Samuel Huston
Although I began learning the clarinet quite young, it was in my final years at school that I began to discover a love of performing. I then won the Highgate Young Musician of the Year competition in 2017 and performed the Stanford Clarinet Concerto with Ealing Youth Orchestra in the same year.
Whilst an undergraduate at Cambridge, I held an Instrumental Award and was selected to be on the CAMRAM scheme, through which I had clarinet lessons at the Royal Academy of Music. As a postgraduate student at the Royal College of Music, I performed as principal clarinet with the RCM Symphony Orchestra and RCM Opera, and was featured in the RCM 'In Focus' and 'Chamber Essentials' concert series.
Since 2022, I have collaborated with the pianist Antonio Morabito as the Mercadante Duo. We perform an eclectic mixture of music, ranging from new commissions to works by Weber and R. Schumann. A favourite piece of ours is Nino Rota's clarinet sonata, which is a beautiful showcase for the clarinet. You can hear us perform the second movement of the sonata below.
I teach the clarinet at Saffron Walden County High School and Katherine Semar Junior School in Essex, where I work with a number of talented young musicians. I also work as a freelance clarinet teacher and give masterclasses and workshops on music performance. I have prepared students for ABRSM practical and performance exams as well as GCSE and A-Level music performances. When teaching, I am not always prescriptive about pushing pupils towards taking grade exams; they can be a great motivator for some pupils and an unnecessary (and expensive) distraction for others if they have access to different performance opportunities. However, I am always rigorous in encouraging solid technique and technical proficiency: a well-formed embouchure and relaxed finger technique open up a huge amount of repertoire end enjoyment for pupils.
For enquiries about recitals, workshops or clarinet lessons please get in touch here.
Performing Rachmaninov's Symphony No 3 as principal clarinet with the Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra. This Symphony is full of wonderful writing for clarinet, especially in the Adagio: towards the end of the movement, the entire orchestra falls away, leaving just the solo clarinet, before the strings quietly rejoin to restate the Symphony's motto theme.
Performing Stravinsky's 'The Soldier's Tale' for the RCM's 'In Focus' series of films. This work is notoriously difficult to get together as an ensemble. However, the most difficult section for the clarinettist, 'The Devil's Dance', is also the most enjoyable to play; the clarinet soars over the top of the ensemble, finally coming out from the violin's shadow.
My transcription of the Allegro leggiero from Felix Mendelssohn's Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 67. This arrangement is not hugely faithful, with some more 'Brahmsian' voicings than in the original. However, making the piano writing more densely resonant, I have sought to enhance the change in sound that comes from the addition of the clarinet to Mendelssohn's original for solo piano.
My transcription of the Andante molto from Clara Schumann's Three Romances, Op. 22. To remodel this from a work for violin and piano, I transposed the middle section down an octave in the clarinet part and revoiced the piano part to accommodate. This creates a more 'Brahmsian' texture again (especially in bars 46-48), but I think it works, embracing the richness of the clarinet's timbre.