Robert Marcellus was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on June 1, 1928. He began his musical studies with piano lessons at the age of four. He took up the clarinet at eleven and began serious study of the instrument at Minneapolis with Earl Handlon of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra at twelve.
His family moved to Washington, D.C, in 1944, and in the fall of that year, he started commuting to New York once a week for lessons with Daniel Bonade, former first clarinetist of the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras.
He became second clarinetist of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington in 1945. In 1946, he enlisted in the Air Force and played in the Air Force Band in Washington for three years.
He returned to the second chair in the National Symphony in 1949 and was promoted to first a year later. He remained in this position until he was appointed principal clarinet in the Cleveland Orchestra at the invitation of George Szell in 1953.
Robert Marcellus made his debut as assisting artist with the Cleveland Orchestra on March 29–31, 1956, when he played Mozart's Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra in A major, K.622. On October 11–13, 1956, he has also assisted in other works that call for solo clarinet, including the concerto by Paul Hindemith and that by Manuel de Falla.
He was principal clarinetist of the Cleveland Orchestra, under George Szell, from 1953 to 1973. During his tenure in Cleveland, he was clarinet department head at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He Died on March 31, 1996. continue reading...