Emerald City Music: Clarinet Dances
$55 (includes open bar)
- Jose Franch-Ballester, clarinet
- Kristin Lee, violin
- Jason Ueyama, violin
- Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu, viola
- Ani Aznavoorian, cello
When was the last time you heard classical music live? Emerald City Music is Seattle’s home for eclectic, open-bar classical music shows featuring the world's best musicians.
Hear two remarkable and colorful clarinet quintets in one night! Carl Maria Von Weber’s Clarinet Quintet was written for his close friend, the clarinet virtuoso Heinrich Baermann. While the latter would have preferred a concerto to perform with orchestras, this work was designed such that the clarinetist could travel town to town and gather the local musicians to support the four string parts of this colorful work. David Bruce’s Gumboots is a thematic clarinet quintet that brings to light the brutal labor conditions of South Africa under Apartheid. Black miners were chained together and wore gumboots (wellington boots) while they worked in the flooded gold mines. Slapping the boots and chains was used by the workers as a form of communication which was otherwise banned in the mine. The composer describes the first half of his Quintet as yearning for tranquility and peace, while the finale consists of five lively and joyful dances.
COVID-19 Protocol: In an ever-changing situation with the COVID-19 Pandemic, we are making every effort to keep you safe while we return to live performances. We are following the State and County's recommendations on limiting audience capacity and requiring masks to be worn throughout the duration of the performance. Contact information, including names and email addresses for all audience members, will be archived for contact tracing purposes.
These past few years have shown us that things can change very quickly without warning. We will continue to monitor the situation and update you regularly as more information is released by Governor Inslee and the Washington State Government.
For more, please read our COVID-19 policy here: https://www.emeraldcitymusic.org/covid19-policy
About Jose Franch-Ballester, clarinet
About Kristin Lee, violin
About Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu, viola
About Ani Aznavoorian, cello
Cellist Ani Aznavoorian has appeared as soloist with orchestras around the world including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Helsinki Philharmonic, and the Boston Pops. Aznavoorian is an avid chamber musician and teacher. She is the principal cellist of Camerata Pacifica, and she appears regularly at chamber music festivals around the globe. She has also served on the music faculty at the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana, and has spent summers as faculty of the Great Mountains Music Festival and School in South Korea. She is the recipient of the Bunkamura Orchard Hall Award for her playing and artistry, has been named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, and is a prize winner of the International Paulo Cello Competition. She is a proponent of new music and has premiered concertos by Auerbach and Laderman and the chamber music repertoire by Harbison, Bruce, and Sheng. Aznavoorian records for Cedille Records and she proudly performs on a cello made by her father Peter Aznavoorian in Chicago.
https://www.aniaznavoorian.com/