When Doreen Ketchens of New Orleans plays the clarinet, she often takes on the look — and sound — of a trumpet player, holding her horn up in the air. It’s no wonder. Her role model was Louis Armstrong.

Sarah Medwick, a 15-year-old sophomore at Sulphur High School, interviewed Ketchens recently.

Medwick, a clarinetist and a JITA participant, had met Ketchens previously and had a brief lesson with her. JITA founders Chester and Pat Daigle suggested she meet with Ketchens in New Orleans ahead of the concert.

Ketchens told Medwick that when she was growing up, female clarinet players were common. “As a matter of fact, there were more girls than there were boys,” Ketchens said. “But as I went through college and into performing there were hardly any.”

She told Medwick that she developed her own musical style after she began to perform.

“I didn’t like clarinet players I had heard. Their tones were bad and their technique was not that great,” Ketchens said. “I started listening to Louis Armstrong. I started copying him. I could relate to him really well. It was motivation.”

When Ketchens is in the studio or in front of a microphone, she keeps her clarinet lowered. But in other cases, she said,“my horn is up in the air.”

“When we first started playing music and playing big band for the brass players, you couldn’t get over the brass players with the horn down, so it just happened — up went the horn,” Ketchens said. “It is all God; it is not me. God helped me figure out what I had to do.”

Ketchens has performed on 22 albums and has taught others how to play New Orleans songs. Among her favorite songs, she said, are those that turn people’s heads.“‘La Vie En Rose’ — I love this song because when we start playing it people stop and turn around. It is one of those songs,” she said. “‘House of the Rising Sun,’ that is another one.”

Ketchens offered advice for people interested in a career in the music industry.

“I would suggest you go in strong and do not let anyone deter you,” she said. “Have faith in yourself and practice really hard. You are going to have to be three or four times better than the next guy just to get noticed, and that is the honest truth.”

Online: www.jazzinthearts.com.