I spent today's afternoon judging the Blair School of Music Concerto Competition at Vanderbilt University. Many talented students gave some very impressive performances, and it certainly was not easy to rank the players. Congratulations to all finalists who played so well!
Colorado and Utah Tour with Enhake
I just came back from a very much anticipated tour of Colorado and Utah with the enhake family! Since starting as a graduate chamber ensemble eight years ago, we have grown into an entourage of wonderful family and friends (three enhake babies as of now and two more coming very soon!). For this trip, All our spouses and babies were traveling with us except for Katie's. We first met up in Durango, Co, where our violinist Brent is the Professor of Violin at Fort Lewis College. We got to spend wonderful winter break here last time around, everything was a bit more familiar. Our concert and master class all went very well, and we really enjoyed some remarkable restaurants and shops in downtown Durango.
enhake at St. Mark's Recital Series
Post Recital Dinner
After our Durango residency, we drove up through the beautiful Colorado River to north. We made a stop at Arches National Park (although we did not have enough time to see the famous Arch, especially with couple of infants and my pregnant wife!) on our way to Grand Junction, CO. Everything was out of this world to me, and I was much refreshed despite long drives and tight schedule.
enhake at Arches National Park, CO
With my family!
We were greeted with beautiful weather when we arrived in Grand Junction. Enhake actually was invited here many years ago when the university was called Mesa State College, and returning here with our new cellist Katie and families was quite special. The incredibly scenic view of the Monument throughout this small town was still very impressive. We met our old friends and some fantastic new faculty members at school and had lots of fun playing the recital, etc.
Colorado Mesa University's Performing Arts Center
We were advertised on the baseball field screen!
Colorado Mesa University's Colorful Hall
We drove through Salt Lake City to finally arrive in our final destination, Logan, UT. The weather was not good, and the driving was rather perilous. We arrived in Logan very late and was much relieved to settle in. Our host and friend Nick Morrison and Lesley showed around the impressive campus surrounded my the mountains, and we presented our workshop called "Entrepreneurship in Arts and Music" to Utah State University's students. Our recital was presented by Chamber Music Society of Logan, a prestigious series boasting some of the great chamber music ensembles of our time. A great privilege for us, indeed! It was one of my favorite performing venues that I've played recently, and I was glad to see a fantastic Fazioli at the hall.
Another successful tour with enhake, and now it is time to go back to teaching.
enhake at Chamber Music Society of Logan
enhake at Utah State University
Our instruments for tonight
Post concert picture
Stephan Krehl CD is now released on Naxos!
This post will be updated with more details soon. Meanwhile, check out a free download opportunity for a track from this CD on Minnesota Public Radio's Daily Download page here!
From the CD blurb:
Stephan Krehl is remembered for numerous influential textbooks on music theory, harmony and counterpoint written during his distinguished tenure at the Leipzig Conservatory. As a composer he unfashionably adhered to the late German Romantic tradition of Brahms and Schumann, his superbly crafted String Quartet Op. 17 covering every emotion from mystery and lyrical wistfulness to wit and dramatic passion. Krehl’s Clarinet Quintet is modelled on that of Brahms, but its content reveals a unique compositional voice filled with quixotic moods, expressive tenderness and extrovert theatricality.
2015 TTU Clarinet Symposium
TTU Clarinet Student Duo Sarah McMichen and Anjali Sivaainkaran performing Poulenc's Duo for high school participants at...
Posted by TTU Clarinet Studio & Society of Clarinet on Sunday, November 22, 2015
Here are some additional pictures from last Friday's TTU All-Star Instrumental Symposium. We had such a great turnout...
Posted by TTU Clarinet Studio & Society of Clarinet on Sunday, November 22, 2015
Frank Ticheli Clarinet Concerto
Ticheli's Clarinet Concerto was among many other challenging scores that have occupied my stand for the past few weeks.
Learning Frank Ticheli's Clarinet Concerto during past few weeks has been like solving a challenging but addictive puzzle. I was very fortunate to perform it with some wonderful students in TTU Wind Ensemble on Wednesday evening, and we had our best run at the concert.
Tennessee Tech University Wind Ensemble
With TTU Wind Ensemble clarinet section
Post concert hangout. What an amazing group of students I have!
TAMU Residency - September 2015
TAMU Department of Performance Studies
Kim-Choi Duo spent a wonderful weekend of September in College Station, TX, giving a recital, lecture and masterclasses to highly energetic group of Aggies! We brought with us some of our newly learned repertoire including Peter Lieuwen's Bright River and Bernstein Sonata as well as our old favorites such as Devienne's Sonata and Martinu's Sonatina. It was great to play Bright River for Peter at his own university.
Kim-Choi Duo performing at the Rudder Theatre
The following day, both of us gave master classes for clarinet and piano students. I particularly enjoyed collaborating with the TAMU Department of Anthropology for my lecture entitled "The Influence of Traditional Korean Music on Contemporary Music." I have had a number of opportunities since graduate school to explore this particular topic and felt both comfortable and sufficiently informed to give a short lecture. Since the majority of the audience did not have formal musical background, I focused on two particular examples where the Traditional Korean Music and Western Contemporary music intersect: the musical borrowing of famous (and very pleasant) Korean traditional melodies such as Arirang, and more intricate but subtle adaptation by composers such as Isang Yun (mainly through the concept of "Hauptton"). I was able to give some demonstration showcasing various unfamiliar but fascinating musical practices in Korean tradition. I am intrigued by the potential in this fusion and look forward to investigating this topic further.
Brown Bag Lunch Lecture
Parallel between the Eastern calligraphy and the concept of Korean music
Taoist principles in Korean traditional music
Demonstrating modern techniques that emulate practices in Korean traditional music
Our friend Peter was such a gracious host and invited us for the evening at his incredible estate. We had marvelous time enjoying his beautiful lake and talked about some more collaborative projects to come!
Our friend Peter had this beautiful private lake behind his house. The dock floats around!
Some high-speed exploration!
2015-16 At a Glance
I was very fortunate to have great teachers who were also phenomenal players. Every one of their performances that I attended or concerts I was lucky enough to play with them were sheer source of inspiration. I came to believe that showing the examples of fine musicianship and what it takes to constantly improve oneself to the students is an immensely important component of teaching. I also came to learn that it is no easy task to maintain a status of performing musician while teaching a full studio (you can read about my 15/16 studio at TTU here). In any case, I am thrilled to announce my 2015-16 season schedule filled with exciting performances, collaborations, and projects.
Just having performed my TTU Faculty Recital last night, I am now preparing for the upcoming three-day residency in College Station, TX. I and Grace will be featured as guest artists at Texas A&M University's Department of Performance Studies. We will present a full 90-minute recital featuring some of our favorite duo repertoires as well as some of recent additions such as Peter Lieuwen's Bright River. It will be a treat to bring this work to Peter's own university. We are also scheduled to give master classes and a lecture.
In October, I will perform Frank Ticheli's Clarinet Concerto, one of my self-imposed challenges for the year, with TTU Wind ensemble. While I am anxious to work up this very difficult piece, I am excited to collaborate with some stellar student musicians in the ensemble and my colleague Joe Hermann. I also cannot wait to play with my friend and amazing pianist Esther Park during her visit to TTU. In Esther's French-themed recital, we will play Debussy's Premiere Rhapsody and Poulenc's Clarinet Sonata.
In January, I will be joined by enhake and its now ever-expanding family members in a three-state tour (Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah). We will serve as Artist-in-Residence at Fort Lewis College, where our violinist Brent is a faculty member. Our recital at the St. Mark's Recital Series will feature some of our favorite, including Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time. We are also scheduled to perform at Colorado Mesa University, and the tour will conclude with our appearance at the Chamber Music Society of Logan and the Utah State University.
Logan should be very beautiful and "snowy" during our visit
In February, I will host two friends of mine, violinist Emily Westell and pianist Sasha Karpeyev, for the TTU Center Stage Series. I will join the duo in performance of Brahms Clarinet Sonata No. 1, Milhaud's Suite for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano, and Bartok's Contrasts. I am scheduled to appear as the guest clarinetist for the 2016 University of Northern Iowa Woodwind Day later in March. Few trips to NYC and Florida are also being planned in the spring. Finally, I hope to survive through another TTU Clarinet Day in April.
While the summer plans are not completely set at this point, I have some great events scheduled during July and August. I will be doing a good deal of teaching and playing in various cities in Korea, including a performance of Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time with Mirus Trio (my friend Jayoung's ensemble) at Seoul Arts Center's IBK Chamber Hall.
Seoul Arts Center's IBK Chamber Music Hall, built only few years ago!
Throughout the year, I am also looking forward to playing as a clarinetist of the Cumberland Quintet with my admirable TTU colleagues as well as the principal clarinet for the Bryan Symphony Orchestra and the Albany Symphony in GA. Which clarinetist can possibly complain when the season schedule include such works as Kodaly's Dances of Galanta, Brahms' Third Symphony, Elgar's Enigma Variations and Sibelius Symphony No. 2!!?
For my complete list of performances during 2015-16 season, please visit my calendar page.
ICA ClarinetFest 2015 Madrid, Spain
It was a great privilege to be invited to perform at the 2015 ClarinetFest in Madrid, Spain. I spent a week of July in this beautiful city, meeting some amazing clarinetists and friends, playing great music, and enjoying plenty of sightseeing. My recital featured two American works for clarinet and piano: Leonard Bernstein's Clarinet Sonata and Peter Lieuwen's new work, Bright River (2014), with this performance being the official European Premiere. I was thrilled to be joined by my friend Sasha from London.
After the recital with pianist Sasha
Excerpts from my ClarinetFest recital prepared by Silverstein Works
Grand Entrance to Conde Duque
I was also delighted that Peter (the composer) flew all the way with his wonderful wife attended our concert with his nephew who happened to be living in Madrid. It was the first time Peter heard Bright River being performed. I am looking forward to see him again during my residency at Texas A&M University in College Station, TN in September where I will perform this work again.
Post recital dinner at a local restaurant, where I had a kangaroo burger!
Despite my unfamiliarity with this part of Europe, there was something very elegant yet approachable in this city. A great deal of vibrancy and wonderful foods...
View from my room in Madrid
Due to a last-minute absence by a clarinetist in KoMo Clarinet Quartet, I was invited to fill in the spot for their concert at the end of the week. I not only got to play some fun music, but was very fortunate to become good friends with Useon, Geonju and Maxine, all wonderful musicians and people!
@Madrid Conservatory with the members of Komo Quartet
Dinner at an extremely fancy restaurant in downtown with my friends from Silverstein Works, Calvin and BK (CEO and President)
with Karl Leister
Among many other things I got to do in Madrid, the visit to Muso Prado singularly stands out. The museum houses some of the greatest works that are familiar to us. I was more impressed by its unique organization and distinct taste of the Spanish monarchs who curated the selections throughout past many centuries.
Muso Nacional del Prado
Special 10-piece Picasso Exhibit @ Museo Prado
London 2015 Summer
Teatime by the Thames and the British Parliament
I spent an inspiring week in London during the first week of July, staying at the heart of this vibrant city and working with my friend and pianist Sasha for our upcoming performances. I stayed at a flat in Ladbroke Grove, a gorgeous home with many fascinating histories behind. My host Eric graciously provided the ample space for me to stay and practice, a rarity in this part of the town. I also enjoyed tremendously my morning runs around the borough of Kensington and Chelsea with plenty of things to see around.
The drawing room in my flat where I got plenty of inspiration to practice and rehearse
Hallway to my room
My room at the Ladbroke Grove
I and Sasha have not played since we met at Norfolk Chamber Music Festival back in 2011, but it was very easy to work together. We rehearsed on works by Bernstein, Brahms, and Peter Lieuwen exchanging many interesting ideas and getting them in shape for our recital on Tuesday, 7 July. It was truly a pleasure to play with the great musical friend but also have many conversations on various things in our lives. The recital was tended by a small audience, but we gave quite a satisfying performance. We very much look forward to our upcoming performance in Madrid as well as our further collaboration in the US with our violinist friend Emily Westell.
rehearsing at the City College of London
at Hyde Park, Kensington
Recital at St. George's Campden Hill
Kim-Karpeyev Duo, post-recital
Harlaxton Music Festival, UK
The Harlaxton Manor
From July 1-3, I visited the Harlaxton Music Festival in its inagural year (launched by my colleagues from the Larchmere String Quartet), where three of my students from TTU were the chamber music participants. It was a real pleasure to reside in this amazing castle, coaching some hard-working students and playing music with them, too!
Harlaxton gardens
The atrium on the rear side of the Manor
Coaching my student Anjali's Stamitz group
The cocnert venue at the Harlaxton Manor
My student Sarah working on Mozart's Clarinet Quintet
Sarah performing Mozart Clarinet Quintet
On Thursday evening, I also performed the charming "Clarinet Quartet, No. 1" by the American clarinetist and composer Sean Osborn with my students at the St. Wulfram's Church. After the concert, we all went out to a local pub in downtown Grantham!
St. Wulfram's Church
My student Torey performing Mendelssohn's Concert Piece at the St. Wulfram's Church
Selfie with my students before the evening concert!
Downtown Grantham
Post-concert celebration!
All three of my students visited me in London after the Festival, and I took them out to a gastropub near the Covent Garden where we all had some great pies and ale!
with TTU clarinet students at a gastropub near the Covent Garden
