Chinese New Year Concert Series III
Faculty Clarinet Recital
“Spring Time” for Clarinet
Jun Qian, Clarinet
Kae Hosoda-Ayer, Piano
Paul Sánchez, Piano
Kayleen Sánchez, Soprano
Eric Wilson, conductor
Baylor Clarinet Choir
Grand Duo Concertant, Op.48 Carl von Maria Weber
(1786-1826)
I Allegro con fuoco
II Andante con moto
III Rondo: allegro
“Wu Song Fights the Tiger” For Clarinet and Electro-acoustic Music. (2014) Qiuxiao Li (b.1985)
US Premiere
Der Hirt auf dem Felsen , D. 965, for soprano,clarinet, and piano Franz Schubert
Intermission
Springtime “ The Olympics” for Bb Clarinet Solo and Clarinet Choir arr. Guido Six.
Jun Qian, clarinet
Eric Wilson, conductor
Baylor Clarinet Choir
Program Notes
Qiuxiao Li graduated from Central Conservatory of Music with Bachelor degree and from CEMC (Center for Electronic Music of China) with Master degree, majoring in electro-acoustic music composition. Currently, She is a second year student for the DMA degree and visiting scholar of University of Missouri of Kansas City. She studies electronic-acoustic music with Prof. Xiaofu Zhang and Prof. James Mobberley. Her works have been presented multiple times in various major music festivals, such as the Central Conservatory of Music Festival, Beijing Modern Music festival, MUSICACOUSTICA-BEIJING. Her work “Bristle with Anger” was performed in Rutgers, Sate University of New Brunswick in 2009. “The Dancing Shadow” was commissioned by ELECTROACOUSTIC-BEIJING in 2013. Her thesis “A study on early Chinese Electronic music composition” was awarded the third prize of the 3rd. Electronic Music Academy Award in 2012. In the same year, her thesis was read out in public on the 5th Round Table Discussion and Forum of Development about Asian Electroacoustic Music and was published in“Music communication” in 2013.
Wu Song Fights the Tiger—For Clarinet and Electro-acoustic Music was written for Dr. Jun Qian’s “East meets West” recording project. The music structure is based on the original plot in the play The Water Margin. Wu Song, nicknamed “Pilgrim”, is a fictional character in the play. One day, Wu Song passes by a tavern near Jingyang Ridge, where a large sign reads “Do Not Cross After Three Bowls.” The waiter explains to Wu Song that the wine sold at the tavern is so strong that customers would become too drunk after having three bowls to cross the ridge ahead, hence the sign. By the end of his meal, Wu Song had consumed 18 bowls of wine and ignores the waiter’s warning about the presence of a fierce man-eating tiger at Jingyang Ridge and proceeds with his journey. While crossing Jingyang Ridge, he really encounters a ferocious tiger. While trying to fend off the beast, Wu Song accidentally breaks his staff, rendering himself weaponless. Under the stimulation of alcohol, he ends up slaying the beast by pinning it to the ground and bashing its head repeatedly with his bare fists. The composer has applied various musical elements of Beijing opera throughout the work. The theme played by the Clarinet uses a swing rhythm to portray Wu Song’s half drunken state. The electronic section uses extensive percussion sounds, with a preponderance of drum sounds, to describe the drama of the scene when Wu Song fights the tiger.
Text for Der Hirt auf dem Felsen
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Wilhelm Müller – “Der Berghirt” [1]
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Wenn auf dem höchsten Fels ich steh’,
In’s tiefe Tal hernieder seh’,
Und singe.
Fern aus dem tiefen dunkeln Tal
Schwingt sich empor der Widerhall
Der Klüfte.
Je weiter meine Stimme dringt,
Je heller sie mir wieder klingt
Von unten.
Mein Liebchen wohnt so weit von mir,
Drum sehn’ ich mich so heiß nach ihr
Hinüber.
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When, from the highest rock up here,
I look deep down into the valley,
And sing,
Far from the valley dark and deep
Echoes rush through, upward and back to me,
The chasm.
The farther that my voice resounds,
So much the brighter it echos
From under.
My sweetheart dwells so far from me,
I hotly long to be with her
Over there.
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Varnhagen – “Nächtlicher Schall” [2]
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In tiefem Gram verzehr ich mich,
Mir ist die Freude hin,
Auf Erden mir die Hoffnung wich,
Ich hier so einsam bin.
So sehnend klang im Wald das Lied,
So sehnend klang es durch die Nacht,
Die Herzen es zum Himmel zieht
Mit wunderbarer Macht.
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I am consumed in misery,
Happiness is far from me,
Hope has on earth eluded me,
I am so lonesome here.
So longingly did sound the song,
So longingly through wood and night,
Towards heaven it draws all hearts
With amazing strength.
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Wilhelm Müller – “Liebesgedanken” [3]
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Der Frühling will kommen,
Der Frühling, meine Freud’,
Nun mach’ ich mich fertig
Zum Wandern bereit
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The Springtime will come,
The Springtime, my happiness,
Now must I make ready
To wander forth.
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BAYLOR CLARINET CHOIR:
Eb Clarinet:
Ashley Bogisch
Bb Clarinet I:
Jake Hale, John Barker, Derek Novak,
Bb Clarinet II:
Iván Hernández , Julie Yu,
Sarah Sauceda, Lorin Mott, Megan Ritzi
B Clarinet III:
Taylor Gonzales, Taylor Horn,
Stephan Brown, Elaine Weaver,
Angelia Schulte, Joseph Harwerth
Alto Clarinet:
Justin Vance, Luke Camarillo
Bass Clarinet:
Ben Quarles, Sarah Guhl
Contra Eb:
Brenden Hill
Contra Bb:
Giovanni Guardado
Guest Artist
Kayleen Sánchez is an imaginative, inspiring, and deeply communicative artist and teacher, equally effective whether performing opera, singing art song, or teaching historically-informed performance practice and healthy vocal technique.
Since 2012, Sánchez has appeared in over 50 performances in the Midwest, including operatic roles with the Haymarket Opera Company in Chicago, Renaissance Polish music with the Newberry Consort, multiple performances with the St. Charles Singers, and recitals at the Winnetka Recital Series in Winnetka, Illinois, the Winterpast Recital Series in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and recitals at the Dakota Sky International Piano Festival in Sioux Falls. In December, she was the soprano soloist for Handel’s Messiah with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, directed by Maestro Delta David Gier. She has been a featured soloist in two commercially released CDs of Mozart choral works with the St. Charles Singers and the Metropolis Chamber Orchestra: St. Charles Singers: MAGNIFICENT MOZART (St. Charles Singers, 2012), and St. Charles Singers: LUMINESCENCE (St. Charles Singers, 2013). In April of 2014, Kayleen recorded songs by composer George Morey, which will be featured in a CD titled Music of George Morey (expected release 2015). This February, she will release a CD featuring Scottish lute songs of the 16th century. Past performances have been broadcast on Chicago’s WFMT and on South Dakota Public Broadcasting television and radio.
In 2013, Sánchez and lutenist Dr. Laudon Schuett formed Bedlam, an early music duo. They have performed five concerts in the Chicagoland area, have been invited to perform and give workshops at Duke University and Arizona State University, as well as two tours of upstate New York. Her interest in early music blossomed during her five years performing in lutenist Paul O’Dette’s early music ensemble at the Eastman School of Music, and she had the privilege of studying with Mr. O’Dette in private coachings and in his two-semester Baroque Performance Practice course at Eastman. In Bedlam’s first tour, their program of 16th century Scottish lute songs gave her the opportunity to marry her passion for historically-informed performance practice with her love of languages, and resulted in a performance featuring improvised ornamentation, rhetorical gestures, quicksilver changes in affect, and original pronunciation of 16th century Scottish. This past year, Sánchez has also had the opportunity to sing in English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish.
Kayleen’s passion for early music has as its counterpoint her love of new music. American composer Dr. David M. Gordon, who praised her performance of his piece “Fader, stilla våra andar,” as “the first perfect performance” of any of his music, is writing a 30-minute song cycle for Sánchez to premier in the 2014–2015 season; the cycle is set in Syriac. Other recent performances of new music have included compositions by Dr. Jacob Bancks, George Morey, Dr. Shawn Okpebholo, and Dr. Paul Sanchez.
Sánchez believes in teaching healthy technique, informed musicianship, refined and responsible diction, deeply committed communication, and finding one’s own unique voice. She has taught privately for seven years, and has taught lessons for non-majors at the Eastman School of Music, at the Kanack School of Music in Rochester, New York, and at the Vero Voce Performing Arts School in St. Charles, Illinois. She has presented master classes at the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, was a clinician at the SING! workshop in St. Charles, Illinois, and has coached pianists in the performance of lieder at the Dakota Sky International Piano Festival. Her students have gone on to pursue degrees in music at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City.
Sánchez received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Vocal Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music, and resides in Waco, TX with her husband, pianist Paul Sánchez.
