Tuesday, July 27, 2010

ClarinetFest: Day 5

Sunday was Clarinet Choir Day at ClarinetFest.  Although weary from a long week of clarinet events, we made it back to Bates Recital Hall on Sunday to catch the clarinet choirs of the Dallas Wind Symphony and the Lone Star Wind Orchestra.  Our favorite piece (although we may be biased!) was the Enesco Romanian Rhapsody, arranged by Dennis Fisher (director of the UNT Symphonic Band) for the Dallas Wind Symphony clarinets with UNT professors James Gillespie and John Scott as soloists.  This work began slowly but gradually worked into a frenzy, with lots of great Romanian themes and an exciting finish.   The Lone Star Wind Orchestra then took the stage beginning their program with a world premiere performance of Christopher Tucker's Chester Fanfare,   followed by Jukka Linkola's Chalumeaux Suite, featuring exposed solo passages played by David Gonzalez on b-flat clarinet. Once again, time constraints did not allow the group to perform all the scheduled pieces; however, the last piece of the program showcased each instrument of the clarinet family, giving each section a chance to show off the multitude of talent within the group.

It was a hectic week and we didn't attend even half of what we would have liked to, but the Austin ClarinetFest was a well-attended, busy festival with quality programming.  Congratulations to Richard MacDowell and Nathan Williams for an incredible ClarinetFest 2010!

1 comment:

JB Linear Music blog said...

Thanks for your reports. I am looking forward to going to the Los Angeles ClarinetFest - closer to home. They have always been a great experience for me, too.