The year marks the 50th anniversary of the International Clarinet Association (ICA) and one of the ways the ICA celebrated was to host the first-ever Low Clarinet Festival. The Festival brought over 200 low clarinet enthusiasts from all over the world and included lectures, masterclasses, and performances on alto clarinet, basset horn, bass clarinet, contralto clarinet, and contrabass clarinet.
Notably, one of the performances during the festival was Dr. Jeremy Wohletz, Dickinson State University’s associate professor of woodwinds. “While I have played soprano clarinet for most of my life, I didn’t start performing bass clarinet until 2017 when I bought my first bass clarinet,” stated Wohletz. “Since then, I have taken multiple lessons with bass clarinet experts, attended workshops, and have performed throughout the United States, Canada, and Portugal on bass clarinet.”
In addition, Dr. Wohletz performed a recital called, “Rock Inspired Music for Bass Clarinet and Electronics.” The first piece, Variations on Themes of Black Sabbath, was for solo bass clarinet and delay pedal and the second piece, Shadows Blue and Red, was for bass clarinet, looping pedal, and piano.
“It was great to play both of these tunes to a full and appreciative audience,” added Wohletz. “Especially Shadows since it was the world premiere of a live performance for this piece that I had commissioned for myself a couple years ago.”
Not only did Dr. Wohletz perform a solo recital, he was also a part of a large low clarinet choir of over 100 members for one of the night performances.
“Attending these types of festivals is great because it gives you new ideas for repertoire and teaching. I’m looking forward to sharing this experience with my own students at Dickinson State!”
While there is not a recording from the performance, please click here for another recording of Shadows Blue and Red.
To learn more about the music program(s) at Dickinson State, please click here.