Eva Wasserman-Margolis (Co-Director) was born on the island of Key West in the Florida Keys. There her inspiration for music began, singing outside her parent’s garden. They were her greatest inspiration. Her father, a concentration camp survivor, and her mother, who was born in India, came to meet each other in The United States of America to make a home for their young family.
In 1980, Eva received her Master’s Degree in Music Performance at the University of Illinois and, in the same year, secured the position of Principal Clarinet with the Haifa Symphony in Israel. Her interest in Musicology at Bar Ilan University introduced her to the world of music research and, more specifically, to that of lesser-known composers. Her main ambition was to perform and record many of these lesser-known composer’s works. Eva’s dedication as an instructor established through the years, a new generation of Israeli clarinetists who now study and perform throughout the world. They are her legacy.
Eva organized the first Israeli Clarinet Festival in 1998 and brought clarinetists of international renown to teach and perform in Israel. She served as a national chairperson for the International Clarinet Association in Israel. She was the first clarinetist invited to represent Israel at the International Clarinet Festival in 1999, in Belgium, and 2005 in Japan. This was, in part, funded by the American-Israel Cultural Foundation. Her former student, Michal Beit-Halachmi, went on to perform at the ICA conference in Vancouver, Canada with Eva’s composition “The Generation of Hope.”
As a performer and clinician, Eva has been invited to the USA, Canada, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, Portugal, Belgium, Finland, Ukraine, Slovenia, China, Bulgaria, and Japan. In 2004, her invitation to perform in China at the International Clarinet Festival, partially sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Israel, was praised by Jilin College of the Arts. She was one of the five international performers, and the only female, to receive an honorary professorship for her performance. From 2005-2010, she conducted and coached at Giora Feidman’s Klezmer Festival in the Galilee. In 2006 she posthumously honored David Weber, the New York City Clarinetist, by organizing the David Weber Competition in Israel. In 2009, she was honored by Eastman School of Music in New York’s Woman’s Festival of Music. In 2010, Lomax Classic Mouthpieces in the United States created the EWM Series Mouthpiece in her name.
In 2010, Gianluca Campagnolo completed another volume of his books: The “Great Clarinetists “ where she is also included.
Her CD “Two Clarinets and Piano: Original Music from Finland, Malta, Israel, and Points In-Between,” collaborates with Clarinetist Luigi Magistrelli and Pianist Claudia Bracco. Her other CD, Unforgettable Hues with Guitarist Massimo Laura and Clarinetist Luigi Magistrelli, includes music for two clarinets and guitar. It is a first time recording for this combination of instruments. Mrs. Wasserman-Margolis is also included on Israeli Composer Sara Feigin’s CD: Jewish Music. Or-Tav Music Publications (www.ortav.com) publishes her music and books. Learning Clarinet The Artistic Way, was the first clarinet method book published in Hebrew. Her educational publications also include the highly acclaimed book Time for Tone and her newer one THINKING TONE. Time for Tone is published in five languages. These books are based on the premise that young students must develop a refined tone technique from the very beginning of their studies.
Eva’s compositions consist of four unaccompanied solo pieces, The Generation of Hope Ode to Odessa, and The Whispering Child and HER TRILOGY Creating/Created/Creation, Games of the Soul(with piano), and Nigun-Li (with piano).
Ms. Wasserman-Margolis was the primary instructor of clarinet at the Conservatory in Givatayim. She is now retired and held this position from 1984.
Ms. Wasserman-Margolis is a Buffet Artist and has been faithful to her two vintage Buffet Continental clarinets throughout her career. She also uses a Lomax mouthpiece called the EWM made especially for her by Michael Lomax.
Vandoren V12 is her reed of choice.
Ms. Wasserman-Margolis also has an HHP Degree (Health Practitioner). She works holistically in helping her students with problems related to performance. She uses Bach Flowers, Frequency Medicine, and discusses healthy eating habits. She has a passion for Iyengar yoga and jewelry design, and of course, a huge passion for life!
Clarinetist Elizabeth Crawford (Co-Director) is professor of music performance at Ball State University. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, she holds degrees from Furman University, magna cum laude, and the University of Michigan School of Music. She earned her doctorate at the Florida State University College of Music, where her doctoral treatise “The Chalumeau in Eighteenth-Century Vienna: Works for Soprano and Soprano Chalumeau,” investigated the rare music of the primarily Italian court musicians working in the Habsburg empire. Prior to her tenure at Ball State, Dr. Crawford was a long-time member of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra where, in addition to performing with the orchestra, she was an active chamber musician and teacher. While living in London from 2002-2005, she performed extensively with virtually all of the major orchestras in the United Kingdom and recorded at the BBC, Abbey Road, Angel, and Olympic studios. In 1995, her performance at the International Clarinet Association’s conference was included on a Highlights from ClarinetFest ‘95 CD, one of only a few performances selected from the conference. She remains an active performer at ICA conferences and has held positions as the organization’s advertising coordinator and coordinator of the High School Solo Competition. She has performed and taught at festivals and universities throughout the world including Poland, New Zealand, Italy, Spain, and South Africa. Notable conference performances include those at the International Double Reed Society, National Flute Association, European Clarinet Association, College Music Society, International Viola Congress, American Viola Society, and the Clarimania Festival in Wrocław, Poland.
An avid proponent of music for E-flat clarinet, Dr. Crawford has commissioned music for the instrument by composers Lori Ardovino, Jenni Brandon, and Scott McAllister, and has transcribed the five works by 19th-century Italian composer Giuseppe Cappelli for E-flat clarinet and piano, available on the Potenza label. Her editions of Cappelli’s four works for B-flat clarinet and piano are available from BRS Music in Indianapolis. A CD of American music for E-flat clarinet, Instant Winners, was released on the Albany Records label in fall 2018. A 2020-21 recipient of a Fulbright Core Award to the Lisbon Polytechnic in Portugal, she will share her expertise on the piccolo clarinets through teaching and performing.
In addition to her interest in new music for E-flat clarinet, Dr. Crawford is a founding member of Violet, her duo with violist Katrin Meidell. Together they have commissioned over 130 new works for the ensemble, greatly adding to the repertoire of this underserved combination. A CD of music was released in February 2019 on the Albany Records label and is the first recording of its kind. Information about Violet can be found at duetviolet.com.
Since 2012, Dr. Crawford and the Ball State University Clarinet Studio have enjoyed hosting guests such as Lawrie Bloom, Jane Carl, Ben Freimuth, Trina Gross, Diana Haskell, Frank Kowalsky.
Dr. Crawford is a registered yoga teacher (RYT-500), a Bridge Ruby Life Master, enjoys playing with her cats and, hiking in America’s national parks.
Diana Haskell (Co-Director) is a multi-faceted clarinetist who enjoys a rewarding career as an orchestral clarinetist, educator, clinician and chamber musician. Ms. Haskell is currently Associate Principal Clarinet with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. In her role as Associate Principal Clarinet, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has described her artistry as “hymn-like beauty”. Since 2003 Ms. Haskell has also performed numerous times with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra as soloist, including with Maestro David Robertson and Maestro Jahja Ling.
Ms. Haskell is a respected teacher in the tradition of the Daniel Bonade School, through her training at Eastman School of Music with D. Stanley Hasty, as well as with Mitchell Lurie, with whom she studied at Music Academy of the West. In addition, her studies with the great diagnostician Joseph Allard at Juilliard and piano training with Maria Louis-Faini have given her a well-rounded foundation for building her own teaching and coaching expertise.
Ms. Haskell is currently Woodwind Coordinator at Chautauqua Institution School of Music, where she gives individual instruction to conservatory clarinetists and coaches mixed chamber groups. For five years Ms. Haskell recruited, organized and led her own Clarinet Intensive, a rigorous two-week immersion program for 5-7 advanced conservatory and high school students as part of the MasterWorks Festival. A supporter of minority arts initiatives, Ms. Haskell participates in the In Unison program with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra as a performer, instructor and mentor at various locations in St. Louis. Ms. Haskell also teaches clarinet and is on the board for HEAL Center For the Arts, a vigorous after-school arts program in St. Louis for students in urban centers.
Ms. Haskell has taught at SUNY Buffalo, Houghton College, UW Whitewater, Savannah College of Art and Design, Armstrong State College, and Wisconsin Lutheran College. She has given master classes and clinics at universities in Japan, Europe and the United States.
Ms. Haskell’s students have been accepted at Eastman School of Music, Indiana University, Roosevelt University, DePaul University, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Northwestern University, University of Minnesota, and Bowling Green State among others. Her students occupy positions with regional orchestras, in bands of the Armed Forces, as clarinet professors, and as orchestra and band directors.
After completing her Master of Music Degree at The Juilliard School and Bachelor of Music Degree at Eastman School of Music with Performer’s Certificate, she joined the Savannah Symphony Orchestra as Principal Clarinet. She also was Acting Principal Clarinet with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra for one season. Ms. Haskell then became Principal Clarinet with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra with Maestro Semyon Bychkov, followed by Assistant Principal and E-Flat Clarinet in the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in 1991. Maestro Itzhak Perlman invited Ms. Haskell to join the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra as Assistant Principal Clarinet in 2003, and a year later Music Director David Robertson appointed her as Associate Principal and Eb Clarinet. Ms. Haskell was also Principal Clarinet with Santa Fe Opera.
As a result of being a finalist in the Naumberg International Competition, Ms. Haskell performed a solo recital in the Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall. Ms. Haskell was Principal Clarinet for the Grammy award-winning recording of Samuel Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra, an opera directed by Gian Carlo Menotti and produced by New World Records.
Ms. Haskell’s high school studies were with James Barkow at Vandercook College. She was encouraged by her beloved grade school band director, Cloyd Myers, to begin clarinet at age 9. Ms. Haskell was a high school camper at Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, where she studied piano with Fernando Laires, and clarinet with George Townsend and Sidney Forrest. She has been Principal Clarinet in many summer music festivals, such as Santa Fe Opera, Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds, Colorado Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, Washington Island Chamber Music Festival, and Lake Placid Sinfonietta.
Haskell’s CD, Clarinet Enchantments (AAM Recordings) has received critical acclaim. It may be purchased at iTunes.com or at Amazon.com. There is a complete list of recordings on the Media tab at her website, DianaHaskellClarinet.
Ms. Haskell is a proud Buffet-Crampon Artist for her clarinet maker, Buffet-Crampon. Buffet R-13s are her choice on all instruments. She is honored to be a Vandoren Artist as well. Ms. Haskell performs on a Vandoren BD-5 mouthpiece with Vandoren’s Optimum Ligature or leather ligature, and Vandoren V-12 reeds.
Ms. Haskell’s blog, Clarinet Divas, is a teaching journal, with an emphasis on women who play the clarinet. She may be also be found on Facebook at Diana Haskell, Clarinet.
Ms. Haskell is a member of NAfME (National Association for Music Education), Missouri Music Educators Association and Mu Phi Epsilon.
Contact Diana at singlewinder@yahoo.com.
Dylan James (ICCC Coordinator) is a freelance clarinetist, educator, and arts administrator based in New York City. He has attended festivals including Chautauqua Institution Summer Music Festival, Miami Music Festival, National Music Festival, and National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute. Dylan has taught clarinet throughout the New York/New Jersey region and currently works at The New School College of Performing Arts as the Program and Administration Manager. holds a Master of Music degree from Mannes School of Music at The New School, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Rowan University. His principal teachers include Anton Rist, Charles Neidich, and Rié Suzuki.
