Ronald Caravan (born November 20, 1946) is an American classical musician. He is a

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

ist, saxophonist, teacher, composer, and arranger.

Early life and education

Caravan was born in

Pottsville, Pennsylvania Pottsville is the county seat of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,346 at the 2020 census, and is the principal city of the Pottsville, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city lies along the west bank of th ...

. He earned a Master of Arts in music theory in 1973 and the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in music education in 1974 from the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music (B.M ...

. He also earned the performer's certificate on clarinet from the Eastman School (1974).

Career

Most of Caravan's teaching career has been with the faculty of the

Setnor School of Music Setnor School of Music, officially The Rose, Jules R., and Stanford S. Setnor School of Music, is one of seven academic units of the College of Visual and Performing Arts of Syracuse University. It is housed primarily in the historical Crou ...

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

from 1980 to 2015, where he taught clarinet and saxophone and conducted the Syracuse University Saxophone Ensemble. Caravan's published teaching materials include ''Preliminary Exercises & Etudes in Contemporary Techniques for Clarinet'' (Ethos Publications, 1979) and ''Preliminary Exercises & Etudes in Contemporary Techniques for Saxophone'' (Dorn Publications, 1980), both derived from his doctoral dissertation ''Extensions of Technique for Clarinet and Saxophone'' (1974), dealing with the study of

multiphonic A multiphonic is an extended technique on a monophonic musical instrument (one that generally produces only one note at a time) in which several notes are produced at once. This includes wind, reed, and brass instruments, as well as the human voic ...

quarter tone A quarter tone is a pitch halfway between the usual notes of a chromatic scale or an interval about half as wide (aurally, or logarithmically) as a semitone, which itself is half a whole tone. Quarter tones divide the octave by 50 cents each, a ...

s, and timbre variation. Some of his most noteworthy compositions for clarinet or saxophone use these ''extended techniques'' although several of his more conservative (and tonal) pieces for the single-reed instruments have gained wide popularity , especially his four sonatas for soprano (1984), baritone (1989), alto (2004), and tenor (2007) saxophones, which are based on traditional modes or variants thereof. Caravan produces a line of saxophone mouthpieces generally based on the original mouthpiece design of Adolphe Sax, the instrument's inventor. These are marketed under the name Caravan Mouthpieces, which also includes a symphonic clarinet mouthpiece. In addition to performing solo and chamber-music recitals on both clarinet and saxophone throughout his career, he has performed regularly with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra (more recently named ''Symphoria'') on both clarinet and saxophone. His saxophone chamber experience includes the Aeolian Saxophone Quartet and Saxophone Sinfonia, including concerts at the 1979 World Saxophone Congress and at Alice Tully Hall (1982).

References

External links

Article written by Ronald Caravan about saxophonist Sigurd Raschèr
1946 births American classical clarinetists American classical saxophonists American male saxophonists Living people 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century clarinetists 21st-century American male musicians {{US-saxophonist-stub