ClarinetFest Day 4

I’m a little late in putting this post up, but I typically don’t work on Saturdays so I appreciate your patience.  Yesterday I only (“only” Ha!) went to three events in Austin.  The good news is that they were all fantastic.  The bad news is that they were all basically at the same time.  First was a performance by Robert Spring and Jana Starling.  They played contemporary pieces including new works by Eric Mandat and William O. Smith.  Smith’s piece “Four Duets for Four Demi-Clarinets” was particularly interesting.  Each of the duets requires the performers to play on sections of a clarinet (e.g. just the top joint, or just the bottom joint).  However each movement was very compact and beautifully written so that the whole piece didn’t go on for too long.  I had to leave early and miss the last piece on the program though because I wanted to see the world premiere of Kevin H. Gray’s piece “Pyrrhic Suite for A clarinet and Piano”.  On Friday I had bought the score (published by Prairie Dawg Press) but I didn’t have a chance to look at it until Saturday.  So, I brought it with me to follow along during the performance.  After a few words from Eric Mandat (who judged the competition) and the composer, Richard Faria and Josh Oxford came out to perform.  They did a fantastic job!  ”Pyrrhic Suite” is a collection of four dances.  However, they are not in a simple 4/4 or 3/4.  Oh no.  The bar lines have practically nothing to do with the pulse.  More important are the groupings of tuplets and accents which help drive the piece forward.  At 17 minutes it’s a virtuosic work and the duo pulled it off with incredible style.  Then I raced over to hear the end of Scott McAllister’s lecture recital (which was happening at the same time).  I got in just in time to (almost literally) bump into Robert Spring and hear Scott play his piece “Bling Bling”.  Unfortunately that was the end of his program, but I hadn’t heard that piece performed live so it was exciting to get a chance.  If you play the clarinet and also enjoy the music of – The Doors, Aerosmith, Lynnard Skynnard, Jimi Hendrix, and a lot of other rock icons, you need to check out his work.  After that I was done.  I’d pretty much reached the maximum amount of Clarinet I could handle at any one time, so there you go.  The festival was really tremendous with a wide range of programs and opportunities to learn.  Perhaps I’ll get a chance to go again next year.  I hope everyone has a safe trip back today!