Saturday, January 30, 2010

Clarinet at the Grammys: Paquito D'Rivera and Derek Bermel

The 52nd annual Grammy Awards are tomorrow, and we thought we'd take a look at the clarinet-related nominations.

Clarinetist and composer Paquito D'Rivera has been nominated in two categories: "Best Classical Crossover Album" for his new album JaZZ-ClaZZ, and "Best Instrumental Composition" for the track "Borat in Syracuse" on the same album. JaZZ-ClaZZ is the result of a collaboration between D'Rivera and Sabine Meyer's Trio di Clarone. Listeners familiar with D'Rivera's composition Aires Tropicales for woodwind quintet will recognize several of the movements (including "Dizzyness" and "Vals Venezolano") arranged here for clarinets.

The January 27, 2010 edition of PRI's "The World" included a nice feature on Paquito D'Rivera including an interview and audio clips from the album. Listen to streaming audio or download the podcast here.

Syracuse University has posted an article about the commissioning and premiere of "Borat in Syracuse" by D'Rivera and SU’s Morton B. Schiff Ensemble.

Another Grammy nomination goes to Gil Rose, Derek Bermel and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project in the category "Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (With Orchestra)" for Bermel's performance of his own Voices, for Solo Clarinet and Orchestra.

Here's the full list of nominees from the Grammy Awards website. Best of luck to our clarinet friends tomorrow!

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