“Michele Zukovsky, principal clarinetist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic who has played with the orchestra for more than five decades, will retire in December,” writes David Ng in Thursday’s (7/9) Los Angeles Times. “Her last concert with the L.A. Phil is Dec. 20…. Zukovsky joined the L.A. Phil in 1961 when she was in her late teens and often played alongside her father, the late clarinetist Kalman Bloch…. During her tenure, Zukovsky has played under five music directors…. She … holds teaching posts at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, Azusa Pacific University and the Pasadena Conservatory of Music. Among her distinctions is serving as soloist for the world premiere of John Williams’ Clarinet Concerto in 1991. Bloch, her father, died in 2009 at the age of 95. He had served as principal clarinetist for more than four decades until he retired in 1981.” Zukovsky said, “Playing in an orchestra keeps the soloist honest. What orchestra playing demands is a fuller tone plus the most careful intonation. When you’re surrounded by colleagues, you have to play in tune. These are things the soloist, left to his own devices, can forget, out in the world.”
Posted July 10, 2015
