The Eastman Wind Ensemble invites another guest performer for its upcoming concert on Wednesday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m. in Kilbourn Hall: Patrick Morgan, the principal clarinetist of the “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band. This time, the Eastman connection is traced to doctoral conducting assistant Andres Luke Camarillo. The concert marks Camarillo’s final performance of his studies at Eastman. Morgan was his former clarinet teacher.
“Pat is more than a clarinetist,” says Camarillo. “He’s so connected to the music that it’s more fitting to call him a master storyteller than an instrumentalist. I am extraordinarily grateful that now, at end of my doctorate, we’ve been able to bring together some of the biggest musical influences in my life and share them with our audience next Wednesday.” Camarillo conducts the full concert.
Clarinetist Morgan performs the challenging and formidable Concerto for Clarinet and Wind Ensemble by Brian Israel, a virtuosic tour de force with programmatic ties to the Holocaust. Morgan says it’s one of the most difficult works for the clarinet.
“The jarring chromatics and haunting waltz of the first movement (“Crystal Night”), the unrelenting suffering represented by the second movement (“Coronach”), and the rising excitement of hope in the final movement (“Liberation”) make this an intense, dark, and simply devastating journey,” says Morgan. “The Eastman Wind Ensemble is the perfect group for the twenty-first century premiere of this piece, and I am honored to participate. The emotional range of this piece is second to none, and I look forward to sharing these affections with the audience.”
Israel was a graduate of Cornell University who studied composition with Karel Husa. He then joined the faculty at Syracuse University before his untimely death from leukemia at age 35. Although the concerto is rarely performed, the EWE previously performed the piece on February 5, 1986, in Kilbourn Hall, conducted by Professor Emeritus and former EWE director Donald Hunsberger, with soloist Charles Neidich, one of the best-known clarinet virtuosos. Israel was in attendance.
Other compositions on the March 29 program include music by Stephen Montague and Robert Gibson. Montague’s Intrada 1631 is a moving dirge based on 17th century Catholic liturgical chant composed by South American missionary Juan Perez Bocanegra. It incorporates resounding brass and antiphonal percussion. Gibson’s The Sound of Light is scored for the standard wind and brass instrumentation of a symphony orchestra. It showcases various instrumental consorts, inspired in part by Igor Stravinsky’s iconic Symphonies of Wind Instruments.
Morgan, EWE’s guest performer, will do more than perform while at Eastman. He will be in residence all week, providing lessons and coachings to Eastman students. In addition, he’ll hear mock auditions by students who may one day become colleagues. Currently, the “President’s Own” band has six Eastman alumni in the ensemble.
-Written by Mason St. Pierre, DMA Candidate in Conducting
Wednesday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m. in Kilbourn Hall
Andres Luke Camarillo, assistant conductor
Patrick Morgan, guest clarinetist
Stephen Montague: Intrada 1631
Robert Gibson: The Sound of Light
Brian Israel: Concerto for Clarinet and Wind Ensemble
This event is free and open to the public.
To visit Patrick Morgan’s website, click here.