West Coast Clarinet Congress 2003:
Oahu, Hawaii and Fresno, California.

By Alison Deadman with Christine Montanez

In January 2003, the West Coast Clarinet Congress, embarked upon a new stage of development, with sessions split between two venues: the first leg on the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii, and the second at the by now traditional venue of Fresno, California.  

The three-day program on the campus of the University of Hawaii (at Manoa) began in grand style with congress organizer Miles Ishigaki (California State University, Fresno), partnered by flutist Teresa Ishigaki, and pianist Natashia Kislenko treating participants to a poised, expressive rendition of an arrangement of Debussy�s Pr�lude � l�apr�s midi d�un faune, and a lively performance of Francaix�s Double Concerto with its quirky, humorous cadenza for e-flat clarinet and piccolo. Ishigaki was then joined by Marino Calva (Orquesta Pilharmonica de la Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico) and Alison Deadman (East Tennessee State University) in the First Trio by Bouffil.

Hiroshi Nakajima (Yamaha Corporation of America) provided a change pace next, as he explained the intricacies of customizing clarinets. Participants were intrigued and amazed by the small but significant differences Nakajima demonstrated. Nakajima also discussed new prototypes, including a model that combines the key-system of the French clarinet with a bore more akin to German models, and an instrument made of a new composite material.

The morning concluded with an inspiring master class given by David Etheridge (University of Oklahoma), whose innovative teaching methods can perhaps be best summed in his own words: �The only way to loose the game of music is not to play the game!� Participants headed out to lunch and an afternoon of sightseeing or lazing by the ocean with plenty to think about.

Energized by the beautiful surroundings, congress attendees returned on Sunday to be treated to a varied fare of recitals, lectures and demonstrations. David Etheridge�s evening recital combined the familiar and not so familiar in a beautifully intelligent performance of Mozart�s Concerto, followed by Nino Rota�s expressive Sonata. The program closed with the well-loved Honegger Sonatina. The combined skills of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra�s clarinet section (Scott Anderson, James Moffit, and Norman Foster) provided the core of Sunday morning�s concert. They were joined by Vicki Gorman (soprano), Beebee Freitas (piano) and Nancy Masaki Hathaway (�cello) for an exciting program: a nuanced performance of Stravinsky�s Berceuse du Chat, a sensitive rendition of Schumann�s Romances, and delightful arrangement by Norman Foster of Bartok�s Six Rumanian Folk Dances (1915). The program concluded with Purple Verses for soprano, clarinet, �cello, and piano, by local composer, Takeo Kudo, who was in attendance.

Sunday also gave participants a chance to get some �hands-on� experience. Hiroshi Nakajima hosted a session in which he encouraged audience members to try the instruments he had discussed the day before and Alexander Technique teacher Charlotte Anderson (<http://www.studioanderson.com>) gave students a different sort of �hands on� experience as she introduced them to the technique, and in later workshop sessions helped them discover some of the ways they could help themselves to put less stress on their bodies as they practiced and performed.

Marino Calva delivered a fascinating lecture on the music of Mexico on Sunday afternoon, and Alison Deadman gave college teachers some ideas about different ways to use technology to enhance the studio experience.

Free time on Monday morning allowed more exploration of the delights of Oahu before an informative and entertaining afternoon demonstration of the orchestral use of some unusual clarinets (e-flat and d soprano, c, and bass clarinets, and bassett horn) by members of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra clarinet section. The Hawaii leg of the conference was rounded out by a spectacular recital of music by Hispanic composers performed by Marino Calva.

When the congress re-convened in Fresno the following Friday afternoon, Miles and Teresa Ishigaki repeated their recital for the benefit of those unable to be in Hawaii, this time Ishigaki and Calva were joined by Christine Montanez (CSU, Fresno graduate student) for the Bouffil, and Montanez and Ishigaki added a performance of Poulenc�s sonata for two clarinets. This whet the audience appetite nicely for the main event of the evening � an exciting recital by Gary Gray (UCLA) whose program combined the much-loved Saint-Saens Sonata and Martinu Sonatina with California composer Mark Carlson�s 1990 composition, Hall of Mirrors.

Saturday�s events proved varied and instructional. Gary Gray�s insightful comments encouraged students in his master class to focus on breathing as fundamental to playing, while Tom Pulawksi (U.S. Army Field Band, retired) combined a fascinating history lesson on Klezmer music, particularly the Hasidic tradition, with �hands on� experience as students memorized a Klezemer melody. After a break for lunch, �don�t panic� was the message of RDG Inc.�s ( http://www.rdgwoodwinds.com/) repairtechnician who gave useful hints on how to deal temporarily with minor repair problems. This session was shared by Harry Miller of Miller Sheet Music Sales Inc. (http://www.millersheetmusic.com/), who led an informative open question/answer session on the sheet music industry.

The first of the day�s concerts, given by Gary Cauchi (Merced Symphony Orchestra) presented a delightfully varied program (Pierne Andante Scherzo, Fisher Four Movements, Prokofiev Sonata). This contrasted beautifully with Tom Pulawski�s evening performance, which began with Italian opera (the Fantasia di Concerto on Verdi�s Rigoletto, the Mozart/Danzi Konzerstuck-Variationen uber �La ci darem la mano� and Rossini�s Introduction, Theme and Variations) and concluded with the toe-tapping excitement of traditional Klezmer music.

All too soon it was Sunday morning, and the last few hours of the congress. Marino Calva continued the theme of breath support, emphasizing the role of both abdomen and lips in his masterclass, and brought the entire congress to a rousing close with a recital that combined Austro-German Romanticism (Schuman Fantasiestucke, R. Strauss Romance, Schubert/David Introduction, Theme and Variations from Sehnsuchts-Walzer) with twentieth-century Hispanic music (Spanish composer/clarinetist Francisco Gomez� Lorito and Lopez Aguilar�s 2002 arrangement, Tres Paisajes Mexicanos).

As the congress drew to a close, Miles Ishigaki encouraged participants to mark your calendars for the WCCC 2004 as �East meets West� in Tennessee, January 9-11 and in Fresno January 16-18; for more information contact
[email protected]
Tel. (559)278-2902,
http://www.west-coast-clarinet-congress.org/