Martin Zwick
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.
In the early years of the symphony, many players augmented their salaries by teaching music in the public schools. After receiving his degree and teaching credentials at the University of Utah, Martin taught instrumental music in the Granite School District for eleven years. That is when, in 1963, his Utah Symphony position became a full-time position following a Ford Foundation grant, which precluded his teaching until 1977 when he retired from the orchestra after 28 years. Martin was offered a position with the Murray School District and taught for eight years. During many of his years as a public school teacher, he was also an adjunct applied music professor at the University of Utah and at Westminster College in Slat Lake City. Martin continued a busy schedule until his death in September 2005
Goldmark "Rustic Wedding Symphony" Mvt 3 Utah Symphony Orchestra, Abravanel
Goldmark "Rustic Wedding Symphony" Mvt 4 Utah Symphony Orchestra, Abravanel
Brahms Symphony No3 Mvt2
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Abravanel
Sibelius Symphony No1 Mvt1
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Abravanel
Brahms Clarinet Quintet Mvt 1
Mozart Clarinet Concerto
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Maurice Abravanel 1967
