Doreen Ketchens Performance with Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra 

One of the greatest clarinet solos of all times. She sings the clarinet like it's an extension of her body and soul. Outstanding performance!

Miss Doreen getting the respect she so richly deserves.

She IS the music. She doesn't "play" the clarinet, she channels her SOUL through it. Wow.

Having just been at the world's biggest artificial intelligence conference in New Orleans, the most impressive thing I saw the entire time was Doreen playing on the corner of Royal.

As a person who makes a part of their living playing the clarinet, I have been a huge fan of this woman for years. She is able to do things with the clarinet that are truly beyond even the highest-caliber of training available - in other words: you cannot teach what Doreen is capable of doing. Having seen almost all of the videos of her playing on the streets and shredding (she also is an amazing vocalist), what really strikes me in this video is how incredibly humble she is. You can tell that she was humbled to be playing a solo in front of a major orchestra, even though she absolutely stole the show and totally belongs right there in front. She barely knew how to take the roaring standing ovation she received, yet she truly is a god amongst this genre of clarinet playing. This is a musician that one can only aspire to emulate. I’ll keep trying.

You know a soloist is THE SHIT when the conducter steps aside so everyone can see this raw one of a kind talent

If you see her street performing on Royal or in Jackson Square on a Sunday, plant your butts on the curb and listen for a while. You are SUPER lucky to see her live street performances.

For years of my life, I have heard MANY soloists of different instruments, some good some bad. But I have never once heard of someone as musically talented and remarkable as Doreen. Mind that this is coming from a musical snob. Doreen, I personally don’t believe in talent, only hard work, but after hearing this performance I now believe two new things. One, if there isn’t talent, then Doreen is the hardest working musician I have ever encountered. And two, If talent does exist, Doreen has a true gift from god. Doreen, you deserve so much more recognition.

When you hear “whoos” in an orchestral concert, something truly special is happening.

Outstanding. She's incredible. I'd never heard of her. Thanks algorithm.

she was born to be a musician. as a musician, I am in tears because of how moved I am by the sheer emotion and passion she plays with. no amount of theory classes, degrees of whatever can teach what she has. she has a pure connection with music and that's what it's all about. when you tap into the feeling that she is experiencing it is the most insane life-changing feeling that anyone can ever truly feel. That feeling is what made me fall in love with my art for real. she is one of a kind sol and human with such a powerful connection to her art. I could rave about this performance for ages. THIS is what music is about everyone. for anyone who doesn't play an instrument... this is why we musicians do what we do. truly amazing.

Legend says her clarinet can do anything. Shop for groceries, build a barn, tap dance, play golf and even play music.

Doreen Ketchen on clarinet is like Jimmy Hendrix on guitar. Nothing but a pure authentic spiritual gift of music. I have been playing instruments for 43 years. I never ever heard anyone sound like this on a clarinet. She made the clarinet sexy!! 🎶🎵🎼

OMG she's not blowing with her lungs. She's blowing with her soul ❤❤💯🔥

her playing makes me tear up for no reason. it feels like she’s speaking straight to my soul

As a clarinetist of 40 years, I proclaim this woman needs a glass crystal mouthpiece or clarinet! Imagine!!

mrs doreen is my idol, i am 11 years old and just started learning clarinet and came across doreen and i can’t even imagine how long this took and how much practice this would take. i know i’m going to be like doreen when i am older!

*youre never hear a clarinets in a same way after this*

What a charming,humble lady-considering she is arguably the greatest clarinetist in the world.

It’s even more insane that she was able to keep rhythm so perfectly when all of those people started clapping off beat. I would’ve been so mad lol.

This lady made me cry. There’s a lot of soul in that tune. Bravo!

Less than 10 seconds after she starts playing, she is so completely lost in the music, it gives me goosebumps watching her play. Not many people out there can bare their soul in their music the way she does. She was born to do this, thank god we have Doreen.

She plays like the clarinet like it's a voice her mind is yearning for, but her body is incapable of producing, and the two, at last, have found themselves together. That's the best way I can put it. It was absolutely beautiful. Flawless.

This is probably the best clarinet solo in the history of the world.

I've NEVER heard somebody work a clarinet quite like she does, she's truly amazing.

l couldn't hold back the tears! 😭 She beat my emotional vocabulary. In her own world, she took me out of mine. A legend, she is!

She deserves her name written in the clouds with all the other great musicians of history. I'm so glad she's alive during our time. I'm ashamed to be just now learning about her.

The Clarinet Playing is OUTSTANDING, but can we also take a moment to talk about the top! Doreen... why did you not only have to slay the song you had to slay the fashion game too. She is unstoppable.

And out she comes, sparkling in gold like the queen she is. :-)

i’ve never heard someone play a clarinet like that!! she’s a baller

She has to be one of the best musicians alive today. Every. Single. Note. Has more passion, love and soul than most of us can play an entire song

😢 God just creates people that walk around with all that in them. Another level.

I actually cried - even more so since I had seen her video playing on the street, and was asking myself "why is she not performing in the greatest concert halls??" She literally prays through this clarinet. People like her are a gift from God Almighty to inspire us all.

she plays as natural as if she's having a conversation, its truly awe inspiring! thank you for sharing your wonderful music with us, miss ketchens!

those top notes after 3:00 might be the most beautiful sounds I've ever heard from a clarinet!

When a persons playing makes you cry, thats when you just know that have "it". Amazing work.

As someone who didn't conform to standard orchestra "rules" and "etiquettes" for classical music I can assure you She got kicked out of many bands/orchestras for playing exactly like this. I'm just so glad she never gave up!

Didn't even know a clarinet could sound like this! You make it sing! I got no words to express how impressive this is!

SHE EATS EVERY. TIME. NO CRUMBS LEFT!! there is NO ONE that can play like this!!! SHE IS THE MOMENT!! a TRUE ICON!!!! we STAN CLARINET QUEEN DOREEN!!!! YES MAAAMMM💗💗

She ate this. I don't think I can explain what I just experienced in words. Also...why are my eyes sweating? Those can't be tears...can they?

I bet the orchestra never heard clarinet playing like that. Truly awesome and she clearly played with Love.

I cried from the admiration of the director, her humbleness, and her clearly amazing talent. Just a heart felt, warming, beautiful, spirit lifting, emotional performance. She is the greatest Jazz Clarinetist of all time.👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏We Salute You!

She is able to touch the rare space between brain and heart in her solo.

She was so good it made me actually cry.

"What if Louis Armstrong's parents gave him a clarinet instead of a cornet?" That's the kind of talent she has.

I attended Bonnabel High School in Kenner, LA from 1998-2000. I was a clarinet player. Had I known of Ms. Doreen, I think I would have kept playing. Twenty years later, I have picked up my clarinet again. I never knew a clarinet could make these tones. Thanks for sharing this God-given gift Ms. Doreen!

Doreen Ketchens is every nuance of New Orleans jazz embodied in a single individual. Just listening to her play and you can see yourself strolling down the rue with a parasol in one hand and a Hurricane in the other.

you know something is special when the orchestra audience claps on the beat like it's a rock concert

This is crazy, I didn't even know a Clarinet could sound anything like this much less serve as such a powerful lead instrument. She is incredible!

Are you reduced to tears, within three minutes, or just me?

She is a goddess! Every time I listen to her play or sing, I just can't stop crying. I mean literally! Tears just flow from my eyes and I can't handle it! Such soulful and really... intellectual music. Sometimes you can find a lot of rubbish on RU-vid, but there are also real treasures! And I am happy that now, living in a small Belarusian town, I can listen to this brilliant musician!

This woman deserves so much. I used to have different heroes in life. At middle age, as i learn what's really important in life, Doreen is my new hero.

As a jazz clarinetist this woman is such an inspiration. I wish one day to ever be as good a player a Ms. Ketchens. She's so into all the music she makes and it honestly soothes my soul in a way nothing but good playing can

6:47 That note, the dynamics, the chord, the intensity. It was like the ancestors were with her. Almost made me lose it. 😢😢 Great Piece!

I’ve never heard anything so amazing in my 50 year old life, I had tears welling up. Just incredible, bravo!

I keep trying and failing to watch this without bursting into tears. The beautiful music, her exploding passion. How fortunate we are to have her.

Who's here in 2021? Awesome Performance !! My son sent this to me and I've got to share it too!! What a Treasure she is. I could listen to this all Day!!

She deserved that standing ovation. Amazing

The way she shreds on the clarinet is so God sent.. idk the technique of it but wow

I have never heard the clarinet played like this, she is beyond amazing. This woman had a gift straight from the Lord!

I’ve been a musician since the age of five. I’ve never been more moved by a performer in my entire life. As a Black woman, my heart SANG watching this. THIS is the kind of woman I a sprite to be. Thank you so much for this beautiful gift Doreen. You are the magic of music. 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🥳🥳🥳🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

I'm not religious but some people are touched by God or some special light. Doreen makes me feel like I have a direct peek into heaven. Wow.

In an instant, one musician with a clarinet made an entire orchestra disappear. I was completely lost in your performance, Miss Ketchens.

Dear god. I don’t think I’ve ever bawled my eyes out from the start of a song until the end but here I am, sobbing. Doreen’s music touches my soul in an indescribable way and stirs emotions i haven’t felt in years. What a gift to the world. This is unbound, pure talent.

If I’d have known it could sound like that when I was a kid in music class wishing I had a flute instead of a clarinet, I would have been going home begging my parents to buy me one. I am so grateful to be able to hear Doreen play, it’s truly as though this instrument was made for her.

Damn, this is one of the greatest performances I've ever seen in my life. I can't stop smiling, I'm sooo happy right now!!!

I’ve only had tears caused from something so beautiful 3 times in my life and this is one of them.

Oh my goodness!!! This woman almost made me cry that was so beautiful! I’ve NEVER heard a clarinet played like that before. I played clarinet in jr high but I was an amateur lol 😂. She made the instrument talk and sing lol 😂! I sat with my eyes closed so I could hear every note and watched a third time with my eyes open. Got to show my daughter this video. I live in Louisiana and have family in New Orleans but I’ve never heard of this woman. I feel ashamed lol 😂! Off to do research for a homeschool lesson!

Her eyes are squeezed shut. That is coming straight from her soul.

I'm in AWE. Not the kind of awe people over state when they say something is awesome... I mean, truly in AWE. I had NO IDEA the clarinet could be played this way. Doreen, you are amazing.

Catching her on the street in New Orleans was amazing. I have still never heard anyone play a clarinet the way she does! Absolutely amazing. Real chills, every time.

Just watched this for the first time, with my family, and my reaction was, “I don’t know how the audience are not all in tears right now.” I don’t remember ever being moved this much by a musical experience before.

Doreen plays clarinet the way she sings. With heart and soul in very note. As a clarinetist, I just love her playing. Her improvisation is on a whole new level from anything I've seen. Her amazing technique, her brilliant tone, her amazing altissimo notes, and so much more. I can't fault it, and I don't think anyone can. Absolutely beautiful Doreen!

I am a grown man of 39 years on this earth and I hate to cry......this opened up the waterworks. What magnificent, soulful, virtuosic, technical, smooth, singing clarinet this woman plays. My GOD. I might have to pull out my clarinet and start playing again!!!

Crazy that I am hearing one of the greatest clarinet players to ever live right at home. I am lucky. I should get back to practicing.

Doreen is the best in the word. She brings new life to every song with every breath and every note. She is a gift from God. ❤

I want to see her live before I die

A black woman playing her soul and heart out through an instrument, making the Good Lord so proud. We need more of this in America.

Somebody send this video to the Library of Congress! It needs to preserved forever on the grounds of being culturally significant. Perhaps one of the greatest live performances in history. Side-note: my clarinet arrived today and one day I hope to be 1/1000th as good as Doreen

This was absolutely the most amazing piece of musical talent I have ever witnessed. You just know Louis Armstrong and all the greats of the past are watching down with the biggest smiles in their souls. This is the kind of talent that streams tears out without your control. Perfection

Ooooooh myyyyyyyyy GOD!!!!!!! She is absolutely amazingly marvelous!!!! I am Arab and from Saudi Arabia and never took the clarinet seriously, but Doreen Ketchens I will never forget your name!

Truly one of the greatest clarinet players of all time.

Doreen is truly a treasure of New Orleans. She deserves to have a statue of her right next to that of the great Satchmo.

Omg. Hairs standing on end and mind blown. Such skill!

Burst into tears because it truly felt like I was transported into a painting of the streets of New Orleans in 1920... It sounded like a memory. Breathtaking. Thank you.

Why isn't she on NPR Tiny Desk yet?

I’m just happy the crowd is clapping in time tbh

I just discovered Doreen, and to say I am blown into an entirely new stratosphere, would be an understatement!!!!!! I have not picked up my clarinet in many years, but it is TIME!!! Doreen, if you happen to see this, your playing is other-worldly, and I can't wait to deep dive your performances, and bawl my eyes out!!! You are a clarinet GODDESS!!!!

gosh. Doreen must be one of the best living jazz clarinet players in the world. Not just her technique is incredibly refined, but her mind for improv is just flat out incredible. I hope the other musicians there that day learned something about improv in the jazz world from absolute legend Doreen Ketchens

I just want to see her play live before i go to the great beyond. She is a phenomenal musician. Jizzz

I'm having a bad day. Scratch that, a bad year... scratch that, I've had a tough life and I AM TIRED. But this woman sings straight to my soul and I'm so happy for her... Life's a mystery and it hurts but we can always sing and dance.

I just discovered this gem, by the magic of RU-vid. I live in France, it's midnight right now, and I am just in absolute awe. Thank you madam.

Damn it's 2021 and i'm just now hearing about Ms Doreens💖💖💖

I very rarely will ever tear up over a musical performance. That was utterly amazing. The incredible skill of a trained musician with the raw emotion of a blues street performer. Just incredible. You can tell when a performer is awesome when you look at the other musicians on the stage and they are smiling and drawn in the same way as the audience is. Just WOW!!!

Besides the INCREDIBLE all around playing, I just want to say I love the adorable little thumbs-ups she gives. She truly comes across so humble and sincere, just there to play the instrument she clearly loves.

Y'all, bow down to this woman right here!!!! I just went on a journey listening to this woman play! I felt like I left my body and became a ghost hovering over a rainy afternoon in New Orleans for a few minutes there and I've never even been there yet! When a musician can remove you from reality, they are doing something magical, and this performance here... was nothing short of magical.

Holy Jesus. Chills. Tears. Knotty throat. Wow!!!

How she can soar over the whole orchestra is so amazing

It slays me seeing her get this respect in a formal setting... wholesome.

to this day this has to be one of the most incredible things I've ever heard, and I've seen a lot of world class players both live and online but no comes close