Ace student Joey Liu capped his first season with the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra by winning the Principal Clarinet position with the intermediate orchestra, and then spent an afternoon at Selmer Paris on his family vacation this summer!   He brought his own mouthpiece and reeds and tried some instruments and then tested a few Selmer Concept mouthpieces and brought me the best one!  Meanwhile, I was trying the only one available in Western Canada and found that it had a slightly veiled tone due to some manufacturing flaws.  The one Joey gave me today is excellent, and sure enough all the measurements show it is made to spec!   There are students….and then there are STUDENTS!  It has been a real blessing to work with Joey and his brother Jeffrey and get to know his family.  Hard to imagine a higher or more rewarding calling than teaching….I had him sign the box and am placing it in my scrapbook as a memento of our joy in working together.  I will be balancing some reeds for it and checking out it’s sound, intonation and response for a few weeks.  Happy, happy, happy!