Music professor receives international recognition for lifetime of teaching, performing

Robert Spring, professor of clarinet in the ASU School of Music, was recently awarded the Clarinet Lifetime Achievement award from the China Musicians Association clarinet society at the 2018 Yanji China International Clarinet Music Festival.

“I was not aware that I was going to receive the award,” said Spring. “I had performed on a recital earlier in the day and asked to be taken back to the hotel to change. I was told that I should wear my suit to the ceremony that night, so I thought that I might be receiving recognition as a founding member and former president of the international association. I had no idea that I would be recognized for all my years of teaching and performing.”

As a founding member of the International Clarinet Association, Spring served as the association’s president from 1998 to 2000. He has performed at numerous International Clarinet Association conventions and was the host and coordinator of the International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest held at Arizona State University in 1995.

Spring was an invited featured performer at the International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest in Ostend, Belgium, on July 6-11, where he premiered a new work for clarinet and multimedia by Kotoka Suzuki, professor in the School of Music. This past summer, he was also a featured artist at the first Hainan International Clarinet Festival in Hainan, China, and a recitalist and guest professor at the Beijing Central Conservatory.

Having traveled to China more than 18 times during his career, Spring has spent a considerable amount of time working with and teaching countless students. He has been awarded guest professorships at many of the conservatories in China, including the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music.

Spring has performed as a recitalist or soloist with symphony orchestras and wind bands in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and South America. He has been on the faculty of several summer music festivals and has published numerous articles on multiple articulation and other contemporary clarinet techniques.