Michael Drapkin

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Michael Drapkin (born 1957) is an American clarinetist and bass clarinet specialist, composer–arranger, author, technologist and entrepreneur. He is known in the bass clarinet world for his multi-volume Symphonic Repertoire for the Bass Clarinet, which has become standard orchestral excerpt literature for the instrument, and for his chamber-orchestra rescoring of large symphonic works by composers such as Richard Strauss, Hector Berlioz and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. His transcriptions were recorded by the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra for the album Michael Drapkin: Classics Rescored for Chamber Orchestra, released on Pro Organo and distributed by Naxos.

Drapkin is Principal Bass Clarinetist of The Venice Symphony in Florida and a Conn-Selmer performing artist. He founded the klezmer ensemble Yiddish Cowboys and is active as a lecturer and writer on music entrepreneurship and the restructuring of classical music institutions.

Early life and education

Drapkin was born in 1957 in Hollywood, California. He studied clarinet at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester and later undertook doctoral research at Leiden University’s Academy of Creative and Performing Arts on rescoring symphonic works for chamber orchestra under the umbrella of his project “Restructuring Classical Music”.

Music career

Orchestral and chamber performance

As a clarinetist, Drapkin has held orchestral positions including Associate Principal and Bass Clarinet with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, Principal Clarinet of the New York City Opera Touring Company, and Principal Clarinet at the Lake George Opera Festival (now Opera Saratoga). He has also appeared at major summer festivals including Aspen and Tanglewood’s Berkshire Music Center.

After relocating to Florida, Drapkin began performing regularly with The Venice Symphony, where he serves as Principal Bass Clarinet, and has appeared as a soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota and as a guest with the Southwest Florida Symphony. He continues to perform chamber music and klezmer, notably as bandleader of Yiddish Cowboys, a professional klezmer band based in Sarasota, Florida.

Bass clarinet publications and pedagogy

Drapkin is widely known for his multi-volume orchestral excerpt series Symphonic Repertoire for the Bass Clarinet, first issued by Roncorp and later distributed by Drapkin Music Publications. The books collect standard audition excerpts and have been described in trade catalogues as required or core texts for serious bass clarinet study.

He has also published extensive chamber music for clarinet ensemble. His two-volume collection Trios for Two Clarinets and Bass Clarinet contains 56 trios across twelve books and over 1,400 pages of music, including arrangements of Bach, Mozart, Wagner and others, and original realizations of Mozart divertimenti for basset horns.

Transcription and chamber-orchestra work

Drapkin’s work as a transcriber focuses on re-scoring large symphonic repertoire for smaller, economically viable chamber orchestras while preserving the musical and structural integrity of the originals. His rescoring of Richard Strauss’s Dance of the Seven Veils from Salome, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique for a 31-player chamber orchestra were recorded by the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra under Mark Laycock for the album Michael Drapkin: Classics Rescored for Chamber Orchestra, released digitally in 2022.

Building on this approach, Drapkin produced a critical-edition transcription of the complete score of Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker, Op. 71, for 26-player chamber orchestra, together with a companion chamber-orchestra version of the Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a. The ballet transcription was premiered by The Venice Symphony in December 2023, and the related site NutcrackerTranscriptions.com describes the editions as faithful transcriptions, not arrangements, employing techniques later codified in his book Extreme Transcription.

Music entrepreneurship

Beyond performance and publishing, Drapkin has been active as an advocate and educator in the field of music entrepreneurship. In the mid-2000s he co-founded and served as Executive Director of the Brevard Conference on Music Entrepreneurship (BCOME), held at the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina, which presented workshops and lectures on entrepreneurial careers for musicians. Later commentary in College Music Symposium has cited BCOME as part of a “second wave” of music entrepreneurship initiatives in higher education.

Drapkin has spoken and led workshops on career development for musicians at institutions and conferences in the United States. A 2011 profile from Lipscomb University, for example, describes him as a former Honolulu Symphony clarinetist and chair of e-commerce management at Columbia University’s executive information technology management program who applies entrepreneurial thinking to music careers.

Research and advocacy

Under the umbrella project “Restructuring Classical Music”, Drapkin has argued that traditional symphony orchestra models in the United States face structural and economic challenges and has proposed community-based programming approaches inspired in part by the Brooklyn Philharmonic’s final seasons. His book The Brooklyn Model: Restructuring Classical Music through Community and Diversity examines the orchestra’s neighborhood-focused programming in Brooklyn between 2011 and 2013 as a potential blueprint for other ensembles.

In 2020 Drapkin received a Paul R. Judy Center for Innovation and Research grant from the Eastman School of Music’s Institute for Music Leadership for the project Combatting Systemic Racism in the Symphony Orchestra Using the Brooklyn Model, which applied ideas from his research to questions of orchestral diversity.

Business and technology career

Alongside his work in music, Drapkin has had a substantial career in business and information technology. He has worked as a senior technologist or manager at several web agencies and financial firms, including Razorfish, Avalanche, Lehman Brothers and IDT Telecom, and later founded Drapkin Technology Corp., a consultancy providing senior-level business, technology and project-management services for web-centric and e-commerce businesses.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s he was chair of the E-Commerce Management concentration in Columbia University’s Advanced Information Technology Management program, where he taught courses on web and e-commerce strategy to senior managers and executives.

Drapkin has also written on software development and online business. His early technical book OS/2 Warp Presentation Manager Mentor: Foundations of PM Programming was published by John Wiley & Sons in 1995 and is listed in bibliographies of OS/2 development literature. He later co-authored Three Clicks Away: Advice from the Trenches of eCommerce, an applied guide to e-commerce strategy published by Wiley in 2001.

Drapkin is also listed as inventor on United States patents. He is associated with a patent application on point-of-sale product authorization for IDT Corporation, and is the named inventor on a granted patent for a Bass clarinet body strap, a support device designed to redistribute the weight of the bass clarinet across the player’s torso instead of the neck.

Publications

Music and music-related books

• Symphonic Repertoire for the Bass Clarinet, multiple volumes. Drapkin Music Publications / Roncorp (various dates).
• Trios for Two Clarinets and Bass Clarinet, Vols. 1–2. Drapkin Music Publications, 2016 and 2020.
• Extreme Transcription: Principles, Best Practices and Techniques. Drapkin Music Publications, 2025.
• The Brooklyn Model: Restructuring Classical Music through Community and Diversity. Drapkin Music Publications, 2025.

Business and technology books

• OS/2 Warp Presentation Manager Mentor: Foundations of PM Programming. John Wiley & Sons, 1995.
• Three Clicks Away: Advice from the Trenches of eCommerce (with Jon Lowy and Daniel Marovitz). Wiley, 2001.

Selected recordings

• Michael Drapkin: Classics Rescored for Chamber Orchestra. Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra; Mark Laycock, conductor. Pro Organo PO7300 (digital release, 2022).
• Various klezmer and Jewish music recordings with Yiddish Cowboys (self-released and streaming).

Personal life

Drapkin has lived and worked in several parts of the United States in parallel music and technology careers. He later settled in Sarasota, Florida, where he performs with The Venice Symphony and leads the Yiddish Cowboys klezmer band.

External links

• Official website
• Bassclarinet.net – Drapkin Music Publications
• Restructuring Classical Music
• NutcrackerTranscriptions.com
• Michael Drapkin – Conn Selmer artist page
• Musician spotlight: Michael Drapkin – The Venice Symphony

Category:1957 births Category:Living people Category:American classical clarinetists Category:Bass clarinetists Category:American male composers Category:American music arrangers Category:American non-fiction writers Category:American technology writers Category:American businesspeople Category:Eastman School of Music alumni Category:Leiden University alumni Category:People from Hollywood, Los Angeles Category:People from Sarasota, Florida Category:Classical musicians from California

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