ClarinetFest® 2021 Virtual: Frangipani Recital
Trio de Bois
Craters of the Moon for wind trio and piano
Sy Brandon (b.1945)
I. Violent Past
II. Lunar Landscape
III. Forces of Nature
Lori Shepherd, clarinet
Nicole Marriott-Fullmer, oboe
Cassandra Bendickson, bassoon
Allison Vest, piano
Kelly Ricks, visual art
Railroad Sunset
David Alexander-Barnes (b.1993)
Trio de Bois:
Lori Shepherd, clarinet
Nicole Marriott-Fullmer, oboe
Cassandra Bendickson, bassoon
Program Notes:
Craters of the Moon
Trio de Bois was the recipient of a commission grant from the Co-op Press Fund Commission Assistance Grant Program, which paired us with American composer Dr. Sy Brandon. The piece he composed for Trio de Bois explores the unique colors of reed trio with piano – an ensemble with limited repertoire to date. The resulting piece titled Craters of the Moon is inspired by the Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, which is located just 50 miles from where our bassoonist, Elizabeth, teaches and the trio often performed before last year. The timing and occasion of this collaboration was apropos, as 2019 was the 50th anniversary of the first moon walk — an event that the astronauts trained for at Craters of the Moon. The video presentation of this work integrates images from that event, as well as pictures of the park itself today, NASA images of that moon walk 52 years ago (and several other moon missions), and the artistic interpretation of images of the moon created by visual artist Kelly Ricks.
Railroad Sunset (after Hopper)
“‘Railroad Sunset’ is a 1929 painting by Edward Hopper (1882 – 1967): in the foreground is a lone signal tower; beside it, train tracks; and behind these, nature in all its glory: rolling hills beneath a gorgeous sunset sky. Representative of his work in general, the painting is sparse and desolate, yet staggeringly beautiful, and suggestive of a profound melancholy. These aspects of the painting directly influenced much of my piece for reed trio, titled (aptly) ‘Railroad Sunset (after Hopper)’.
Written expressly for Trio de Bois, the piece is nine minutes long and consists of seven sections – three fast, four slow. The fast sections are at the centre of the piece – they dart about with a barely restrained fervour, all zippy rhythms and frequent key changes, gleefully imitating a train chuffing above the vast rural landscape of America. The slow sections which start and end the piece, on the other hand, depict the stark loneliness apparent in the painting, in which there is no train to be seen; they are written simply and clearly, with a tip of the hat to Copland (whose puritan works of Americana fit Hopper’s paintings to a tee). Taken together, the sections paint in music the urban-rural synthesis which so fascinated Hopper.”
Fourth Street Trio
Forging Canyons (2021)
Elyse Kahler (b.1988)
Program Notes:
While watching the increased media coverage of social injustice over the past several years, Joanna Birchfield, a member of Fourth Street Trio, was moved to find a way to get involved through musical advocacy. Joanna worked for many years as a social worker, advocating for the underprivileged, marginalized and unseen people in her communities. Familiar with the struggle, as she has seen it in her clients and patients over the last 20 years, she commissioned composer Elyse Kahler to write a piece that reflects societal transformation from a place of ignorance to realization then advocacy. With the idea for a world premiere at the ClarinetFest 2021 Conference, “Flowers Without Borders”, a project has emerged that portrays the idea of a flower growing from seed to bloom to garden as a metaphor for one’s transformation from a place of ignorance to realization to advocacy. The piece utilizes Bb and A clarinets as well as piano to demonstrate the idea of presumably being together, but then having to make adjustments to find common ground. It employs modal elements to emphasize the struggle, and an aleatoric style to demonstrate the time it takes to gain understanding and make adjustments. Through all of this, a theme of water unifies the piece. Water nourishes our metaphorical garden with compassion and empathy, while still being persistent in its path, “Forging Canyons”. One flower, one person advocating for the many needs of humanity and the planet is wonderful, but so many more people benefit from an entire garden of flowers, of more people joining the movement for a better world. Our hope for this project is to demonstrate blossoming cultural awareness and advocacy for diverse representation in the form of an artistic experience.
Fourth Street Trio:
Joanna Birchfield, clarinet
Jennifer Bouck, clarinet
Noah Turner, piano
When: 07/11/2021 | 2:30 pm
Featuring: Trio de Bois: Lori Shepherd, clarinet; Nicole Marriott-Fullmer, oboe; Cassandra Bendickson, bassoon; Allison Vest, piano; Kelly Ricks, visual art; Fourth Street Trio: Joanna Birchfield, clarinet; Jennifer Bouck, clarinet; Noah Turner, piano
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