For James Wong ’30, the clarinet began as a school requirement, but eventually became an instrument he chose to pursue beyond the classroom. What began with small-group lessons eventually grew into a deeper passion for music and ensemble playing. Wong recalled the key moments when his interest for the clarinet expanded beyond a simple instrument requirement.
“At my elementary school, all students had to choose a band instrument or an orchestra instrument, and I went with the clarinet. A couple of my friends and I did small group lessons with the teacher, and I eventually chose to play in an all-city middle school band. That was a really good turning point because that started me on my journey to really become a band player, not just a solo player. I began taking private lessons, and I eventually started going to the NEC [New England Conservatory] and Rivers ensembles,” said Wong.
Wong’s interest in the clarinet continued into high school. Wong maintained his training at Andover, participating in the various opportunities to play on campus.
“As a junior, I’ve tried to immerse myself in as many ensembles as possible. I’m part of the Wind Ensemble, the Symphony Orchestra, and AFO [Andover Festival Orchestra]. I think that the wide array and the capacity for playing music here at Andover is just really special. And I think the ability to have so many skilled and talented musicians to assemble these large ensembles is really powerful,” said Wong.
While Wong expressed an interest in exploring the types of music that allowed him to focus on his musical expression, he also acknowledged areas for improvement and described his efforts to develop his technique.
“I prefer slower, more lyrical pieces where I can explore the clarinet and how beautiful I can make it sound. Some of my weaker aspects are that it sometimes takes more practice to get more technical bits down or fast parts. And I consistently struggle with accidentals, and I think that ‘Come Sunday,’ the piece we’re currently playing in wind ensemble, particularly the second movement, has really made me face my fears head-on,” said Wong.
Wong described periods when his progress on the clarinet slowed and how he worked through those challenges. Throughout his time playing, he learned lessons that shaped his approach to practicing and improving.
“I’ve received a couple of lessons, and one of them is that hard work always pays off. Throughout my clarinet journey, I’ve had to persevere through certain challenges, whether that’s ensembles, hard solo pieces, or just losing my passion. But I think that continuing to push through and keep playing more music has just really taught me that the more work you put in, the more enjoyment you’re going to get out of it… At one point, I reached a plateau where I wasn’t really improving, and I started to lose my passion for the clarinet. I was considering going back to my original main instrument, the piano. But I decided to stick with it and continue practicing more. I found the resilience to keep going, and that really set me up to do well in harder parts of my ensembles,” said Wong.
Cyrus Law ’27, a fellow clarinetist, offered another perspective on Wong’s development and his experience performing alongside other musicians.
“I would describe his playing as very eager to learn from the more experienced clarinets in the section and also to play the difficult sections that not everyone else plays. He’s learning pretty fast, and I’m excited to see where that takes him. He’s gotten more confident. That’s kind of a byproduct of just having more experience playing with not just any group, but the groups here at Andover. On campus, we have a lot of talented musicians, and that means that when we get together and play as a collective band or orchestra, the pieces that we play are frequently the pieces that you would see at undergraduate concerts,” said Law.
Having reflected on past challenges and his development since arriving at Andover, Wong shared his future musical ambitions at Andover.
“I really aspire to become a principal clarinetist in one of the ensembles here at Andover, or start playing harder pieces, doing more solos, and just raising my level of playing with the clarinet to somewhere around where my piano level is. I think reaching to play harder parts and pieces is what I’m aspiring to do,” said Wong.
