ClarinetFest® 2025 in Review
ClarinetFest® 2025 Day 2 Round-Up
Redefining Musical Expression: Sputter Box in Performance
by Sarah Hamm
Featured Headlining Artist: Elisha Willinger Recital
by Amy Guffey
Transcending Traditions: Variego3 Takes the Stage
by Sofia Plawchan
Redefining Musical Expression: Sputter Box in Performance
By Sarah Hamm
For those of us who live and breathe clarinet, it’s always exciting to witness the instrument used in bold andunconventional ways. Enter Sputter Box: a boundary-pushing American trio whose recent program offered a rich, exploratory dive into the world of experimental contemporary music.
The ensemble is made up of Kathryn Vetter (clarinet and bass clarinet), Alina Tamborini (soprano voice), andPeter White (percussion). Together, they embraced extended techniques, theatricality, and genre-defying musicalstyles. Sputter Box isn’t your traditional chamber ensemble. They reshape the sounds of familiar instruments to create unexpected and new soundscapes.
Their most recent program featured three strikingly distinct contemporary works. Their first piece, titledBending Tradition, was written in 2024 by Onche Rajesh Ugbabe. This work contains three short vignettes. “Village Vibes” contains elements of West African musical styles andtechniques on the xylophone. “Alpine Air” draws on classical European traditions and reflects the composer’s timein the alpine regions of Switzerland and Italy. “Baby Blue” combines the styles of blues, jazz, and rock from North America, where the composer now lives. Ugbabe draws from both traditional and experimental techniques. Thepassages were percussive, containing quick and repeated notes, as well as spoken and half-sung passages. Vetter’suse of the bass clarinet added a rich, grounding depth that anchored the piece’s more ephemeral gestures.
Their second piece, titled Doublespeak, is an emotionally charged work that was written by Bethany Younge in 2014. Younge breaks speech into basic components such as individual phonemes and rhythms of spoken words, turning language into texture and gestures. The rhythms and tones in this piece mimic speech patterns, translatingthe articulation and inflection of words into musical practice. Younge’s piece demands virtuosic control from theclarinetist, navigating rapid shifts in tone and extended effects. Vetter’s clarinet-playing took on speech-like qualities, playing with rhythm and timbre in response to Tamborini’s soprano voice.
Their third and final piece was Séance Serenade, written in 2021 by Brendan Sweeney. Equal parts eerie andplayful, this piece blurs the line between ritual and performance. The trio evoked the feeling of a séance throughethereal vocals, clarinet growling, and subtle percussive gestures. Here, the clarinet works to channel soundsthatfeelotherworldly, keeping theaudience intrigued. Their description of the piece included summoning dead, operaticcomposers, and this can be heard through Tamborini’s expressive facial and musical gestures.
Sputter Box proves that chamber music can surprise and provoke both audiences and performers in entirely newways. Whether submerged in texture or showcased with raw, unfiltered expression, hearing the clarinet in suchcreative ways is thrilling and inspiring. If you’re interested in exploring how the clarinet can break out of tradition and into the unknown, Sputter Box is the group to listen to.
Featured Headlining Artist: Elisha Willinger Recital
By Amy Guffey
Presented at ClarinetFest® 2025 on July 10 at 3:30 p.m., Elisha Willinger’s performance of Carlos Guastavino’s Sonata for Clarinet and Piano was a poignant and memorable highlight of the festival’s programming. Performing alongside his brother, pianist Lior Leigh, Willinger infused the work with warmth, insight, and expressive depth, creating a thoughtful and engaging performance.
Before beginning the performance, Willinger addressed the audience with a brief, thoughtful introduction. He shared a few words about his background and the significance of the piece. His brief spoken overview of the work made the performance more personal and gave listeners useful context for engaging with the sonata.
Willinger captured this balance beautifully in the opening Allegro deciso, producing a tone that was rich and centered, and phrasing that reflected a thoughtful and sensitive approach. His dynamic contrast and articulation shaped the movement with clarity and expression, while Leigh’s sensitive accompaniment grounded the performance with rhythmic precision and harmonic warmth.
The second movement, Andante provided a moment of introspective beauty. Willinger’s playing here was especially moving and his control of tone color underscored the movement’s lyrical weight, while his shaping of each phrase was deeply felt but never overstated. Leigh’s playing enhanced the emotional landscape without drawing attention away from the soloist.
The final movement, Allegro spiritoso was full of rhythmic verve and joyful energy. Willinger navigated the complex interplay of syncopation and dance rhythms with agility and finesse, and the duo’s ensemble cohesion was impressively tight. Their interpretation allowed Guastavino’s voice to shine clearly and naturally.
In a festival brimming with virtuosic showcases and world premieres, this performance stood out for its intimacy, sincerity, and deep musicality. Willinger and Leigh reminded listeners that storytelling through sound can be just as compelling as technical brilliance.
Transcending Traditions: Variego3 Takes the Stage
by Sofia Plawchan
On Thursday, July 10, 2025, room 204-AB at the Fort Worth Convention Center was anything but ordinary. ClarinetFest® attendees gathered for a standout performance by Variego3, the electroacoustic chamber-jazz trio led by Argentine-born clarinetist and composer Jorge Variego. Blending improvisation, avant-garde textures, and Argentine influence, it was an incredible performance that exemplified this year’s ClarinetFest® theme: “Transcending Traditions.”
Variego3’s set featured selections that pushed the boundaries of what clarinet chamber music can be. The set opened with Malambo (2021), immediately immersing listeners in the ensemble’s signature sound: rhythmically charged, harmonically adventurous, and deeply expressive. This was followed by Tema de Manuel (2020), a work that unfolded with lyrical elegance, and Polish Vodka (2019), a composition as bold and spirited as its title. Susurro de Paris (2021) offered a quieter, textural exploration, while Reencuentro (2021) concluded the program with heartfelt poignancy, each piece composed by Variego himself.
Variego3’s performance included Jorge Variego on clarinet, Taber Gable on piano, and Rob Linton on bass. Together, the trio captivated their audience, challenging listeners to rethink what “chamber music” can sound like in the 21st century.
A Fulbright Scholar and professor of composition at the University of Tennessee, Jorge Variego has built a reputation for balancing academic innovation with emotionally resonant performances. His projects, including the Domino Ensemble and the UTK Electroacoustic Ensemble, echo the kind of boundary-breaking ideas he brought to ClarinetFest®. Whether weaving through post-tonal melodies or anchoring free improvisation with groove-driven clarity, Variego3 stood out as a thrilling reminder that the clarinet is not just a voice of tradition, but of innovation, collaboration, and cultural fusion. For many in the audience, this performance wasn’t just a highlight of the day; it was a glimpse into the future of the instrument.
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