David Howard has been adjunct associate professor of clarinet at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California since 1986. At Thornton he has a clarinet and bass clarinet studio, coaches woodwind and mixed ensemble chamber music, gives classes in orchestral repertoire and conducts sectional rehearsals.
Listen to a live recording of David Howard, fellow Thornton School of Music faculty members Shawn Mouser, Kristy Morrell, and Thornton students playing the Josef Triebensee arrangement for woodwind octet of Giovinette che fate all’amore from Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
In addition, he has given clarinet master classes, chamber music coaching and sectional rehearsals at universities and conservatories in the United States and internationally, including Northwestern University, the Guildhall School of Music in London, Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Royal College of Music in Stockholm, and the National Center for Social Action through Music in Caracas. He has also appeared as a teacher and clinician at festivals such as the Clarinet Days in Tel Aviv, the China International Clarinet/Saxophone Festival, the Aspen Music Festival and School, and the Claremont Clarinet Festival. In Los Angeles he has worked with students at YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles), the National Take a Stand Festival, and the Music Center Spotlight Awards.
“The feedback from David Howard’s class was so positive. The students appreciated the care he took and the genuine interest with which he approached both the class, and them as individuals. They appreciated his honesty about the profession and by the end of the class, felt empowered to prepare better for auditions and concerts.”
– Guildhall School of Music & Drama
Howard’s commitment to and philosophy of teaching has been shaped by his own musical education. A student of Mitchell Lurie in Los Angeles and Leon Russianoff in New York, Howard also received training from soprano Phyllis Curtin and oboist Robert Bloom while attending Yale University. Lurie stressed quality of sound and the integrity of the musical line. Russianoff encouraged effortless, even technique and the development of a musical personality. Curtin applied a singer’s toolbox to the challenges of air support. And Bloom was adamant about singing above all else.
Howard’s chamber music training from Lurie at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara and from Bloom at the Yale University Summer School of Music and Art in Norfolk inspired him to initiate a unique yearly recital series at the Thornton School of Music which pairs faculty with students in performances of great wind works.
Howard’s private students at Thornton have gone on to positions in orchestras which include the Dallas Symphony, Detroit Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Seattle Symphony, San Francisco Ballet Orchestra and Seoul Philharmonic. Past participants in his class are placed in orchestras all over the world, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Omaha Symphony, Turku Philharmonic in Finland, and Aalborg Symphony Orchestra in Denmark.