Guest Artist Blake McGee: The Program

Sonata for Clarinet and Piano  by Leonard Bernstein
  1. Grazioso - Un poco piu mosso
2. Andantino - Vivace e leggiero

 Introduction, Theme, and Variations by Gioachino Rossini

 Pleistocene Epoch: The Great Ice Age by Jenni Brandon
 I. Asphalt
 II. Smilodon Fatalis: Sabertoothed Cat
III. Mammuthus Columbi: Columbian Mammoth
 IV. Canis Dirus: Dire Wolf

Bling Bling by Scott McAllister
 I.
 II.
 III.


Blake McGee: Bio

Dr. Blake McGee is assistant professor of clarinet at the University of Wyoming. A native of the West Coast, Dr. McGee performed as a member of the Portland Opera and Vancouver Symphony, as well as with several regional orchestras.

 He is a highly active chamber musician performing regularly with the Oregon Mozart Players’ Chamber Music and Chocolate series and as a member of Lights Along the Shore, a trio specializing in eclectic music from around the world.

 Dr. McGee maintains an active schedule of performance engagements, masterclasses, and clinics in the Rocky Mountain region and throughout the West Coast. He regularly collaborates with active living composers on new solo works for the clarinet and performs several premiers each year. His interest in a multitude of styles ranging from traditional classical, to folk, to free improvisation and avant-garde has made McGee an extremely versatile performer.

 As an avid reed-maker and researcher, Dr. McGee has begun developing new methods for evaluating clarinet reeds based on design parameters. In 2009, McGee was invited to present his research methods and findings at the International Clarinet Association's conference in Portugal. He is currently working on a book highlighting his methods for working on commercial and handmade reeds.

 Dr. McGee is featured on two albums. Plastic Critters (Edgetone Records, 2013) is an eclectic compilation of works for electronically manipulated clarinet and unusual instruments built and performed by San Francisco instrument maker, Tom Nunn. A new recording project with Lights Along The Shore (lightstrio.com), titled Excursion, showcases original arrangements and compositions based on world folk music. McGee is working on an album of original compositions for clarinet and Atari due to be complete in the fall of 2014.

 For more information, visit www.mcgeeclarinet.com.