Ladies Musical Club: Woodwind Duets | 104 Years of Harmony

• Julie Shankland, clarinet
• Eric Shankland, bassoon
• Silas Berlin, piano

L. Bender — Drei Duos für klarinette und fagott (No. 1)
Eugène Bozza — Contrastes III for clarinet and bassoon
Alexander Scriabin — Piano Sonata No. 4 in F-sharp major, Op. 30
Ludwig van Beethoven — Piano Sonata No. 11 in B-flat major, Op. 22

About Ladies Musical Club of Seattle

http://www.lmcseattle.org/

About Julie Shankland, clarinet

Julie Shankland has played clarinet since marching band in the Ohio snow. Since moving to Washington, Julie has played in the UW Concert Band, Eastside Symphony, West Seattle Community Orchestras, Rain City Symphony, and various chamber music camps. Julie is an adult student of Jennifer Nelson and recently learned to play bass clarinet. Julie works in the Office of General Counsel at the Washington State Bar Association.

About Eric Shankland, bassoon

Eric Shankland has been playing bassoon since age 15. He played in the NCR band and the Youth Philharmonic in Dayton, Ohio. He studied with Arthur Grossman and played in the University Symphony at the University of Washington, and currently studies with Paul Rafanelli of the Seattle Symphony. He was principal bassoon in the Eastside Symphony (Redmond) for fifteen years. Eric is a research scientist at the University of Washington.

About Silas Berlin, piano

Silas Berlin is a classical pianist with a rounded approach. Classically trained from the age of six, Silas discovered jazz while in high school and later found that he "re-discovered" classical music by way of the jazz music in which he was ensconced. Silas takes great pleasure in realizing the ways in which music is connected. He believes that discovering those connections naturally cultivates and propels intrigue and passion for music, and certainly aids in the appreciation, understanding and love of classical music.

Silas holds a Bachelor’s of Music from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, where he studied with renowned pianist and teacher Peter Mack. Silas is a competition medalist, winning the silver medal in both the 2020 Seattle Bach festival and the 2020 Russian Music Competition with his performance of Alexander Scriabin's 4th Sonata. While piano technique is naturally key to learning the instrument, Silas firmly believes that knowledge of music theory can only benefit one's playing, and was hired as a music theory tutor by Cornish.

Silas derives great pleasure from teaching piano and enjoys tackling the tricky issue of playing the piano with each individual student, through their unique needs and wants. It is often that the teacher learns from the student, and it is in those special moments that Silas is especially reminded of the joy that comes with playing and teaching piano.