Ronald Caravan (born November 20, 1946) is an American classical musician.
Most of Caravan's teaching career has been with the faculty of the Setnor School of Music at Syracuse University from 1980 to 2015, where he taught clarinet and saxophone and conducted the Syracuse University Saxophone Ensemble.
[2] Caravan's published teaching materials include Preliminary Exercises & Etudes in Contemporary Techniques for Clarinet (Ethos Publications, 1979) and Preliminary Exercises & Etudes in Contemporary Techniques for Saxophone (Dorn Publications, 1980), both derived from his doctoral dissertation Extensions of Technique for Clarinet and Saxophone (1974), dealing with the study of multiphonics, quarter tones, and timbre variation.
Some of his most noteworthy compositions for clarinet or saxophone use these extended techniques although several of his more conservative (and tonal) pieces for the single-reed instruments have gained wide popularity [citation needed], especially his four sonatas for soprano (1984), baritone (1989), alto (2004), and tenor (2007) saxophones, which are based on traditional modes or variants thereof.
In addition to performing solo and chamber-music recitals on both clarinet and saxophone throughout his career, he has performed regularly with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra (more recently named Symphoria) on both clarinet and saxophone.