ClarinetFest® 2018 – Opening Concert Claribel Clarinet Choir
by Stephen R. Borodkin
ClarinetFest® 2018 began on Friday, July 6, in the beautiful Ostend, Belgium. ICA President Caroline Hartig and ClarinetFest® 2018 Artistic Director Eddy Vanoosthuyse provided opening remarks about this year’s conference, reporting that there were more than 1,000 musicians invited to perform during the festival.
The opening concert featured the Claribel Clarinet Choir and served as an hommage to Guido Six. Claribel’s aim for the concert was to perform both new music and exciting music. Every piece on the program was a Belgian premiere while many pieces were world premieres. Bart Picqueur conducted the clarinet choir in music by himself and other Belgian composers featuring soloist Chantal Vandekerckhove on contra alto clarinet and later the Potiguar Clarinet Quartet on the final piece.
Following the end of the program, President ICA Hartig announced two ClarinetFest® participants as winners of the drawing for a limited edition 2018 ClarinetFest® statue.
