ClarinetFest Day 3
I was able to make my way to one of the lectures in the morning, given by Larry Guy on teaching the Rose 40 Studies and 32 Etudes. He had some wonderful ideas on how to work with middle and high school students, especially with the 40 studies. He stressed having the student actually play the subdivisions instead of just counting them aloud. This way, the student is able to internalize the pulse. I use this with my students but he then proceeded to make correlations between the etudes and major clarinet works such as Premiere Rhapsodie (16th note passages), and Weber's Second Concerto (large intervals). Larry then spent a little time on the 32 etudes, which he said are to be used as more of stand along performance pieces. I think I need to go get his book. I'm sure it can only better my teaching.
In the final round the excerpt competition, I felt just a good about my playing except for the Brahms Haydn Variations. The excerpt from Don Juan, beginning at rehearsal letter P, rocked! My little blips and fumbles were overshadowed by my style, which I think really saved me. I ended up winning second place and Emilio won first place! Just goes to show me that I've got to nail everything the first time, even with nerves. He didn't miss a thing (according to my father who sat through the entire final round).
I was very glad to have that out of the way. Peter Wright, who coordinated the competition, was mentioning that he felt the prize money wasn't enough for the orchestral competition. I suggested that since the competition is done by mid-afternoon on Friday, why not have the four finalist perform in a masterclass on Saturday with a major orchestral clarinetist, like Stephen Williamson, Richie Hawley, Greg Raden, Alcides Rodriguez, or (you get the idea!). That way the prize money can stay the same and the finalist can gain more than simply winning money.
Peter brought it up at the ICA meeting and it was a hit! Hooray! And to top it off, they're adding bass clarinet excerpt to the competition next year. Sweet!
So needless to say, I felt really good for the rest of the day.
After the competition, I ran over the catch the Bass Clarinet Blowout recital. I missed the beginning but managed to catch Rocco Parisi playing the first solo written for bass, from the opera Emma d'Antiochia. He made the bass seem so effortless, especially the altissimo. Bass clarinet never sounded so good. Well, that is until Alcides performed, but I'll get to that later!
Richard Nunemaker sounded wonderful on Improvisations on Lines Where Beauty Begins and Timothy Bonenfant played Treny-Laments by Virko Baley (originally written for solo contra bassoon!). The next two pieces left a bit to be desired so I'll skip right to the final piece, which was hilarious! The work was called The Kaleidoscopic Pocket Hockets Boogaloo by Arthur Gottschalk and included all eight bass clarinetist and two contras. The best part wasn't just the Chick Corea references but the movements the ensemble employed. As the contras played a great grove riff, the bass clarinets acted like back up singers and moved from side to side. Pretty darn hilarious, since they were all serious about it. That's always the best!
Sadly, I did not get to catch Corrado Giuffredi performing with Eddie Daniels and Ricardo Morales. It would have been nice to see them all on the same stage but I was dying to finally get to the exhibit hall to try some equipment out.
Side note: I'm doing a write up for the Clarinet Cache on new and interesting equipment of note at the festival, which I will post later.
The evening concert was full of varied solos for the clarinet. Everything from Solo de Concurs to the new Ticheli Clarinet Concerto was played. Julian Bliss performed the Solo de Concurs but the band overpowered him. It just works better with piano, in my opinion. Robert Spring performed Scott McAllister's Black Dog. I enjoyed hearing the work performed by the person it was originally written for. Spring is crazy good. It was really cool to hear Alexander Fiterstein perform a rather new work called Bennu's Fire.
Hakan Rosengren rocked out on Ticheli's Clarinet Concerto! Each movement was dedicated to a different major clarinet work. The first movement was a homage to Rhapsody in Blue, the second to Copland's Clarinet concerto and the third to Bernstein's Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs.
It was a very impressive concert. I felt inspired to try new music. =)
In the final round the excerpt competition, I felt just a good about my playing except for the Brahms Haydn Variations. The excerpt from Don Juan, beginning at rehearsal letter P, rocked! My little blips and fumbles were overshadowed by my style, which I think really saved me. I ended up winning second place and Emilio won first place! Just goes to show me that I've got to nail everything the first time, even with nerves. He didn't miss a thing (according to my father who sat through the entire final round).
I was very glad to have that out of the way. Peter Wright, who coordinated the competition, was mentioning that he felt the prize money wasn't enough for the orchestral competition. I suggested that since the competition is done by mid-afternoon on Friday, why not have the four finalist perform in a masterclass on Saturday with a major orchestral clarinetist, like Stephen Williamson, Richie Hawley, Greg Raden, Alcides Rodriguez, or (you get the idea!). That way the prize money can stay the same and the finalist can gain more than simply winning money.
Peter brought it up at the ICA meeting and it was a hit! Hooray! And to top it off, they're adding bass clarinet excerpt to the competition next year. Sweet!
So needless to say, I felt really good for the rest of the day.
After the competition, I ran over the catch the Bass Clarinet Blowout recital. I missed the beginning but managed to catch Rocco Parisi playing the first solo written for bass, from the opera Emma d'Antiochia. He made the bass seem so effortless, especially the altissimo. Bass clarinet never sounded so good. Well, that is until Alcides performed, but I'll get to that later!
Richard Nunemaker sounded wonderful on Improvisations on Lines Where Beauty Begins and Timothy Bonenfant played Treny-Laments by Virko Baley (originally written for solo contra bassoon!). The next two pieces left a bit to be desired so I'll skip right to the final piece, which was hilarious! The work was called The Kaleidoscopic Pocket Hockets Boogaloo by Arthur Gottschalk and included all eight bass clarinetist and two contras. The best part wasn't just the Chick Corea references but the movements the ensemble employed. As the contras played a great grove riff, the bass clarinets acted like back up singers and moved from side to side. Pretty darn hilarious, since they were all serious about it. That's always the best!
Sadly, I did not get to catch Corrado Giuffredi performing with Eddie Daniels and Ricardo Morales. It would have been nice to see them all on the same stage but I was dying to finally get to the exhibit hall to try some equipment out.
Side note: I'm doing a write up for the Clarinet Cache on new and interesting equipment of note at the festival, which I will post later.
The evening concert was full of varied solos for the clarinet. Everything from Solo de Concurs to the new Ticheli Clarinet Concerto was played. Julian Bliss performed the Solo de Concurs but the band overpowered him. It just works better with piano, in my opinion. Robert Spring performed Scott McAllister's Black Dog. I enjoyed hearing the work performed by the person it was originally written for. Spring is crazy good. It was really cool to hear Alexander Fiterstein perform a rather new work called Bennu's Fire.
Hakan Rosengren rocked out on Ticheli's Clarinet Concerto! Each movement was dedicated to a different major clarinet work. The first movement was a homage to Rhapsody in Blue, the second to Copland's Clarinet concerto and the third to Bernstein's Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs.
It was a very impressive concert. I felt inspired to try new music. =)