My First Clarinet Concerto!

Each Monday four of us pile into Donna's car and make our way down to Mt. Vernon for a two hour Bayshore rehearsal. With my cello taking up the lion's share of trunk space, it's fortunate that the other three passengers play much smaller instruments. One of those passengers is Vonnie, a retired pharmacist who has been a lifelong clarinetist and who comes from a family full of talented musicians.

Vonnie explained to me that she has been longing to find a pianist who would be interested in having some fun with several pieces for clarinet. She has amassed a vast collection of music and misses small ensemble work. My ears immediately perked up at this idea and we've agreed to get together after the Bayshore season is over and dig into some good music! For starters, she suggested we could try the classic Mozart Clarinet Concerto in A maj (I enjoyed the young man's gyrations while playing). Though she feels it's "overplayed", she still thinks it is still absolutely sublime and a good introduction to clarinet repetoire for me.

My student string quartet is still working on our "Emperor's Quartet" by Haydn, but when we've had our fill of Haydn, I'm going to suggest we ask Vonnie to join us on Mozart's Clarinet Quintet, also in A maj, one of my all time favorite pieces. (good speakers are a must to hear all the details, particularly the cello parts)

I can't wait to get started!