Stephen Fox (clarinet maker)
Encyclopedia
Stephen Fox is a clarinetist, saxophonist
and clarinet maker
based in Richmond Hill, Ontario
, Canada
. He is widely regarded as one of the world's foremost makers of custom, hand-built professional clarinet
s. Born in England
, Fox completed a master's degree in physics
at the University of Saskatchewan
before earning a degree in clarinet performance. He began a career in instrument repair in 1985 and started making clarinets in 1990. Fox makes modern soprano
, basset
, and bass clarinet
s, and basset horns. In addition he makes tárogató
s, and is one of only a handful of makers of reproduction historical clarinets in the world. In 2006 he introduced the world's first Bohlen-Pierce
clarinets. Fox clarinets are played by Toronto Symphony Orchestra
principal clarinetist Joaquin Valdepenas, Canadian big band
leader Don Pierre, klezmer
artist Kurt Bjorling of the band Brave Old World
, Norwegian
clarinetist Terje Lerstad, Binghamton University
music professor Timothy Perry, Swiss
multi-instrumentalist Peter A. Schmid, and many others in in Europe
, Japan
, the United States
, and Canada. Fox also teaches musical instrument making at the Musikk Instrument Akademiet in Norway. As an instrumentalist, Fox performs and records with the chamber music
groups Riverdale Ensemble and Ossia.
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
and clarinet maker
Clarinet makers
The following are lists of makers of clarinets, clarinet mouthpieces, clarinet ligatures, and clarinet reeds. Note that some of the following are simply brands for instruments from original equipment manufacturers.-Clarinets:-Mouthpieces :...
based in Richmond Hill, Ontario
Richmond Hill, Ontario
Richmond Hill is a town located in Southern Ontario, Canada in the central portion of York Region, Ontario. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area, being located about halfway between Toronto and Lake Simcoe...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He is widely regarded as one of the world's foremost makers of custom, hand-built professional clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s. Born in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Fox completed a master's degree in physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
at the University of Saskatchewan
University of Saskatchewan
The University of Saskatchewan is a Canadian public research university, founded in 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. An "Act to establish and incorporate a University for the Province of Saskatchewan" was passed by the...
before earning a degree in clarinet performance. He began a career in instrument repair in 1985 and started making clarinets in 1990. Fox makes modern soprano
Soprano clarinet
The soprano clarinets are a sub-family of the clarinet family.The B clarinet is by far the most common type of soprano clarinet - the unmodified word "clarinet" usually refers to this instrument...
, basset
Basset clarinet
The basset clarinet is a clarinet, similar to the usual soprano clarinet but longer and with additional keys to enable playing several additional lower notes...
, and bass clarinet
Bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
s, and basset horns. In addition he makes tárogató
Tárogató
The tárogató refers to two different Hungarian woodwind instruments: the ancient tárogató and the modern tárogató...
s, and is one of only a handful of makers of reproduction historical clarinets in the world. In 2006 he introduced the world's first Bohlen-Pierce
Bohlen-Pierce scale
The Bohlen–Pierce scale is a musical scale that offers an alternative to the octave-repeating scales typical in Western and other musics, specifically the diatonic scale. Compared with octave-repeating scales, its intervals are more consonant with certain types of acoustic spectra. It was...
clarinets. Fox clarinets are played by Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario.-History:The TSO was founded in 1922 as the New Symphony Orchestra, and gave its first concert at Massey Hall in April 1923. The orchestra changed its name to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1927. The TSO...
principal clarinetist Joaquin Valdepenas, Canadian big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
leader Don Pierre, klezmer
Klezmer
Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...
artist Kurt Bjorling of the band Brave Old World
Brave Old World
Brave Old World is an international klezmer band formed in 1989.Members hail from the US and Germany. The Washington Post called Brave Old World "the revival's first supergroup. Every player is a virtuoso"....
, Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
clarinetist Terje Lerstad, Binghamton University
Binghamton University
Binghamton University, also formally called State University of New York at Binghamton, , is a public research university in the State of New York. The University is one of the four university centers in the State University of New York system...
music professor Timothy Perry, Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
multi-instrumentalist Peter A. Schmid, and many others in in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and Canada. Fox also teaches musical instrument making at the Musikk Instrument Akademiet in Norway. As an instrumentalist, Fox performs and records with the chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
groups Riverdale Ensemble and Ossia.