REPERTOIRE - Chamber Music, Concerti, Solo Recitals

The list continually grows, doesn't it? Unless we narrow our focus and specialize in a particular era, every working musician today has a more difficult task than the performer of yesterday. As performers, we try to keep up with the trends and changes in modern composition, to be versatile and adaptable to a growing appetite for diverse musical styles, and we try to be historically accurate and respectful in paying homage to the important musical traditions that brought us to the present. It's a tall order.

Playing chamber music is one of my greatest joys, and thankfully, the clarinet boasts some of the richest and widest ranging chamber music repertoire of all the instruments in the orchestra. Even jazz is fundamentally a special kind of chamber music. Although not my primary background, I try to sample that rich bouillabaisse of sounds whenever possible.

Over the years I have been extremely appreciative of the many contemporary composers who have written for me, and I have been fortunate to premiere(*) their wonderful works. It's good for us to remember that all music was once new music, and we should give each new work a chance to succeed. By contrast, I also enjoy uncovering little known, lost, or overshadowed works from the dustbin of music history. They represent fragments of an important musical heritage, and so often one re-discovers an exquisite, surprisingly forgotten beauty.

Although the list below will be out of date as soon as I post it, here are some of my favorite works recently under my fingers.