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Hot News October 2007
28 October 2007
John Bruce Yeh,
Associate Solo Clarinetist in Chicago Symphony, performing Carl Maria von
Weber's Concertino Op 26 and the Debussy Premiere Rhapsody with the Lakeshore
Symphony Orchestra
Chicago, Illinois USA
Chicago Symphony's Associate Solo
Clarinetist John Bruce Yeh, gave a remarkable performance with the Lakeshore
Symphony Orchestra of Chicago, consisting of professionals and amateurs selected
by audition only. The program consisted of works of Claude Debussy -
Premiere Rhapsody, the Carl Maria von Weber Concertino Op 26, both
performed by Mr Yeh, The Walton Crown Imperial, and the Elgar Enigma Variations.
Mr Yeh is in demand as a soloist and is involved in New Music and Chamber music
activities outside his schedule at the Chicago Symphony.
27 October 2007
Charles
Neidich Soloist with the Alabama Symphony in the Copland Clarinet Concerto
Performed 26 - 27 October 2007 and Master Class at University of Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama USA
A landmark performance of the famous Clarinet Concerto of Aaron Copland was
performed here on 2 evenings with super-star soloist Charles Neidich, performing
the original version which predates the published one. This original version was
more difficult, especially in the high register ranges which Benny Goodman
deemed unplayable, hence the other version everyone plays. Mr Neidich
performed in top form playing this work memorized and seemingly without nerve or
insecurity. One couldn't ask for a more definative performannce. A
standing ovation roared as the piece ended. As a soloist I can only
consider that he is one of the top soloists alive on this instrument.
The Orchestra gave solid support and was flexible in lines and followed Mr
Neidich with precision and soul.
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Dr Gainey Class Introduction
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Charles Neidich and Mike Getzin
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The following morning, Mr Neidich gave a 3 hour Master Class for students at the
UAB School of Music hosted by Clarinet Professor Denise Gainey, who has held
events before such as the UAB Clarinet Retreat held in March. As a leading
teacher in Birmingham, she had several students and more from the immediate area
perform and be coached by Mr Neidich, covering fundamentals, especially
understanding how overtones work on the Clarinet, and how to produce them to
improve one's playing and voicing of one's tone quality. Other tips included how
to hold the instrument and be less dependent on things like neck straps holding
the horn rather than supporting it yourself, a problem with a few students.
Musicianship was emphasized and analyses were made about musical style and
interpretation of repertoire, especially the Stravinsky 3 Pieces, Weber
Concertino, and problems dealing with edited editions. The
affect of his coaching made changes almost immediate in several of the students.
Information about the soloist contained below.
Hailed by the New Yorker as " a master of his instrument and beyond a
clarinetist”, Charles Neidich has been described as one of the most mesmerizing
musicians performing before the public today. He regularly appears as soloist
and as collaborator in chamber music programs with leading ensembles including
the Saint Louis Symphony, Minneapolis Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and
the Juilliard, Guarneri, Brentano, American, Mendelssohn, Carmina, Colorado, and
Cavani String Quartets. Mr. Neidich has performed throughout Europe, Asia, and
the United States, and is a sought after participant in many summer festivals
around the world.
Mr. Neidich is also an ardent exponent of
modern music and has premiered works by Milton Babbitt, Elliott Carter, Edison
Denisov, Helmut Lachenmann, William Schuman, Ralph Shapey, Joan Tower, Katia
Tchemberdji, Vasilii Lobanov and others. He has championed John Corigliano's
Concerto, performing it throughout the United States- notably with the Syracuse
and Jacksonville Symphonies in performances many have called definitive. His
recordings are available on the Sony Classical, Sony Vivarte, Deutsche
Grammophon, Musicmasters, Hyperion, and Bridge labels. For Aaron Copland's
centennial, he released the world premiere recording of his reconstruction of
the original version of Copland's Clarinet Concerto with “I Musici di Montreal”
for the Chandos label.
Mr. Neidich has turned his attention in a serious way to conducting, and has
appeared with the Avanti Chamber Orchestra, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Helsinki, the
Kirishima Festival in Japan, with the New World and the San Diego Symphonies (in
a triple role of conductor, soloist, and composer), and in Bulgaria with the
Plovdiv State Philharmonic.
Very active in education, Charles Neidich is on the faculties of
the Juilliard School,
Queens College
of the City University of New York,
the Manhattan School,
and
the Mannes College of Music,
and has held visiting positions at the Sibelius Academy in Finland, the Yale
School of Music, and Michigan State University. He is in demand for master
classes and has devised innovative lecture concerts. With his wife,
Ayako Oshima,
he has published a book on the basics of clarinet technique for a Japanese
publisher, TOA Ongaku Inc. Recently, Charles Neidich was the recipient of
the William Schuman Award
given by the Juilliard School for
outstanding performance and scholarship.
21 October 2007
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Clarinet day Faculty
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Jessica Phillips, Michael Norsworthy, and Tom Martin
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Ian Greitzer in Master Class
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Jon Cohler in Class session
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Ian Greitzer and 2 Master Class
Students
Jonathan Cohler Master Class
Jessica Phillips Master Class session
Tom Martin Master Class
Michael Norsworthy New Music
Master Class
A momentous inaugeral event convened at this respected
Conservatory under Faculty Clarinetist Michael Norsworthy, one of the most
respected performers and icons of New Music, having performed premieres of new
works on a constant basis. The day went by very quickly, with Master
Classes from a stellar faculty of major players and teachers from Boston and New
York. Photo Galleries tell the story of their impact on students who
performed under fast paced conditions in coaching and keeping up with the ideas
told by the teachers. Quality of students and participants attending was
very high. Faculty included Director Michael Norsworthy, Jonathan Cohler from
the Longy School of Music in Boston, Jessica Phillips, 2nd / Eb Clarinetist in
the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York, Tom Martin, Solo Clarinetist in
the Boston Pops and 2nd / Eb in the Boston Symphony, and Ian Greitzer, Bass
Clarinetist in the Boston Symphony.
Major
Instrument makers and Accessory providers came to contribute to the success of
this Day, and interest was high, as players had the opportunity to have tryouts
of Clarinets, check accessories, reeds, mouthpieces, cases for reeds, Repair
specialists were available to spot check and fix minor Clarinet problems, and
new ideas were introduced that caught interest for all who came.
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Master Class Schedule
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Recital Program
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Faculty Recital with Jon Cohler, Michael
Norsworthy, Jessica Phillips, and Tom Martin
The
above galleries have details about the programs, performers, Master Class
activities, and Recital given by the Faculty today. Of special note is
that the Clarinet Day was dedicated to the memory of Boston Clarinetist and
Teacher Julie Anne Vaverka, who died of Cancer 5 October. Announcement was
made by Director Mr Norsworthy, and many from this area had a special bond with
this woman who had a profound influence on many Clarinetists and musicians here.
The success of this Clarinet Day will surely anticipate another event next year
and credit is due for the highly professional management of this event by Mike
Norsworthy.
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Harvey Hermann and Host William Blayney
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DiLutis Class
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13 - 14 October 2007
Buffet-Crampon/Vandoren
3rd Clarinet Choir Festival
Seattle, Washington USA
Two years ago,
Buffet-Crampon and Vandoren, under the management of Francois Kloc, Michael
Skinner, and Director Mitchell Estrin as Director, launched this annual event
with the purpose of making the Clarinet Choir movement in the USA energized with
quality performances and proactive promotion of this medium. This being
the 3rd Festival, was a huge success in Seattle held at the Broadway Performance
Center with 8 Guest ensembles from all over the country, and a Mass Clarinet
Choir led by Meastro Harvey Hermann, one of the legend Directors who has been
responsible for the transcription of hundreds of Orchestral works and has led
ensembles from his home base at the University of Illinois at Champaign while he
was on the Music faculty. Over 300 participants came and performed,
rehearsed, visited exhibits from Buffet and Vandoren, and had the opportunity to
enjoy all the advantages of interaction. Clarinet sales were high as
players took advantage of availability of quality instruments displayed.
Troubleshooting and instrument repair was provided by Buffet and the event
enjoyed National prominence by the heads of the companies being present.
Admission for players was free like the previous 2 Festivals, indicating a high
commitment to see success.
Clinicians from
Buffet and Vandoren included Jon Manasse from the NY City Ballet Orchestra, and
Faculty at the Eastman School of Music, who performed the Mozart Clarinet
Concerto this weekend with the Seattle Symphony, and gave a major Master Class
the first day of this Festival. Host William Blayney and Director Mitchell
Estrin led the program and ran a logistically smooth program making the event
well organized and beneficial for all participants.
More information
is forthcoming along with photo galleries detailing the performing ensembles.
More information will later be posted on the Clarinet Choir News Page.
Joze Kotar, Primo Borali, Luis Carlos Badia,
Fabio Di Càsola, Antonio Tinelli, and the seven finalists of the Senior
Competition prize winners of the Mercadante Competition who took place in Noci ,
Puglia South part of Italy,from the 11th till the 14 of October with fifty
participants from Georgia, USA, Austria, Bulgaria, South Korea, Italy, France,
Belgium, Israel, Russia, Switzerland, Hungary, Serbia, Monte Carlo and Greece
11 -14 October 2007
Mercandente Clarinet
Competition
Bari, Italy
Winners
of the Mercadante Competition that took place in Noci, Puglia South part of
Italy, from the 11th till the 14 of October
with fifty participants from Georgia, USA, Austria, Bulgaria, South Korea,
Italy, France, Belgium, Israel, Russia, Switzerland, Hungary, Serbia, Monte
Carlo and Greece.
-Category Junior : two second prizes ex-aequo to Gambardella Calogero (Italy)
and Presti Calogero (Italy) and a third prize to Borghi Stefano (Italy);
-Chamber music : TRIO SOFIA (Justin O’Dell – clarinet, Borislava Iltcheva –
violin, Akiko Konishi - piano) from Bulgaria ,second prize to the HUNGARIAN
CLARINET DUO (Unghery) Peter Szücs and Gabòr Galavics .They also won the prize
from the Critic.
Finalists of the Category Senior :Galavics Gabor (Hungary), Horvath Gabor
(Hungary)), Jahaziel Becerril Marin (Mexico), Kang Hyo-Jin (South Korea),
Karalis Merkurius (Greece), Naglieri Michele (Italy), Schaked Gil (Israel).
1° prize :Karalis Merkurius from Greece
2° prize :Shaked Gil from Israel
3° prize :Jahaziel Becerril Marin from Mexico
The jury was :Fabio Di Cásola,Luis Carlos Badia, Primo Borali ,Joze Kotar,
Antonio Tinelli
Jury for the prize of the critic :
Nicola Sbisà, Maurilio Manca e Nunzio Longo.
12 October 2007
Geneva, Switzerland
The above
Competition, held to Clarinetists every few years along with other rotating
years for other instruments, is one of the most prestegious of world
competitions with an International jury of artists judging the applicants.
Winning this Competition is an open door to a successful Solo career that
soloists strive to attain. Information and details are posted below and on
the Official site linked above..
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What is the Geneva Competition
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| The Geneva Competition is a private
Foundation whose objective is to organize and operate an annual music
competition in Geneva.
The Foundation is subsidized by the Geneva public authorities:
- City of Geneva Cultural Affairs Department
- Canton of Geneva Public Education Department, Cultural Affairs
Service
The Geneva Competition Foundation is managed by a Board in which are
represented its primary partners: the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Grand
Théâtre of Geneva and Geneva Conservatory.
The Foundation has an Artistic Committee that selects the competition
disciplines, the jury members and the programmes.
The Geneva Competition is also supported during the organization of
the annual competition by the Association of Friends of the Geneva
International Music Competition.
Finally, the Secretariat, headed by the Secretary General, is
responsible for the running of the Competition. |
Geneva International Music
Competition 2007
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Revised: January 15, 2008
