For the 14th year, the University of Alabama at Birmingham invites clarinetists of all ages and abilities to participate in its annual Clarinet Symposium, Feb. 27-28.
Presented by the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Music, the symposium is led by Associate Professor of Clarinet and Music Education Denise Gainey, DMA.
On offer will be workshops, master classes, clarinet choir, recitals, clinics, presentations and performances by some of the nation’s finest clarinetists. Special guest artists will include John Cipolla, DMA, Western Kentucky University; Lori Ardovino, DMA, University of Montevallo; Osiris Molina, DMA, University of Alabama; Kip Meghan Merciers, DMA, University of North Alabama; Kip Franklin, DMA, University of South Alabama; London Silas Shavers, M.M., Northwest Mississippi Community College; Robert Janssen, DMA, Alabama School of Fine Arts; and award-winning New York-based clarinetist Ford Fourqurean.
Backun Musical Services and Art’s Music Shop will be on-site to provide participants with instruments, mouthpieces, barrels, reeds, music and more.
Registration is $40. Participants may register online on the UAB Department of Music’s website at www.uab.edu/music or contact Gainey at 205-975-0558 or clarinet@uab.edu.
Two free, public performances will be offered. At 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27, the UAB Clarinet Symposium featured recital will take place in UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, Reynolds-Kirschbaum Recital Hall, 1200 10th Ave. South. At 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28, the UAB Clarinet Symposium final concert will be held in the Alys Stephens Center’s Jemison Concert Hall.
Gainey is coordinator of Instrumental Music Education and of Graduate Studies in Music at UAB. She is a Backun Artist/ Clinician, a D’Addario Woodwinds Artist, and secretary of the Board of Directors for the International Clarinet Association. Gainey is an active clinician and performer throughout the United States and abroad. Gainey has compiled and edited a collection of clarinet solos, “Solos for Clarinet,” published by Carl Fischer in 2001, and is currently writing a book on master teacher Kalmen Opperman.