John Coppa
has been residing in the Orlando area since 2003. He has
just completed his B.M. Degree in Clarinet
Performance from the University of Central Florida under
the supervision of Dr. Keith Koons(DMA). John had been
the principle Clarinetist in the University of Central
Florida Symphony Orchestra since
2005. Mr. Coppa also has an extensive list of teachers
which he has had the privilege of studying with. His
current teachers include Richard Hawkins of the Oberlin
Conservatory, Sara Shaw of the Orlando Philharmonic
Orchestra, Guy Yehuda of the University of North
Florida, Ken Grant and Robert Dilutis of the Eastman
School of Music, and Michael Forte of Palm Beach Atlantic
University.
In the
summer 2006, John was excepted into the "Oberlin in
Italy" program and that same year participated in the
"ARIA" music festival at Ball State University, studying
with Ken Grant of the Eastman School of music. In the
summer of 2007, John was given the opportunity to participate in
the prestigious "Orford Music Festival" in Quebec,
Canada, studying with such clarinet masters as James
Campbell of Indiana University.
In March of
2007, John preformed the Mozart Clarinet Quintet
with the University of Central Florida Quintet. He and
the group have also performed the Brahms Clarinet
Quintet later in that same year.
Also, John
considers himself to be a very proficient in the art of
reed configuration. He has had
extensive training on the manipulation and balancing of
cane reeds. He plays on not only his own reeds which he
makes from scratch, but also uses manufactured Vandoren
Reeds and Legere plastic Reeds.
John Coppa
currently uses Buffet "Vintage" Clarinets (Bb/A), Zinner handcrafted barrels and a Richard Hawkins Model
"R" handcrafted mouthpiece.
