ClarinetFest® 2023 in Review

ClarinetFest® 2023 Day 3

ClarinetFest® @ Noon – The Clarinet Family Members Shine

Jaren Hinckley, Sarah Watts, Jeff Anderle,

Jason Alder, Tzuying Huang

by Shannon McDonald

Friday’s noon headliners concert featured incredible performances on auxiliary clarinets. From the tiny e-flat to the imposing contra-bass, the clarinet family was well represented.

Jaren Hinckley opened the concert with his own composition The Water Gardens at Fountains Abbey from Two Estate Gardens for e-flat clarinet and piano. The piece began with subtle, repeated notes on the piano and a floating melody in the e-flat clarinet. The steady rhythm of the piano combined with Hinckley’s singing melody invoked the feeling of flowing water. The versatility of the e-flat clarinet was shown off masterfully in Hinckley’s hands as the piece shifted character to a joyful, lilting section, showing off his impeccable technique and smooth glissandos.

Sarah Watts performed the USA premiere of Into the Depths for contrabass clarinet and piano by Elizabeth Kelly, and from the very first deep low note the audience was truly brought into the depths. Watts showed her command of the instrument with the booming low notes from the beginning that eventually soared into the higher range of the instrument. The piece was filled with multiphonics and flutter tongue sections with extreme dynamic contrasts. In a somewhat jazzy section, Watts displayed her technical abilities while spanning the entire range of the instrument.

Jeff Anderle took the stage next to perform Joan Tower’s Wings. Though written for either unaccompanied b-flat clarinet or bass clarinet, Anderle instead performed on the alto clarinet. According to Anderle, the alto clarinet is the perfect instrument for this piece; the extremely soft sections are difficult on b-flat, and the technical parts are difficult on bass. He stated that all of these elements lay perfectly on the alto clarinet. In the hands of the skilled Anderle, the piece did indeed sound as if it were written for the instrument. Alone on stage, he commanded attention from the first note, his sound coming from nothing, swelling, then disappearing again. Anderle’s technical excellence was on full display in this piece as he flew through the registers of the instrument with precision, as if it were effortless.

Next on the program Jason Alder performed two pieces for contra-alto clarinet. He mentioned that there are only eight solo pieces originally written for the instrument, and he would be performing 25% of them, which got a chuckle from the audience. The first piece, Bret Newton’s Giraffatitan, was premiered by Alder at the 2023 Low Clarinet Festival. The brief piece began loudly and alternated with low, murmuring, slurred sections and loud staccato sections, with Alder expertly executing the contrasts. Following this piece was Sympathetic Synth for contra-alto clarinet and piano, composed by Bill Clay for Alder, and also premiered at the 2023 Low Clarinet Festival. Full of multi-phonics and extreme dynamic contrasts, this piece showed the versatility of the contra-alto underneath the command of Alder. The piece concluded with a soft and extremely high altissimo multiphonic that truly shows that this piece was written for Alder’s skill set.

Last on the program was bass clarinetist Tzuying Huang, who chose to perform two pieces that reflect back on the pandemic. Peace, written by Jessie Montgomery, calls to mind the sadness of that time and making peace with that experience. Huang’s rich tone brought the melancholic melody floating above the audience before transitioning into a stark contrast of mood with a cadenza-like section. The second piece was Joropo for bass clarinet and piano by Jorge Montilla and arranged by Chia-Yu-Hsu. Huang explained that this dance piece represented the celebration of coming back together after the pandemic. The fast Latin rhythms and light articulations sounded effortless from Huang and showed off her technical mastery with impressive register leaps, leaving the audience with a feeling of joy and celebration.