Tag Archives: Woodwinds

Wind Symphony 2016 Southwest tour group photo

Wind Symphony Southwest Tour: on the road with Emily Kerski, clarinet

The CSU Wind Symphony has been rolling through the southwest this week on our 2016 tour of Colorado and New Mexico! It’s been a terrific opportunity for us to share some amazing repertoire with a wider audience and show off the accomplishments and growth of the band program and CSU school of music as a whole.

We have been preparing this epic program of music since the end of Feb., and it’s quite a collection: newly composed works alongside classics for band, and almost every genre of wind music featured as well. Of particular joy has been the chance to work with our two faculty soloists, Dr. John McGuire (horn) and Dr. Wesley Ferreira (clarinet) on their solo concerti. We also seized the opportunity to showcase Big Four on the River, a piece written by our composition professor Dr. David, and dedicated to our fantastic director of bands, Dr. Phillips. The incredible variety of our program is invigorating for both the players and the audience. The concert concludes with the exuberant Bernstein Divertimento, which finishes with a breathless, life-affirming march!

Wind Symphony Clarinets in concertThe tour kicked off on Tuesday night with our send-off concert on home turf at CSU. This included our new graduate conducting student Georgianna Oswald making her debut with the Wind Symphony, leading us through three lively pieces by Percy Grainger. The next morning, we hit the road! I was excited we had the chance to play this concert three more times thanks to the tour – we work incredibly hard preparing a concert program, and it’s sometimes hard to see it all end after one one performance, so to play it a few more times and enjoy the pieces that much more was a blast.

And so, with our bus and a myriad of percussion instruments carefully packed into two other vehicles, we wound through spectacular Colorado mountains, across sparse shrub land in the southwest corner of the state, and over fascinating New Mexico rock formations on our way to the three tour destinations: Grand Junction (Colo.), Las Lunas (N.M.), and Monument (Colo.)!

The concerts were very well-received in each host high school by an enthusiastic audience of local students and community members. Each host band director conducted us on one of our pieces, Barber’s Commando March, and it was fun to talk with many of the students after our performances.

Being a part of this particular clarinet section has been really special. It’s a talented and close-knit group with a huge range, from freshmen to second year grad students. Playing together all semester has allowed us to refine and unify our sound.

Wind Symphony is a relatively small ensemble (we all fit on one bus!), and I love the focus and precision this allows us to have. I also love learning from our fearless leader, Dr. Phillips. Her vision and relentless drive pushes us to be our very best and her presence as a conductor leads to truly memorable and powerful music-making.

As a senior, embarking on this tour has been the perfect way to end my time in the CSU music program, celebrating the great music and great people that have been part of my life in the past four years.

~ submitted by Emily G. Kerski
www.emilykerski.com


Neuss promotional photo

The 21st Century Clarinet, A Review

Neuss with Bass Clarinet. Photo by her sister, Ilysa Mitofsky

Neuss with Bass Clarinet. Photo by her sister, Ilysa Mitofsky.

Rising champion of the contemporary clarinet, Lara Mitofsky Neuss presented an innovative and engaging evening of new music in San Francisco on 16 May. This recital was performed live to an enthusiastic audience in the Osher Salon at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and was also livestreamed online.

Lara, who graduated from the conservatory in May with a Bachelor of Music, will attend Colorado State University this fall, studying for her Master of Music in performance. Her decision to select CSU was a result of her participation in Dr. Wesley Ferreira’s inaugural LIFT Clarinet Academy in the summer of 2014.

The concert program included solely pieces written in the last ten years, a daring choice which was carried out with great success.

This boldness was showcased from the outset, with Nico Muhly’s It Goes Without Saying for clarinet and electronics. Lara immediately demonstrated impressive technical control and the strong rhythmic integrity inherently necessary for a performance with electronics, especially in a piece with such tight dialogue between the track and the soloist.

Lara was then joined by pianist Keisuke Nakagoshi to perform As Desperation Sets In. This was a committed performance from both players, conveying the ‘desperation’ of the title and a sense of haunting or lamenting something of the past. Particularly notable was Lara’s clear enjoyment of the piece itself, inviting the audience to similarly be in the moment and experience the clever interplay of pianist and soloist, and the intricacy of shifting rhythmic patterns. Lush melodies soared over the piano’s harmonic accompaniment and a more agitated, faster section added intensity and drive to the work. The first instance of extended technique in the recital, microtones in the melodic line, was also expertly handled.

The next piece (Alasdair Maclean, Without Further Ado II) featured driving rhythmic energy from the piano behind trumpet-like fanfare statements and punctuating rhythms from conversing clarinets. This was likely only the second time this arrangement for two clarinets has been presented publically and the performance was energetic and well-matched between the soloists.

The second half of the program gave the audience the chance to hear Lara’s prowess on the bass clarinet, equal if not surpassing in technical mastery and fluidity of sound. Her bass playing was first showcased in Michael Lowenstern’s Trip for bass clarinet and electronics. This was a highly enjoyable piece, more lighthearted in spirit but certainly not lacking in depth. Lara spun off jazzy passages effortlessly and with great pizazz, interacting seamlessly with the electronics.

The world premiere of Homer Collyer Blind (Kyle Hovatter) followed, featuring Lara on bass clarinet alongside bassoonist Justin Cummings. Beginning with an ostinato like pattern in the bassoon, the piece evoked a minimalist quality with contrapuntal figures between bassoon and clarinet. The players interacted brilliantly with deep concern for every element of the piece to come across as the composer intended. The writing demanded a wide contrast of dynamics and colors from both instruments, ranging from somber lyricism at the start to mysterious agitation in the third section.

The next piece by the same composer (Entrance) stayed true to his established musical landscape of canon-type dialogue between instruments, sharp interjections, and ostinato patterns, this time with the addition of oboist Kai-Fung Lee. The trio navigated the audience through rhythmic intrigue and surprising turns of tempo with sincerity and ease.

An arrangement of When She Walks (Hauschka) for clarinet and background track concluded the program wonderfully. The effect of a soloist over recorded background clarinets was effective and interesting, offering a unique texture than if it had been performed in the original clarinet ensemble setting. As in each piece of the recital, Lara performed with great conviction, giving a rich and centered sound in whatever context required.

Lara invited the audience into a new soundscape with clarity and humor throughout, making the music approachable for even those unfamiliar to the clarinet. She is an infectiously spirited performer who brought an unhindered passion for the music in every moment. Composers of this century certainly have a friend in Ms. Neuss.

emily kerski.headshot_web ~ submitted by Emily Kerski, Music Performance Major, Senior


ClarinetFest 2014: Reflections

 

I can’t imagine anything better than spending a week surrounded by top professionals in my field, soaking up their wisdom, and hearing unforgettable performances, all the while taking it in alongside my best friends. Indeed, it was a dream come true to attend ClarinetFest 2014 this summer in Baton Rouge, La., with my ensemble, Quartet Atrevido!

I first attended ClarinetFest two years ago in Lincoln, Neb., and ever since, it was a goal to perform there myself, although I never thought it would be as soon as two years later! Collaborating with Quartet Atrevido (QA) at CSU has been a transformational experience for my growth, both personally and professionally. The opportunity to perform with QA at the conference was a remarkable capstone to our journey together. It was wonderful to share in their first ClarinetFest experience, and I was very glad they enjoyed it as much as I did!

Networking is absolutely vital in the music industry, and the gathering of so many artists and teachers at ClarinetFest makes it an ideal place to make connections. I have been working intentionally for several years to expand my professional network, and was thrilled to recognize and know quite a few people present – one in nearly every room I was in! I met many new people and also reconnected with former colleagues, teachers, and fellow International Clarinet Association members I had met in conferences past. It’s hard to explain the sheer excitement of having so many clarinet players in one place!

The lectures on entrepreneurship and diversifying one’s career were undoubtedly useful, especially right after QA had organized a chamber music concert, something we were all highly encouraged to do at the conference. Hearing how other artists create their careers and gain audiences gave me many ideas as I craft my own future. As an educator, I appreciated learning from the expertise of renowned pedagogues and attending an enlightening panel discussion on “Teaching Entrepreneurship to Students.” As a student of the clarinet, I was amazed by the opportunity to perform in a masterclass for Jacques Merrer, a French clarinetist who has incredible passion for the integrity of the music. I worked with him on Introduction et Rondo by Charles-Marie Widor. It was a rare chance to perform a French piece for a French player, and I learned much about how to play in the French style.

Attending recitals expanded my knowledge of the clarinet repertoire immensely. I was able to hear several world premieres, as well as the clarinet in new settings – clarinet with voice, with traditional Japanese shakuhachi, with electronics, and even accompanied by Beatles music. I also was moved to tears by the performances of some of my favorite pieces, especially the Mozart Clarinet Quintet, Poulenc’s Sonata for Clarinet and Bassoon, and Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet. It’s an incredible experience to see your musical heroes perform live and in person. The conference offered no shortage of these moments, featuring performance by artists I’ve admired for as long as I can remember: Stanley Drucker, Jon Manasse, Deborah Chodacki, and others. It’s also excellent to be exposed to new artists.

Taking the international stage with QA was a career highlight, and I am very grateful to all of our sponsors and our teacher, Wesley Ferreira, for their tremendous support. The entire experience was a beneficial lesson in being a professional musician in the 21st century – from auditioning, to preparing, raising donors and funds, organizing our send-off concert, planning our trip, to finally performing. And the opportunity to collaborate on stage with my favorite colleagues was a complete and total joy!

emily kerski ~ contributed by Emily Kerski, Music Performance, ’16