weber, who long had an interest in teaching clarinet, devoted himself to teaching at columbia university and the juilliard school of music after leaving the new york city ballet orchestra in 1986. many of his students became prominent clarinetists themselves and teachers in the united states and other countries. former students currently occupy chairs in the cleveland orchestra, dallas symphony, rochester philharmonic, and milwaukee symphony and include noted soloist jon manasse and jazz clarinetist kenny davern, who initially studied saxophone in the same building that weber taught in, only to become mesmerized by the sound of the clarinet playing coming from weber's studio. the jazz clarinetist benny goodman also studied under weber, who claimed goodman never paid him and took his best reeds.