Ronald de Kant

Ronald de Kant studied with Daniel Bonade at the Juilliard School then taught for two years at the US naval school of music in Washington, DC. After a year in Toronto with the National Ballet orchestra, de Kant was principal clarinet 1956-65 with the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra. He was principal clarinet of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra 1965-80 and of the CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra 1967-83, playing with the Santa Fe Opera during the summers 1970-2. He was also a member of the New Orleans Woodwind Quintet, the Vancouver Woodwind Quintet, the Vancouver SO Chamber Ensemble, and, occasionally, the Cassenti Players. As soloist, he performed the major works for clarinet with the two Vancouver orchestras. He gave the premiere of Weinzweig's Divertimento No. 4 with the CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra on 22 September 1968 and recorded the Mozart Quintet with the Purcell String Quartet, the Copland Concerto with the CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra, and other chamber works as a member of the Vancouver Woodwind Quintet. He taught at the University of British Columbia part-time 1965-80 and full-time 1980-3, and taught intermittently at the Vancouver City College, the Vancouver Academy of Music, and the Courtenay Youth Music Centre. He taught and coached woodwinds 1977-84 at the Banff CA, where he premiered Morawetz' Sonata for Clarinet and Piano on 23 July 1981. De Kant was professor of clarinet 1983-7 at Arizona State U, and in 1987 began teaching at the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, where he became chairman of the department of woodwind and brass in 1989. His pupils have held positions in Canadian and US orchestras, among them J. Wesley Foster (Vancouver SO), Keith McLeod (Victoria SO), and Kimball Sykes (NACO). In his later years, de Kant remained active in orchestral and chamber music performance.