Harry Skoler, 2017 December 4
Harry Skoler, clarinetist and Woodwind department professor at Berklee College of Music, describes growing up in Syracuse, New York; his introduction to the clarinet; his experiences studying at Berklee in the school’s Summer Program and as an undergraduate; and influential professors, including Joe Viola and Andy McGhee. He also discusses his start and evolution as an educator, past students, as well as his teaching methods and music philosophy.
Clarinetist and professor in the Berklee Woodwinds department Harry Skoler (1956- ), a Syracuse, New York native, first picked up the clarinet at age nine, though did not start playing seriously until the age of 13. Immediately following his high school graduation in 1974, Skoler attended the seven-week Summer Program at Berklee College of Music. In 1975, he transferred to Berklee as an undergraduate and received his Bachelor of Music degree in 1978. He would later receive a Master’s of Music at the New England Conservatory of Music in 1986, after a brief excursion studying architecture at Syracuse University. In addition to his career as a professional jazz clarinetist, Skoler began teaching at Berklee in 1997 in the Woodwinds department. He served as interim chair from 2018-2019. He also ran the “Adventures with Jazz” educational ensemble and the Harry Skoler Jazz Quartet.
