“I went to an Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment concert as a student and decided there and then that my life’s dream would be to join them. So when I finally got the job as Principal Clarinetist it felt like my lifelong goal. How lucky am I?”
We’re chatting to Katherine ‘Waffy’ Spencer from her home in Fringford near Bicester ahead of her Mozart’s World in Oxford concert at The Sheldonian on Jan 30, which she is enormously excited about.
‘I always think the clarinet found me rather than the other way round because you have to find your instrument and I just got lucky’
Because not only will the famous clarinetist be on home turf and playing with Orchestra Of The Age of Enlightenment, but she will be introducing Grace, her newly commissioned basset clarinet, to Oxford, via Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, for which it was specially designed.
If, like us, you were unaware that Mozart composed the piece for a basset clarinet rather than a normal one, which he too had specially made, you’ll understand her eagerness to recapture that original sense of wonder and delight. “I just want it to be perfect,” she says.
And bearing in mind Waffy taught herself the clarinet aged seven, her passion for the instrument continues unabated.
“It’s a funny story that because I pestered my grandfather to get me an instrument so he put an ad on the local radio and the two people that replied both had clarinets. So that’s how I ended up with a clarinet.
“I then learned to play it with my mother; she would sing a note and I would find it on the clarinet, so it wasn’t until I was given clarinet lessons that we realised I’d had my hands the wrong way round all that time,” she laughs.
“So I always think the clarinet found me rather than the other way around because you have to find your instrument and I just got lucky, because I’ve tried lots of other instruments over the years and have been useless at all of them.”
A natural from the word go, Waffy’s rise was meteoric – a finalist in the Young Musician Of The Year aged 12, debuting at London’s Royal Festival Hall aged 14, playing with orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, with BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM solo broadcasts and a performance for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, she’s been making her mark ever since.
‘It was love at first sight with the clarinet. I would practice for hours every night’
Waffy is also the Principal Clarinet of the Handel and Haydn Society, Academy of Ancient Music, Gabrieli Consort and Players, The Irish Chamber Orchestra, and the City of London Sinfonia.
And yet here we are chatting away about her horse and chickens, discussing her three children who’ve all flown the nest, her teaching at Oxford University, her current music doctorate in New York, travelling, and her ongoing love for her instrument, without the slightest diva-esque moment. It’s almost disappointing!
So what is it about the clarinet Waffy loves so much? “It was love at first sight. I would practice for hours every night after dinner while my mother sat in her chair knitting. I just love the sound.”
But how did Waffy get from her childhood kitchen to the world’s greatest concert halls? “Well, I used to watch Young Musician of The Year on TV and noticed that a lot of the competitors hailed from a music school called Chetham’s. I remember turning around to my parents and saying ‘I want to go there too’.” Sure enough she auditioned and got in, moving to Manchester aged 11 and living away from home.
‘It’s only now that my own children have gone that I realise what a big sacrifice that was for my parents’
“It’s only now that my own children have gone that I realise what a big sacrifice that was for my parents,” Waffy says, “but they never said anything and only ever encouraged me,” she remembers. “I think if my mother had been lucky enough to have the same opportunities as me things would have been very different for her, but she still plays the electric guitar in the church band and rocks out every Sunday.”
Was Waffy homesick at Chetham’s? “Not at all. It was wonderful there because although I loved my primary school and had lots of friends, they still thought I was a bit of an oddball with my clarinet. But at Chetham’s I could talk about music and the clarinet all day long and practice for eight hours a day.
“So I still say to my students that the place you learn the most is with your peers. That’s when you really grow in your music-making by playing with your friends and pushing the boundaries. It really helps you grow as a musician.”
More than that Waffy says that being a finalist in the in the Young Musician Of The Year really got the ball rolling, debuting at Royal Festival Hall soon after. “I can still remember how scared I was, and to this day when I perform there I still have a gut reaction to it, because I hadn’t learnt to channel my nerves or focus on the audience then. That’s now my coping mechanism for nerves – to go on a journey with the audience, to talk to them through the music. It’s like having a chat.”
‘the place you learn the most is with your peers. That’s when you really grow in your music-making’
After that Waffy’s career continued in a similar vein, performing all over the world, both home and abroad, as her reputation grew. No mean feat with three children under her belt? “It was all a bit mad,” she laughs, “but we made it work. If I’d been employed by a symphony orchestra it would have been impossible because that’s a full time job, but it was chamber and sinfonia concerts so I could sprinkle myself around and do lots of different things. It meant I was in charge of my own timetable.
“So I’d just take my children with me, and someone would keep an eye on them when I as on stage. Put it this way, I got very good at erecting travel cots,” she laughs, “I just had to get creative with my childcare.”
So was there never a moment then when it all got too much or she lost her momentum? “No, the passion has always continued and I still love it. I never lost that. I just love playing live music. It’s not about the money – my husband despairs of me – for me it’s still all about the music.”
“I go on a journey with the audience, to talk to them through the music. It’s like having a chat.’
Which is good news for the audience coming to Mozart’s World in Oxford at The Sheldonian later this month, because they have an unexpected treat in store – another star due to make her debut – Waffy’s new basset clarinet Grace, which has been specially commissioned for the concert.
“I’d been wanting to have a basset clarinet made for a while, but when asked to programme the Sheldonian concert and play Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto I thought I’d better get on with it,” she laughs.
Collaborating with her friends and instrument makers Guy Cowley and Daniel Bangham, in a similar vein to Mozart, work soon got underway: “There are no surviving basset clarinets from that time, just a grainy picture of one from a programme, but instead of trying to replicate it exactly we wanted it to have more of French than Viennese sound, so Grace has been created in a straight line rather than having the traditional ‘bell’ at the end,” she says.
It must have been hugely exciting then trying Grace out for the first time? “Well Guy is a total perfectionist so was very nervous about showing her to me, but she looked like an angel which is why we called her Grace, and since then she has become her own person.
‘There are no surviving basset clarinets from that time, just a grainy picture of one from a programme’
“I’ve just been getting to know her over the past eight months and am so excited about introducing Grace to the audience at The Sheldonian.
“I love it there and have been so many times both as a player and an audience member. It’s a dream venue and my daughter who lives on Cowley Road is coming along with her friends, and lots of people from our village, current and past students and family and friends, so it will be a really special evening. I can’t wait.”
Mozart’s World in Oxford is at Oxford’s Sheldonian Theatre on Jan 30. Book here https://oae.co.uk/event/mozarts-world-in-oxford/
