The John M. Long School of Music had its 16th annual Clarinet Day where high school students were invited to learn under and play alongside experienced musicians. 

The day entailed attending master classes and practicing for an evening concert. Participants also attended concerts performed by guest musicians. 

“This year it just so happened to be my former teachers, one of my former students and other friends from this clarinet world I live in,” said Dr. Timothy Phillips, a professor of clarinet and the coordinator of Clarinet Day. 

The world that Phillips lives in is a small one, fostering connections to musicians from around the nation who visited TROY to share their passion with the young musicians. His former student, Marissa Stanfill, was special guest at the 2023 Clarinet Day. She received her undergraduate degree in music education from TROY and her master’s degree at Baylor. She is now working on her doctoral degree in Clarinet Performance at Florida State

Stanfill played a piece by TROY professor Dr. Carl Vollrath, who just turned 92 on Sunday, March 26. The specific piece she played was called “Pasttimes: II. Jewish Wedding,” which features vocalizations while blowing air into the clarinet.

Vollrath lives in Troy and has been composing music here since 1964. 

Two of the other artists were Phillips former teachers, Daniel Silver and J. David Harris. Silver is the clarinet professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder and Harris has recently retired from 30 years of being a professor at the University of Illinois. 

 A repair person from Poland who now resides in New York City, Wojtek Komsta has regularly attended Clarinet Day in the past to perform and repair instruments for TROY faculty and students and the visiting high school students. A quartet from the Air Force Academy Band from Colorado Springs also performed and taught master classes.

Phillips hopes that the students will take home the expertise they witnessed at Clarinet Day and remember the comradery that they will continue to experience if they come to Troy University.