Schedule of Events
| 12:00 pm | Performance by Doreen Ketchens with opener Mark O’Brien |
| 1:30 pm | Be in the know! B. Corbin Product Session |
| 2:30 pm | Doreen Meet & Greet / Instrument Trials |
More events to be finalized.
Clarinet Day
September 28th, 12pm | Schmitt Music Bloomington
Brian Corbin
Brian Corbin holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Indiana University and a Master of Music in Clarinet Performance form Florida State University. His primary teachers include Howard Klug, Deborah Bish, and Jonathan Holden.
Brian has performed with the Hawai'i Symphony Orchestra, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Ocala Symphony Orchestra, Valdosta Symphony Orchestra, Villages Philharmonic Orchestra, and Albany (GA) Symphony Orchestra.
B. Corbin Clarinet Products manufacture and distribute some of the finest hand-crafted clarinet products in the world, many of which are original designs.
Doreen Ketchens
Doreen Ketchens has been called Lady Louis, Miss Satchmo, and the Female Louis Armstrong, to name a few. However, on May 26, 2022, Doreen was honored with a Doctorate degree in music from Five Towns College in Long Island New York. Now she is Dr. Doreen J. Ketchens!
Dr. Doreen has changed the way scholars view their clarinets. She has successfully created her own style that blends her classical training with the soul of jazz.
Her intense passion gets under your skin and brings you to a new place. Be it Gospel, Blues, R&B, Classical, or Jazz Dr. Doreen Ketchens can rock her clarinet on many levels, singing like a songbird on a sunny day. She has been called many names because she plays like Charlie “Bird” Parker, sings like Mahalia Jackson, and she has the chops and personality of Louis Armstrong!
Dr. Doreen Ketchens has been featured in numerous radio and television shows including Treme, HBO, and Drunk History, along with movies such as C'mon C'mon, Out of Blue, and Tyler Perry’s Temptation. Most recently Ketchens has been seen on Jimmy Kimmel Live and CBS Sunday Morning.
Mark O’Brien
Mark started lessons on the saxophone at the age of 13. He progressed quickly and soon joined the local big bands playing the music of Glen Miller, Benny Goodman, Count Basie and Duke Ellington.
At age 18, he gained a place to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London. During his short time there he excelled in orchestral and chamber music on clarinet and bass clarinet. His clarinet teachers at the R.A.M. included Keith Pearson and Richard Addison (RPO). He also attended master classes with Anthony Pay and Karl Leister (Berlin Philharmonic).
When the position for Principal Bass Clarinet in the C.B.S.O was advertised during his second year at the R.A.M., Mark was encouraged to apply and following a successful audition and trial period he was eventually appointed by Sir Simon Rattle in 1991 as Principal Bass Clarinet with the orchestra.
Along with his regular orchestral work, Mark is passionate about new music and regularly performs with Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG), where he has given over 100 world premiers of contemporary music He has held a professorship of Clarinet and Bass Clarinet at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire for over 30 years.
Mark has performed in many of the world’s greatest concert halls with some of the foremost conductors including Simon Rattle, Sakari Oramo, Oliver Knussen, Peirre Boulez, John Adams, Andris Nelsons and Kazuki Yamada.
This summer Mark was invited by the ICA to perform the World Premier of James T Sale’s “Dublin Concerto” at the ClarinetFest 2024. Future performances are planned later this year including the UK Premier in October 2024.
Mark plays on a Royal Global “Firebird” Bass Clarinet with a Brian Corbin hand-crafted mouthpiece.