Clarinet quintet performances to take place on March 31 and April 8
Clarinetist Karem J. Simon will be featured in two upcoming recitals, one on Friday, March 31, 2023, at Hillcrest United Church in Montague and the other on Saturday, April 8, 2023, at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Charlottetown. Both performances take place at 7:30 pm.
Collaborating with Dr. Simon will be a string quartet consisting of Sean Kemp and Karen Graves, violinists; Jeffrey Bazett-Jones, violist; and Natalie Williams Calhoun, cellist. The performance will present two masterpieces for clarinet and string quartet by Mozart and Brahms.
The string quartet is regarded as the ultimate chamber music experience. The versatility and tonal range of the string instruments have inspired composers to use this vehicle to express their most complex musical arguments and vision. Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and Bartok all wrote significant works for this genre. Interestingly, few composers from the Classical and Romantic periods conceived of the possibilities for musical expression if an additional instrument were to be added to the string quartet. Both Mozart and Brahms did so, and were inspired, not commissioned, by the outstanding artistic merit of particular clarinetists: for Mozart it was Anton Stadler; for Brahms, Richard Mühlfeld. These players were able to transcend their clarinetistry into unparalleled expression. The Mozart and Brahms Quintets for Clarinet and String Quartet that resulted have been acknowledged as among the finest masterpieces of chamber music of the Classical and Romantic periods. They exploit the technical capabilities of the clarinet with a wide palette of colour and extreme emotional contrasts.
Throughout his 32-year career as a faculty member at UPEI, Dr. Simon’s Clarinet Spectrum Series has featured the finest traditional, contemporary, and original works performed in a myriad of standard and unique venues. These performances are uniquely suited to the beautiful acoustics of these two churches, which enhance the experience for performers and audience alike.
During this, Dr. Simon’s final year at UPEI, he is looking forward to engaging with the Montague and Charlottetown communities once again. The string musicians with whom he is collaborating are among the finest on PEI. As members of the Atlantic String Machine, they have established a reputation for performing traditional and original works in addition to collaborations with a diverse group of artists.
Admission to the performance at Hillcrest United Church in Montague is by a free-will offering. For the performance at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Charlottetown, admission is $30 for adults and $10 for students at the door.
