The Ballet West Orchestra recorded the soundtrack for Ballet West 75th Anniversary Nutcracker presentation on BYU TV. As the Principal Clarinetist of the orchestra and in this production, I am very proud to add a link for this special presentation on my website. Please take a look, and a listen!
www.byutv.org/player/77fb4ef3-c5b2-4131-bc11-6dc9e6626ee2/the-nutcracker-75th-anniversary-the-nutcracker-75th-anniversary
Part of the 150th Anniversary of the Golden Spike, the Utah Opera Commissioned 10 minute operas to showcase elements of the famous meeting of the railroads. I played clarinet in the performance, one of four instrumentalists who participated.
Youtube video below of a performance I was involved in last year: Operas from the Hive. A new composition written by a local composer was paired with a story and performed live in Salt Lake.
Credits:
Published on Jun 27, 2016On All Other Nights
Based on a true story told by Steve Sternfeld at The Bee: True Stories from the Hive
Aaron J. Kirschner, Composer & Conductor
Aaron J. Kirschner, Librettist
Markel Reed, Baritone (Utah Opera Resident Artist 2015-16)
Timothy Accurso, Piano (Utah Opera Resident Artist 2015-16)
David Hall, Saxophones & Flute
Erin Voellinger, Clarinets
Special thanks to Club at 50 West for graciously recording this performance.
Audio mixed by David Evanoff
Credits:
Published on Jun 27, 2016On All Other Nights
Based on a true story told by Steve Sternfeld at The Bee: True Stories from the Hive
Aaron J. Kirschner, Composer & Conductor
Aaron J. Kirschner, Librettist
Markel Reed, Baritone (Utah Opera Resident Artist 2015-16)
Timothy Accurso, Piano (Utah Opera Resident Artist 2015-16)
David Hall, Saxophones & Flute
Erin Voellinger, Clarinets
Special thanks to Club at 50 West for graciously recording this performance.
Audio mixed by David Evanoff
Nutcracker season has now come to a close! The music for the Nutcracker is, as always, challenging and enjoyable. However, after doing 27 shows this year I am happy to say that I can put it away and not look at it again until next year. The orchestra incorporated a lot of substitute players for this long run, so things never got too dreary. It was nice to play next to some new faces.
Happy New Year- Ready or not here comes 2016!
Happy New Year- Ready or not here comes 2016!
In between performances of Tosca the last two weeks, I also had the unique opportunity to work with the Salt Lake Composers Collective-the Salty Cricket. This meant receiving music fresh out of the minds of local composers and bringing it to life in a performance at the Urban Arts Gallery in the Gateway Mall. We had rehearsals with the composers present to clarify ideas (not something we musicians often have the privilege of), and a lively audience excited to hear new stuff. It was hard work because sometimes what a composer hears in his or her mind does not always translate the same way to musicians when we see it on paper.
It is especially fun for me as a bass clarinetist to do this kind of work because composers of our time have realized what a flexible instrument the bass clarinet is and like to take full advantage. This means less whole notes and more melodic lines and sixteenths-Yay! Overall the performance was a success. The audience voted on their favorite piece at the end. I am happy to say that is was one of the ones I performed in called "Disco Lung", by Nathan Wilks. Great job Nathan, it was a cool piece! I hope to play for this group again sometime in the future.
For more info about their upcoming performances, go to this site:
http://saltycricket.org/about/
It is especially fun for me as a bass clarinetist to do this kind of work because composers of our time have realized what a flexible instrument the bass clarinet is and like to take full advantage. This means less whole notes and more melodic lines and sixteenths-Yay! Overall the performance was a success. The audience voted on their favorite piece at the end. I am happy to say that is was one of the ones I performed in called "Disco Lung", by Nathan Wilks. Great job Nathan, it was a cool piece! I hope to play for this group again sometime in the future.
For more info about their upcoming performances, go to this site:
http://saltycricket.org/about/
Currently I'm playing with the Utah Symphony/Utah Opera performing the Puccini opera Tosca. The music is amazing-lush, exciting, and of course tragic. It is all coming together very well, and I am enjoying the opportunity to play my first Puccini opera with such a talented group of musicians. Now if only Puccini could have written less low e's for me-didn't he know that they are inevitably flat and there is next to nothing that can be done to fix it? Ack!
We have a dress rehearsal tonight, and performances Oct.10,12,14,16, 18.
We have a dress rehearsal tonight, and performances Oct.10,12,14,16, 18.