Each of Mr. Montanaro's students of the last 20 years is playing in a major orchestra. I concentrate on expressiveness, tone quality, smooth playing and homogeneity of sound. He's just very likable. Mr. McGill had the right schooling, and the right stuff. But he knew how competitive it would be to get a job.
Orchestras use just four clarinets.
Hundreds apply for each opening. It's all about persistence and hard work. It's never, never giving up. He could not believe it when he won the CSO spot, in his fourth try for an orchestra job. I couldn't stand up.