NIU to host third annual Clarinet Cornucopia

by Mark McGowan

Clarinetists and clarinet lovers in the Midwest are invited to NIU’s third annual Clarinet Cornucopia, a day-long celebration of the popular woodwind instrument.

This year’s event, scheduled from 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, focuses on “Sounds of Japan” and will feature performances of Japanese music, a talk on jazz clarinet in Japan and special guest Mituso Sakaba, consul general of the Japanese Consulate at Chicago.

The day also includes a 7:30 p.m. performance of Japanese works by the Clarinet Quartet of the U.S. Air Force Band of Mid-America. The concert also includes a performance by the clarinet choir from Ironwood High School in Michigan and will end with a clarinet ensemble performance by attendees of the Clarinet Cornucopia.

Master classes in clarinet playing will be given by NIU faculty host Gregory Barrett, who originated the event two years ago, and the world-renowned John Bruce Yeh, assistant principal and solo E-flat clarinetist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Yeh, on the faculty of the School of Music at DePaul University, is director of Chicago Pro Musica and received a Grammy award as Best New Classical Artist in 1986. He performed the American premier of Elliott Carter’s “Clarinet Concerto” with the Chicago Symphony in 1998.

Yeh will perform his concert of Japanese music at 11:30 a.m. that Saturday in the Recital Hall of the NIU Music Building. The concert is free and open to the public.

E. Taylor Atkins, associate professor in the NIU Department of History, will lead the 4:15 p.m. talk on jazz clarinet in Japan. Atkins is the author of the award-winning book, “Blue Nippon: Authenticating Jazz in Japan.”

Participants also are invited to bring their clarinets, perform in the Cornucopia Clarinet Choir and browse the display and sale of clarinet products.

Fees are $30 per person for general registration and $20 per person for groups of five or more who register at the same time. The Clarinet Cornucopia is supported by the NIU School of Music, the NIU Music Society and Yamaha Corp. of America.

For more information, call 753-1450 or e-mail rpage@niu.edu.

2-9-03