Saturday, September 26, 2009

Deborah Clasquin Memorial Scholarship Benefit

HSU Music Department colleagues, North Coast friends and former students honor Deborah Clasquin, the much-beloved pianist and teacher who passed away last March, with a concert to benefit the Deborah Clasquin Memorial Scholarship Fund on Saturday, September 26 at 8 PM in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $20 from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Additional donations gratefully accepted.

Some of the musicians who will play in the September 26 Deborah Clasquin Memorial Scholarship Concert: Virginia Ryder, John Chernoff, Karen Davy, Kenneth Ayoob, Elisabeth Harrington, J. Brian Post, Daniela Mineva, Eugene Novotoney, and Cindy Moyer.
North Coast Musicians Combine in Deborah Clasquin Memorial Scholarship Benefit

HSU Music Department colleagues, North Coast friends and former students combine to honor Deborah Clasquin, the much-beloved pianist and teacher who passed away last March, with a concert to benefit the newly established Deborah Clasquin Memorial Scholarship Fund, on Saturday, October 26 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus.

“With her extraordinary gift for teaching, and her passion for the arts, Deborah transformed the way people listened to music,” said Brian Post, HSU Music professor and coordinator for the event. “Performers for this concert have chosen their material to reflect Deborah’s love of the arts and passion for good music.”

The concert features Clasquin’s best-known student, pianist Ryan MacEvoy-McCullough of Eureka, who will play “Shibui--A dirge in memory of my mentor, Deborah Clasquin,” composed by another of Clasquin’s students, Dante de Silva.

MacEvoy-McCullough, who now performs internationally, will also play Chopin’s “Nocturne in B major,” one of the last pieces he played for Deborah Clasquin as her student, and one of his own favorites.

Pianist Valerie Reed, also a Clasquin student, will perform a piece by Henri Ribauld with HSU Music professor Paul Cummings on clarinet.

Other HSU Music Department colleagues performing Saturday include Eugene Novotney, playing his own composition on snare drum, Kenneth Ayoob on clarinet and John Chernoff on piano playing a rhapsody by Debussy, and soprano Elisabeth Harrington, Cindy Moyer on violin, David Davis on cello and Daniela Mineva on piano, performing songs by Roger Quilter. Mineva, who joins the HSU faculty this year, also performs her own piano transcription of Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faun.”

In addition to the classical selections, a jazz quartet combining HSU faculty members Brian Post and Shao Way Wu with North Coast musicians Susie Laraine and Jill Petricca, will play an original piece by Shao Way Wu.

Deborah Clasquin joined the HSU Music Department faculty in 1985. She won many awards for both her performances as a pianist and for her teaching. Locally she appeared with the Eureka Symphony and the Humboldt Symphony. She performed internationally, and even after her diagnosis and treatment for cancer, she performed in Paris. Her last solo performance at HSU was last October. Deborah Clasquin died in March, at the age of 52.

The Deborah Clasquin Memorial Scholarship Benefit is Saturday, September 26 at 8 PM. Tickets are $20, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. The HSU Music Department will gratefully accept additional donations to the scholarship fund.

Media: HSU Now, Eureka Times Standard, North Coast Journal, Arcata Eye, KHSU ArtWaves.
The Program

Solo de Concours, opus 10 by Henri Rabaud
performed by: Paul Cummings, clarinet; Valerie Reed, piano.

Piano Quartet in C minor, op 60 (Adagio) by Johannes Brahms
performed by: Cindy Moyer, violin; Karen Davy, viola; David Davis, cello; John Chernoff, piano.

Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune by Claude Debussy (Transcription for solo piano by Daniela Mineva)
performed by: Daniela Mineva, piano.

Coconino by Shao Way Wu
performed by: Jill Petricca, flute, saxophone; Susie Laraine, flute, saxophone; Brian Post, piano; Shao Way Wu, bass.

A Minute of News (1990) for Snare Drum by Eugene Novotney
performed by: Eugene Novotoney, snare drum.

Premiere Rhapsody for Clarinet and Piano by Claude Debussy
performed by: Kenneth Ayoob, clarinet; John Chernoff, piano.

Three Pastoral Songs by Roger Quilter
performed by: Elisabeth Harrington, voice; Cindy Moyer, violin; David Davis, cello; Daniela Mineva, piano.

Shibui by Dante de Silva (A dirge in memory of my mentor, Deborah Clasquin)
Nocturne in B major, op. 62 no. 1 by Frederic Chopin
performed by: Ryan MacEvoy McCullough, piano.
Concert Notes by Brian Post

Members of the HSU Music Department and North Coast music community will be performing on Saturday, September 26 at 8pm, in Fulkerson Recital, to honor Deborah Clasquin with a Memorial Concert benefiting a newly established scholarship in her name. With her extraordinary gift for teaching, and her passion for the arts, Deborah transformed the way people listened to music.

Performers for this concert have chosen their material to reflect Deborah’s love of the arts and passion for good music. One work titled “Shibui--A dirge in memory of my mentor, Deborah Clasquin, “ composed by Dante de Silva, a student of Deborah’s from the late 1990’s, will be performed by Ryan MacEvoy-McCullough, another student of Deborah’s who is now performing internationally.

Written for solo piano, this piece has an austere quality combined with underlying feelings of joy and loss, resulting in a truly poignant musical statement by Mr. de Silva that pays homage to his mentor. Mr. MacEvoy-McCullough will also be performing “Nocturne in B major,” op. 62 no. 1 by Frederic Chopin (1810-1849). This was one of the last pieces he played for Deborah as her student. It is also of one his most favorite piano pieces to perform in public.

Other performances will include a piano transcription performed by pianist Daniela Mineva of Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faun.” This is probably one of Debussy’s most loved and popular pieces and was inspired by the poem Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune by Stephane Mallarmé (1842-1898). The transcription was created by Ms. Mineva and will be having its world premiere at this concert.

Eugene Novotney will be performing a piece that he composed titled, “A Minute of News.” This work has been used as the test piece for numerous snare drum competitions, including the Concours International de Caisse Claire - Conservatoire National de Region de Paris 2004 & 2007; Paris, France. The piece is meant to be an alternative to the standard approach of composition for the snare drum. It also acts as a tribute to the fine percussionists of the Afro-Cuban tradition, who are often asked to gain many sounds out of very limited instrumentation.

Clarinetist Dr. Paul Cummings will be performing with pianist Valerie Reed on “Solo de Concours (Contest Solo)” by Henri Ribauld. Written for clarinet and piano this piece has been popular ever since its composition in 1901. It is so entirely in the idiom of the instrument, and is as endearing as any piece of music ever written for the clarinet. It was composed for the graduation and solo competition of the Paris Conservatory, and was used again for the competition in the years 1908, 1915, 1925, and 1937.

Inkling, a local jazz quartet featuring Susie Laraine, flute, Jill Petricca, flute, Shao Way Wu, bass and Brian Post, piano, will perform themes from “Coconino Suite,” composed by Shao Way Wu. This piece offers a somewhat open ended approach for performers to creatively express their reflections of the American archetype: Krazy Kat.

Other works and performers on this special evening will include; Andante from the “Piano Quartet in C minor, op 60”, by Johannes Brahms, “Three Pastoral Songs” by Roger Quilter (1877-1053), and “Premiere Rhapsody for Clarinet and Piano” by Claude Debussy 1862-1918 with performances by Kenneth Ayoob on clarinet, John Chernoff on piano, Karen Davy on viola, Cindy Moyer on violin, Elisabeth Harrington, voice and David Davis on cello.

The concert will be held in Fulkerson Recital Hall on September 26 at 8:00 pm. and tickets are $20. Also, any and all donations towards the scholarship fund will be gladly accepted. Please join the HSU Music Faculty, and members of the North Coast music community in celebrating the life and creative spirit of Deborah Clasquin.