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Hot News April 2013
25 - 27 April 2013
Vandoren and Buffet Group USA Studios and New Showroom - 25 - 27 April 2013 -
The 2013 Master Class Series - Quatuor Vendôme
New York City USA
by
Melanie Wong
If you were one of the 25
people in the basement of the DiMenna
Center last Friday, you were among the
lucky few who witnessed a truly remarkable performance by preeminent
French clarinet quartet Quatuor
Vendôme. Formed in 2002, QV’s members—Alexandre
Chabod, Julien Chabod, Nicolas Baldeyrou, and Franck Amet—also hold
full-time positions in some of France’s top orchestras and
conservatories.
In addition to being exceptional clarinetists, the four are also gifted
arrangers, orchestrating many of their pieces themselves. As far as
clarinet quartets go, QV is unparalleled in all aspects of their
artistry: their sound is consistently homogenous, their technique is
exceptionally virtuosic, and their intonation is inhumanly close to
perfect.
Opening the program, QV energetically bounced through a Baroque-style
quartet by Jean-Phillipe Rameau before moving on to an opera fantasy
based on themes from Rossini’s Barber
of Seville. Equally at home as soloists and accompanists, the
quartet rotated parts throughout the evening, giving each player a
chance to shine. Technically speaking, they hopped around the instrument
with great facility, and with the utmost sensitivity, QV seamlessly
faded in and out of each other’s sounds.
Mid-program, four New York City-based clarinetists—
Jon
Manasse,
Pascual
Martinez Forteza, Liam
Burke, and David
Gould—joined QV for three octets by Astor
Piazzolla. As an eight-some, the group
produced a hearty sound that remained just as unified. Jazzy, sexy, and
distinctly Latin, the players ripped through the glissandi-filled solos
with flair; the octets proving to be a blast for both the players and
audience alike.
Back to the original roster of four, QV presented an original piece
composed for the group, Prelude
et Funk by
Guillaume
Connesson. A slow and pensive opening
quickly turned fast and aggressive— an insane technical fury that
remained impressively cohesive throughout.
QV ended the program with Lakmé's infamous
Flower
Duet and
Gershwin’s "Oh, Lady Be Good!” Both sweet and lighthearted pieces, QV
left the all-too-tiny audience eager for more.
This event was sponsored by Buffet-Crampon and Vandoren.
19 - 20 April 2013
Chicago
Clarinet Ensemble Venezuelen Virtuosity Weekend at Northeastern University with
VIP's Jorge Montilla, former Solo Clarinetist in
the Simon Bolivar Orchestra, and Directors VIP's
Rose Sperrazza and John Bruce Yeh, Associate Solo
Clarinetist and Eb in the Chicago Symphony held 19 - 20 April 2013
Chicago, Illinois USA
News Information coming
soon
7 April 2013
David John Davani, a Freshman Clarinetist and student of Senior
VIP Naomi Drucker and Alan R
Kay at Stony Brook State University of New York honored by national arts
organization 7 April 2013
Stony Brook, New York USA
David John Davani may seem like your average freshman at
Stony Brook University. He is 18 years old, is a resident of Tabler Quad,
and is in the Honors College.
However, how many freshmen, let alone students at Stony Brook have been honored
for the second time by the National YoungArts Foundation—last year for clarinet
and this year for baritone voice—and have recently won the Stony Brook
Undergraduate Concerto Competition? Not many. Davani is originally
from Sea Cliff, N.Y., and is currently pursuing a dual degree in biology and
music.
The multi-talented musician says his taking up the clarinet were weighed by two
factors: the first, being his grandfather, who also played the same instrument,
and the second being an odd encounter at about nine years old with a jazz band
clarinetist on a family trip down in New Orleans. “He pulled me over
and said that I looked like a clarinetist,” Davani said. Evidently,
the jazz band clarinetist down in New Orleans was right, because the young
undergraduate student has proven his impressive musical abilities in more ways
than one.
Although he took it up in elementary school, Davani says he did not seriously
start studying the instrument until the sixth grade, when he enrolled in the
preparatory division of Mannes College The New School For Music, located in
Manhattan.
“I really love the instrument,” Davani said. “I felt very seriously about it.”
The clarinetist expressed his gratitude towards the impressive duo of instructor
David Sapadin and mentor Naomi Drucker, both of whom have helped him excel and
advance his musical talent. Sapadin is a freelance clarinetist and a
regular player at the Metropolitan Opera and Drucker is a clarinetist of the
American Chamber Ensemble, as well as wife of Stanley, the principal clarinetist
of the New York Philharmonic for 60 years.
Davani entered his first National YoungArts Foundation competition during the
beginning of his senior year of high school and was recognized as one of the
2012 winners for clarinet.
Up to 150 Young Arts winners are chosen across the country, to participate in
master classes, performances, workshops and the opportunity to win up to $10,000
in individual prize money.
“As a musician, I felt good and I was happy to win,” Davani said. “Competitions
are subjective and I put my heart and soul into it.”
One could tell by his second winning of the National YoungArts Foundation
competition that clarinet is not the young musician’s only musical talent.
His powerful baritone voice won him the competition the second time around where
hewas recognized as one of the 2013 winners.
Davani explained that he never really competed on voice until the Young Arts
competition.
“Except for recitals, I felt the need to keep my voice to myself,” he said.
“People would hear me sing and be shocked because it was nothing like my
speaking voice.”
“My long-term dream in terms of voice would be to National Council Auditions at
the
Metropolitan Opera and be able to sing on that stage that I visit so frequently
every year,” he said.
For a short time during his later years at Mannes, Davani was a member of the
Select Chamber Choir, in addition to being the principal clarinetist of the
Preparatory Philharmonic.
At the end of his senior year in high school, Davani auditioned both voice and
clarinet on the same day for Stony Brook University’s music program.
For voice, he was accepted to take lessons and is currently studying with
advanced doctoral student Christopher Reames.
For clarinet, he was accepted by Alan R. Kay, an artist-in-residence, whom
Davani said played an integral role in his winning the Stony Brook Undergraduate
Concerto Competition, for which he was awarded the Bright Lights Scholarship for
music in March 2013.
“I feel very lucky to be able to study with one of
the faculty members in the music department,” he said. “In the short time
studying with Professor Kay, we’ve done some really great work.”
Davani describes his greatest challenge in school as registering for classes so
that he has large blocks of time to devote to practicing.
“Aside from that, I manage to do everything,” he said.
As if his musical talents and accolades weren’t enough to fill up a resume,
Davani has proven his extensive scientific abilities.
The double music and biology major was an Intel Science Talent Search
Semi-Finalist in high school and was awarded third place in the New York State
Science and Engineering Fair in the medicine and health category during his
senior year.
As his musical talent continues to shine during the school year at Stony Brook,
Davani says this summer he will be continuing his research at the vascular
biology center at Winthrop-University Hospital, which is academically connected
with SBU.
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Revised: May 06, 2013