Martin Zwick, born in November 1920, decided at an early age that he was going to be a musician and play in a symphony orchestra. Born and raised in New York City, he went through the city public school system and concurrently received training at the Manhattan School of Music and with the National Orchestral training orchestra. At 19 he won a national audition and became a member of Leopold Stokowski's All American Youth Orchestra and studied with Simeon Bellison in New York. He toured North and South America with the youth orchestra for two seasons and would have concertized in the Far East except that war broke out in Europe.

As a volunteer enlistee, Martin played in a military band in New Jersey for almost five years. After the war, he decided to "go west" and teamed up with other musician friends in Los Angeles to seek work as a freelance musician. Many engagements followed, including studio recordings, chamber music concerts, and work with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

The G.I. Bill made it possible for Martin to study overseas, and thus for a year he pursued advanced music education in Paris at the Ecole Normale de Musique. At the end of this exciting year in the city of lights, some friends in Los Angeles recommended him to Maurice Abravanel for the principal clarinet position in the Utah Symphony Orchestra. At Maestro Abravanel's invitation, Martin moved to Utah in 1949 for a stay that was to become permanent.

 

Brahms Clarinet Quintet Mvt 1

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