As a musician, your instrument is not just a foundational object for your art, it is your voice. Ian Bunt received his clarinet in his junior year of high school in 2019. Named “Benny” after the famous clarinetist Benny Goodman, the clarinet has traveled widely. It endured a pandemic, Bunt’s transition to college, and appeared at every ensemble Bunt played at CCM.
But his clarinet is more than just its physicality.
It is an extension of his every musical thought as a music education student. The two grew together through the good, the bad, and the ugly. Bunt thinks of his instrument as a medium, something through which he can express his intuitive style. There is so much reward in such a small hand-held object, Bunt believes, especially with “something so human and so powerful as music.”
Objects that are by our sides through every season of our lives can go unnoticed but can never go unappreciated.
Listen to Ian’s story in his own words:
This object is part of the “Transitions” section of the Artifacts of Experience exhibition designed by University of Cincinnati students in the “Introduction to Public History” course in 2023.
We encourage you to explore the other objects in our collection.
Transcript
Kobi Morgan [KM]: Why did you choose the clarinet for this project?
Ian Bunt [IB]: I mean as I’m a music education student at CCM here. And I think obviously it’s the, the boring answer, it’s the easy choice for a music student to pick their instrument as the most foundational object to them. But it really is true. The time in which I got it, and the experiences I had, I got it my last two years of high school, and then it’s been with me through almost two and a half years of college with me, and that time in my life, the amount of things that changed for me was so much. It went through a pandemic, it went through, you know, my entire moving to college process. It went through every single ensemble at CCM. It’s been a lot of places, but it’s been consistent through all of that. And so, I think that’s the reason it’s so important to me.
[KM]: What does it mean to you?
[IB]: This is a really hard question to answer. I think, ultimately, it means a lot of things. But as it relates to me, as a musician, it’s just my voice, it’s the way I can express myself through music. And I think the way I think about it, there are some people that are just really skilled at playing the clarinet, like, really, really skilled. And through that they’re amazing musicians, because they’ve, you know, metered out every single little thing they’re going to do, and they have complete control over it. And they’re just, you know, artists and masters of their craft. And, for me, I really think of the instrument as an extension of my own musical thoughts. I think growing up and being around music pretty much my whole life, I’m really proud of my ability to think always musically and understand where phrases are going. But not because I spent so long, you know, having complete control over every note I play, I think I would describe my style as intuitive. And being able to express myself through the medium of clarinets is really rewarding. And so, it means a lot more than, you know, just the physical what it is.
[KM]: When you look at your clarinet, what memories does it conjure for you?
[IB]: The easy answer here again, but all of the performances. It’s also easy to think about the hours that I spent practicing and kind of my relationship with practice and that whole dynamic, but that’s that’s a different story. It’s important for me to think about the performances that it has done, because it’s been a lot of different things. I did, you know, one of the last performances, this was at the very beginning of when I own this instrument, one of the last performances before the pandemic started to shut all this down was January 2020 with the Ohio AllState Band. And I look back on that performance, I listen to the recording, it’s absolutely terrible. But at the time, it was like the best music I’ve ever made in my life, and I was so proud of it, and here I am playing this brand-new clarinet, and everything was perfect at that moment. And I’ve had a few more times like that there’s been some really special performances here at CCM. Most notably, last spring performing Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Philharmonia means a lot to me. My grandfather passed away actually shortly before I bought the instrument. And his favorite composer was Mahler, so it was really just kind of a full circle moment. And I love when things like that happen. Especially when it’s through something so human and so powerful as music. Those moments just hit so much harder.
[KM]: Do you have another favorite story to tell about the object, your clarinet?
[IB]: There was an interesting one this summer. I brought it up to I was doing a cabin counselor position at Interlochen Arts Camp, which it was a really, really fun time, and I learned a lot about myself in the process. But in the middle of all of that there was big, you know, festivities surrounding the Fourth of July, because it’s like the one holiday that was during when camp is. And so, I got to play it in just kind of a community band that got organized, which was tons of fun. But then we have a little, you know, little parade for all of the different divisions of Camp students, and the counselors would put together a little musical thing. And we did the 1920s, like, New Orleans-style jazz. And, you know, here I am playing my, like, my wooden clarinet in the 75-degree heat, which is really kind of stupid. I shouldn’t have done it, because that’s how things like this crack, but I never thought I would get to play that specific instrument in a parade.
[KM]: Alright, any final closing comments about your clarinet that you want people to know?
[IB]: I don’t think so. I’ve always kind of been very attached to the instruments that I play. And I actually, I said, I don’t think so. That’s a complete lie. I do think so. I got in the tradition a while back of naming them. And it’s not the greatest name, but it also kind of represents me. I chose to name this particular instrument Benny, after my favorite clarinetist at the time, Benny Goodman. Benny also is my cat’s name. So that’s a little interesting. I didn’t plan that, but I don’t think about that that much anymore. I don’t know why. But I don’t really think there’s anything else that I can think of about it really.
