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Hot News June 2008
22 June 2008
29th Alumni Weekend Reunion with The United
States Military Academy Band at West Point
West Point, New York USA
The 29th Annual Reunion of Alumni from as far back as the 1940's returned to get
together with colleagues and friends while they were here. Over 100 came and
many who came for the first time were surprised by the many friends they haven't
seen in years, maybe as many as 30+. Many who left the Band in the earlier
days have moved on to the performance and Teacher professions including
Universities. As mentioned in earlier summaries, these reunions are vital
for both the veteran players and the present Band organization, as folks can see
how things have changed and still be the same in many ways. Many returnees
performed with the Band, rehearsal and all, with critical attention to the
program being performed. The level of performance was total professional class
as the concert displayed, Programs and more are in the above galleries.
The United States Military
Academy Band continued its popular Music Under the Stars concert
series on Sunday, June 22nd at West
Point’s Eisenhower Theatre Ballroom. This performance
featured the Academy Concert Band and the Field Music group “The
Hellcats” in the annual Reunion Concert. Alumni of the U.S.
Military Academy Band returning to perform with the groups included
saxophone soloist Brian Sparks. This concert was free and open to
the public.
The Academy Concert Band will open the performance with an exciting
work by Philip Sparke entitled Fiesta! Following this, the
band will be joined by the Hellcats for Jerry Bilik’s The Line.
Vocalist Sergeant First Class MaryKay Messenger will be
featured on a medley of songs from the musical Thoroughly Modern
Millie, directed by guest conductor Major Tod Addison. Sergeant
Major (retired) Robert Moon will guest conduct Albert Ketelbey’s
In A Persian Market. The concert will closed on a high note
with Sergeant First Class MaryKay Messenger performing Mark Taylor’s
arrangement of popular songs entitled Patriotic Showcase.
Soprano saxophone
soloist Brian Sparks performed Greg Pascuzzi’s Aria and
Allegro with the U.S. Military Academy Concert Band. Mr. Sparks
is an international performer of note, whose career has included
time with both the United States Military Academy Band and the
United States Coast Guard Band. A current member of the New Haven
Wind Symphony, Mr. Sparks has performed with the New York Pops, the
Long Beach Symphony Orchestra and the Rhode Island Philharmonic. In
addition to maintaining a busy performance schedule, Mr. Sparks
recently released a recording entitled Wind Voyages, with
pianist Joe Parillo and keyboardist Robert Fields.
A meeting of Alumni and and rehearsal
convened Saturday morning with a major Dinner held that night. A picnic was
held Sunday at Round Pond, a West Point Recreation area and lake, followed by
the Evening concert held at Eisenhower Hall. The performance was
landmark quality. Of interest, The USMA Band is performing 3 and 4 July with the
New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall, a major event. More information
below.
The recently incorporated Alumni Association, SGM Robert Moon, President, is
vitally interested in contacting former members to re-engage with their former
colleagues as it is important to connect and rekindle friendships. In July a
revamped website will be posted enabling members to interface with the Band
again.
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BRAMWELL TOVEY
Urban Runway
Bramwell Tovey’s Urban Runway, subtitled an
entertainment for orchestra, is a co-commission of the
New York Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and
is receiving its World Premiere performances on this
Summertime Classics program. It was composed in March
2008. Mr. Tovey describes the work as follows:
“The concept for Urban Runway grew out of an
amusing conversation with friends concerning the colorful
idiosyncrasies of those who offer their patronage to the
fashion houses on Fifth Avenue in New York or Rodeo Drive in
Los Angeles.
“New clothes, even those unseen inside designer shopping
bags, appear to influence the gait of shoppers as they strut
along the sidewalk. With a little imagination the listener
might care to speculate on the characters depicted in the
music.
“Based upon a simple ostinato figure housed in a
cakewalk rhythm, the score is laced with jazz and minimalist
flavors. A flugel horn, high clarinet, and solo trombone
introduce distinctive elements, and perhaps
characteristically, the violas take a moment to remind us of
the benefits of the ‘pre-owned’ grunge look.”
AARON COPLAND
Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo
When the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, one of the successor
companies to Diaghilev’s original Ballets Russes, was
seeking a new work from an American choreographer, it
selected the relatively unknown Agnes de Mille. Since the
piece was to have a newly- commissioned score, de Mille
selected a person she considered to be “the best” composer:
Aaron Copland, whose Billy the Kid, choreographed by Eugene
Loring in 1938, had fired imaginations. Set in the Texas of
1900, the de Mille-Copland Rodeo tells the tale of a
tomboyish cowgirl who is caught in a classic romantic
triangle with a handsome, dashing wrangler and a comical,
charming champion roper.
Into his sweeping, lyrical score, Copland wove in
traditional American folk songs, some of them played in
their entirety, for a work that evokes the broad vistas and
rough-and-tumble society of the American West. Following the
work’s highly successful premiere in 1942, Copland devised a
suite of the work for larger orchestral forces, keeping the
central scenes of the ballet intact. Four Dance Episodes
from Rodeo remains one of Copland’s best-known works. The
New York Philharmonic’s first complete performance of the
Four Dance Episodes was in April 1960, led by Leonard
Bernstein; the most recent was in July 2004, led by Bramwell
Tovey.
JOHN PHILIP SOUSA
Marches
John Philip Sousa composed songs, suites, dances, and
several notable operettas, including El Capitan
(1895), but he is overwhelmingly known for his band marches,
which earned him the nickname The March King. Within the
strictures of the traditional quickstep march, Sousa was
able to create a striking diversity of character and effect,
and his 135 marches are remarkable for their variety as well
as for their melodic invention. With their rousing energy
and patriotic titles, Sousa’s marches are quintessential
Americana; in 1987, his The Stars and Stripes Forever
was named the official National March of the United States.
The New York Symphony (which merged with the New York
Philharmonic in 1928 to form today’s New York Philharmonic)
first performed marches by Sousa in June 1901 in
Philadelphia, conducted by Walter Damrosch. The most recent
performances of Sousa marches were in July 2007, led by
Bramwell Tovey.
BRAMWELL TOVEY
British conductor Bramwell Tovey is music director of the
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO), and was recently named
principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at
the Hollywood Bowl. He works frequently with the Toronto
Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, and
Bournemouth Symphony orchestras, among many others, and has
been the conductor and host of the New York Philharmonic’s
Summertime Classics
series since its founding in 2004. His tenures with the VSO,
Luxembourg Philharmonic, and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
have showcased his expertise in the opera, choral, and
British repertoire.
Highlights of Mr. Tovey’s 2007–08 season include a 2007
Grammy Award for his recording with violinist James Ehnes
and the VSO of violin concertos by Walton, Korngold, and
Barber; a collaboration with tenor Ben Heppner and
percussionist Evelyn Glennie; a six-concert Beethoven
festival, featuring pianist Lang Lang and violinist
Anne-Sophie Mutter; and appearances with orchestras across
East Asia in the spring of 2008 in advance of the VSO’s fall
2008 tour of China.
For 12 years Bramwell Tovey served as music director of the
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, where he founded its highly
regarded New Music Festival. From 2002 to 2006, he was music
director of the Luxembourg Philharmonic. Also a composer, he
has been commissioned by the Calgary Opera to compose the
company’s third, original, full-length opera,
The Inventor, which
will premiere in January 2011, and he received the Best
Canadian Classical Composition 2003 Juno Award for his
Requiem for a Charred
Skull. Mr. Tovey is also an accomplished jazz pianist.
Bramwell Tovey has been awarded several honorary degrees,
and in 1999 he received the M.
Joan Chalmers National Award for Artistic Direction, a
Canadian prize awarded to artists for outstanding
contributions in the performing arts. He last appeared with
the New York Philharmonic in July 2007, at the Bravo! Vail
Valley Music Festival.
THE UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY BAND
The United States Military Academy Band is a direct
descendant of the small Band of Musick that had assembled at
West Point by 1817. The modest 21-piece military band of
that era has evolved into the 48-member wind band of today.
The Band’s events annually attract thousands of visitors to
the academy. The most popular of these are the summer
concerts at West Point’s Trophy Point Amphitheatre.
The Concert Band has a history marked by close associations
with renowned composers, such as the late Percy Grainger,
one of the first composers to fully utilize the unique
instrumentation of the wind ensemble and often called upon
the band at West Point to proofread his new compositions and
occasionally appeared as soloist. In 1940 the Concert Band
premiered Grainger’s Hill Song #2. The Band also enjoyed its
relationship with American composer and conductor Morton
Gould. His 1952 contribution to the sesquicentennial of the
United States Military Academy, Symphony for Band,
commissioned by the Concert Band, still stands as a staple
in the contemporary wind band repertoire. The United States
Military Academy Band last appeared with the New York
Philharmonic in December 1964, performing Berlioz’s Grande
Symphonie, led by William Steinberg. The Band is under the
direction of Lt. Col. Timothy J. Holtan,
commander/conductor.
2008 participants: Front row (left to right):
David Beech, Michael Greenwald, Lori Musicant Koch (director of clarinet
ensembles), Sarkis Hardy, Veronica Felipe, Wendy Mazon (Festival administrator.)
Back row (l to r): Vicente Ortiz Gimeno, Gayl Lohse, Vanisha Evans, Dr.
Thornhill, Alex Sramek, Tanitra Flenaugh, Jonathan Szin.
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Margaret Thornhill and Clarinet Choir
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Faculty Gary Gray, Margaret Thornhill, and Michele Zukovsky
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15 June 2008
3rd Annual
Summer Clarinet Workshop and
Claremont Clarinet Festival
June 9-15, 2008 at Pomona College, California
- Margaret Thornhill, Director
Pomona, California USA
The
Claremont Clarinet Festival, a weeklong workshop for advanced players founded by
master teacher Margaret Thornhill,
took place June 9-15,2008 on the
beautiful campus of Pomona College, in Claremont California. Twelve participants
from California,
Arizona, and Spain, performed in public
concerts and participated in daily master classes with Dr. Thornhill,and with
Gary Gray,
Professor of Clarinet at UCLA, and
Michele Zukovsky, principal clarinetist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Pianist/coaches Twyla Meyer
and Tania Fleischer worked individually
with participants and performed with them in master classes and recitals. All
participants had private
lessons with Margaret Thornhill and had
the option of extra lessons with guest coaches. Lori Musicant Koch conducted the
festival clarinet
ensemble in works for clarinet choir
including the US premiere of composer Mike Curtis's"Global Tour" for Clarinet
Choir. Additional premieres including Alex Sramek's "Super Quest Fantasy
III--Mobile Edition" and Vicente Ortiz Gimeno's transcription of the zarzuela
overture
"La Revoltosa" by Chapi.
Frances
Marsden, certified Alexander teacher, offered an introduction to Alexander
Technique for clarinetists that showed participants
how to bring the clarinet to the body,
rather than the body to the instrument, and which revealed how much better the
clarinet sounds when played
without head and neck tension.
Participant
concerts on June 13, 14, and 14 were held in the beautiful Mabel Bridges Hall of
Music and Pomona's Lyman recital hall.
Clarinetists David Beech, Vanisha Evans, Tanitra Flenaugh, Veronica Felipe,
Michael Greenwald, Sarkis Hardy, Gayl Lohse, Vicente Ortiz
Gimeno, Jonathan Szin, Alex Sramek, and staff members Wendy Mazon and Lori Koch
performed works by Arthur Benjamin, Francis Poulenc, Sergei
Slonimsky, Antoni Szalowski, Gerald Finzi, Johannes Brahms,Donald Martino,
Bohuslav Martinu, Malcolm Arnold, Carl Maria von Weber, and
others. A special treat was the performance of Valencian clarinetist, Vicente
Ortiz Gimeno, in the "Introduction y Danza" of Julian Menendez,
a virtuosic work that is a required competition piece in Spain.
Next year's
festival will take place June 7-14, 2009. Applications will be accepted
beginning January 15, 2009. An audition tape or CD is
required for all first-time applicants. For information and applications, please
visit the website:
http://www.margaretthornhill.com/SummerClarinetWorkshop.html or call:
310-464-7653.
Click Here: Check out "Richard Nunemaker Photo Galleries"
15 June 2008
Clarinet and Saxophone Workshop
'To Play is to Blow...To Blow
is to Play' of Students of
Richard Nunemaker, Bass Clarinetist in the Houston Symphony
Houston, Texas USA
This annual workshop
including students of Clarinet and Saxophone included a week of lesson, recital
preparation, and a Finale Recital covering a broad list of literature.
Richard Nunemaker, prominent Bass Clarinetist and soon to retire from the
Houston Symphony hosted this event entitled as above. The workshop was
held at the University of St Thomas where Mr Nunemaker is on faculty.
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Charles Neidich and Dr Etheridge
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Matt Vance, Buffet Director and Jenny MacClay
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Academy Clarinet Quartet after concert
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Symposium Faculty
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Stephanie Zelnick and Mike Getzin
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7 June 2008
Oklahoma University 33rd Clarinet Symposium - Dr David Etheridge, Director
Norman, Oklahoma USA
A hugely successful
Symposium at age 33 convened at this major Summer Clarinet hub attracting
students, teachers, and established professionals from all over the United
States, with performance levels bordering from stellar to shell shock. All
performances, covering a broad array of literature from all musical periods, and
including New Music, and Jazz, as brilliantly performed by Legend Jazz star
Buddy DeFranco, recipient of the Jazz Masters Fellowship from the US National
Endowment for the Arts in 2006. Many unknown artists, many holding
Professorships and Orchestral positions throughout the country performed at
superstar standard as posted programs will indicate. Many Master Classes
were held, featuring artists as Charles Neidich from Juilliard in New York, Eddy
Vanoosthyse, Solo Clarinetist in the Flemish Orchestra in Belgium and a major
Soloist and Director of a major Clarinet Choir, Howard Klug, Professor of
Clarinet at Indiana University, Fred Ormand, Professor Emeritus from the
University of Michigan, and Frank Kowalsky, Professor at Florida State
University, and Larry Guy, Professor at Vasser College in New York, and a major
Solo and Orchestral player, and an authority on the concepts and influence of
Daniel Bonade. Each of these classes were 2 hours or more in
length and intensive, covering many aspects of fundamentals on tone, proper
approaches to breath support, tonguing, musical style, building confidence, and
dispelling habits that can interfere with quality playing.
Charles Neidich Master Class and with Dr Etheridge
Eddy Vanoosthuyse Master Class
Howard Klug Master Class
Frank Kowalsky Master Class
Larry Guy Master Class
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Buffet Exhibit with Officers
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Rico Reeds
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Walter Grabner
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Backun Bells and Barrels
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Steve Clark and Tom Ridenouer
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Ben Armato, Heather Karlsson, and Mike Lomax
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Eddy Vanoosthyse at Buffet
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Repair Artisan Wojtek Komsto
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Muncy Winds
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Lomax and Dr Etheridge
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Yamaha Clarinet Displays
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Vandoren Exhibit
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Orsi-Wier Clarinets
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Norman Music
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Andino Clarinets
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Redwine Jazz
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Conductorcize and Ben Armato
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Edmond Music
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Matt Vance, Eddy Vanoosthuyse and Mike Getzin
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As with each year,
the Clarinet Industry is actively involved with exhibitions of everything from
Professional and Student instruments, Accessories such as Mouthpieces, Reeds,
other related items, Publications, Recordings, Bells, Barrels, and more.
Many directly involved in the design of new products attend to introduce new
products. Many attendees use this as an opportunity to purchase and
benefit.
Guido Six, a
renowned Clarinet Choir Director and head of the Claribel Clarinet Choir in
Ostend, Belgium, and Director of 2 ClarFests in Belgium (Ghent- 1993), and
Ostend, Belgium in 1999, conducted a Symposium Clarinet Choir with many of his
published transcriptions, all of high quality. The group gave a very
successful performance. Eddy Vanoosthyse was a soloist in Cacini's
Ave Maria, in memory of Vito Pascucci, past President of G LeBlanc in the USA.
Two
outstanding Clarinet Quartets, the Academy Quartet, with members of the United
States Military Academy Band at West Point, and the Prestige Quartet gave level
10 performances. All the quality earmarks in an ensemble were covered with
distinction. Many of the recitals given by faculty included important
chamber music literature.
The
annual Clarinet Competition was held where students and High School players
competed and awarded for their placement as winners. Ben Redwine, a graduate of
Oklahoma University and Clarinetist in the US Naval Academy Band in Annapolis,
Maryland , and a member of the Competition jury, gave out the prizes, including
a Forte C Clarinet, Reed Products given by Ben Amato, and honorable mentions.
Charles Neidich Clarinet Recital
Eddy
Vanoosthuyse Clarinet Recital
Fred Ormand Chamber Recital
Frank Kowalsky Chamber Recital
Deborah Andrus and Erica Manzo Recital
Rebecca Rischen and Marina Sturm Recitals
Stephanie Zelnick and Shannon Orme
Recitals
David Etheridge, Michael Whitmore, and
Stacy Smith (with Strings on Weber Clarinet Quintet Op 34)
Howard Klug Recital
Buddy DeFranco Jazz Concert
There were so
many high points at the concerts, and each artist had a different but special
characters. Many of the players, especially Charles Neidich, Fred Ormand,
Buddy DeFranco, Stephanie Zelnick, Frank Kowalsky, Michael Whitmore, Stacy
Smith, David Gresham, Howard Klug, Shannon Orme, Clarinetist and Bass
Clarinetist, Rebecca Rischen, Deborah Andrus, Erika Manzo, Marina Sturm, and not
be left out Eddy Vanoosthyse, and Director David Etheridge. Chamber
support with a String Quartet named the Symposium Clarinet Quartet performed
with Stacy Smith the C.M. von Weber Clarinet Quintet Op 34.
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Buddy DeFranco and Charles Neidich
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Steve Clark, Mr Dworken, Nen Armato and Mike Getzin
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Wojtek Kostek and Charles Neidich
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DrOrmand, wife, Pianist and Neidich
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Jenny MaClay and Mike Getzin
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One of the
very attractive aspects of this conference is the friendly informal quality ever
present. Everyone mingles and affects each other plus the superstar performances
by many of the finest players in the country. Several faculty are
world-class soloists and they freely shared their gifts with anyone who asked.
Master classes told it all. After hours, the partying was also
inspirational, when one dines with several like interested colleagues.
For this and many other reasons, attendance each year is an absolute must come.
As Oklahoma City is a central geographic point in the US, everyone should be
able to come. Dr Etheridge has directed and developed this program his
whole career for 33 years, one major committed accomplishment for the Clarinet
Community. Dr Etheridge is an appointed WKA Artist VIP.
Copyright © 1999 WKA-Clarinet.org. All rights reserved.
Revised:
September 07, 2008