No.7 from “Douze Etudes” followed by a discussion on the interpretation of the roll notation and the options for playing the notated grace-notes - ‘open’ and ‘closed’ styles. The second student played an excerpt from the orchestral repertoire - the snare drum part to “Lt’ Kije” by Prokofiev. This sparked an exchange of ideas on options available to the performer in realizing the notated grace-notes, getting an even sound, and the range of possibilities for the notated dynamics. The third student played the Delecluse Etude No.6 from “Douze Etudes” and there was further discussion on the execution of the contiguous accented rolls.
Recognition was given to Vic Firth Inc. for its generous support, and product handouts which were distributed along with a number of door prizes.
