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ICA New Music Weekend 2023: Live Session 3 – Commissioning and Writing Music for Niche Techniques

Live Presentations on Zoom – Session 3
October 21, 2023 at 2:30 PM EST

Commissioning and Writing Music for Niche Techniques

Lucas Gianini, clarinet
Roger Zare, composer
Erin Cameron, clarinet and composer

The clarinet’s wide range and flexibility makes it a compelling instrument for today’s composers. The instrument also has the ability to perform a variety of extended techniques that are quickly becoming standard for the instrument (e.g. multiphonics, flutter tonguing, or circular breathing). There are a handful of techniques, such as “fluting”, that are still relatively niche for the instrument and require special considerations when being written for. This is a class on the process of commissioning and writing music featuring the less known extended techniques. This is a collaboration with prolific composer Roger Zare and clarinet/composer Erin Cameron. Zare, who is quickly becoming a household name in the clarinet sphere, is in the process of writing a piece featuring the “fluting” technique, while Cameron was commissioned to do the same this past year.

The class will cover, but will not be limited to, the following topics:

  1. A very brief demonstration of the fluting technique
  2. The process of finding a composer that is willing and able to write for a technique that defies traditional thinking
  3. The creation of various reference materials (such as a pitch chart and recordings) for the composer
  4. The collaborative process of finding a direction for the piece and the exploration of possibilities involving the featured technique
  5. A preview of ideas that are currently being worked on for Zare’s new piece
  6. A brief discussion on methods to fund this sort of commission

Time will be reserved for questions and attendees are encouraged to have their clarinets out to experiment throughout the class.

When: 10/21/2023 | 2:30 pm

Featuring: Lucas Gianini, clarinet; Roger Zare, composer; Erin Cameron, clarinet and composer

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