David L. Kaplan

David L. Kaplan

David L. (Leon) Kaplan. Administrator, conductor, clarinetist, b Chicago 12 Dec 1923; B MUS (Roosevelt) 1948, M MUS (Oberlin) 1950, PH D (Indiana) 1978. He taught at West Texas State U 1955-9 before moving to Canada in 1960. He was chairman 1960-82 of the Music Department of the University of Saskatchewan and continued to teach there in 1990. He was conductor 1963-9 and 1970-1 of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra and has performed as clarinetist on CBC radio. He was the founding chairman of the Saskatchewan Music Council in 1967. Kaplan has arranged or composed pieces for woodwinds, including a series of 50 solos for school use written in 1985. Some of his music has been published by Jack Spratt, New York, and Belwin. Kaplan has written about the clarinet and music education and has also delivered scholarly papers on these and other topics. He prepared the WBM woodwind syllabus (1972) and edited the school-music magazines Clarinet Corner and Band Lab in the 1950s and early 1960s. His PH D thesis was 'Stylistic trends in the small woodwind ensembles, from 1750-1825'.

During the summer of 1982 Kaplan served as woodwind coach for the JM World Orchestra in Spain. He was music director 1985-9 of Saskatoon's 'Festival of Faith,' for which he also wrote five choral works on multicultural themes. He was also music director of Saskatoon's 1989 Summer Drum Festival, for which he composed Testament for chorus and percussion. His collection of Asian musical instruments was presented in an exhibition in March 1990. Kaplan has served on the boards of many musical and cultural organizations, both provincial and national. In 2009 Kaplan was named an ambassador of the Canadian Music Centre in recognition of his contribution to Canadian new music.