Skidmore College Orchestra to Present Premiere of Double Concerto for Clarinet and Guitar by James Emery, 4/27

On April 27, 2014, the Skidmore College Orchestra will present the world premiere of Double Concerto for Clarinet and Guitar, composed by the internationally acclaimed guitarist James Emery for his daughter Hannah and featuring the two of them, respectively, as the guitar and clarinet soloists. This concert will mark their public debut playing together in an orchestral setting.

The premiere will take place April 27th, 2014, at 3pm in the acoustically pristine Arthur Zankel Music Center Concert Hall at Skidmore, where Hannah is a senior. The performance will take place in Ladd Hall as part of the Filene Concert Series World Premieres and Exhibitions at Saratoga Springs, NY. Also featured on the concert will be a performance of the orchestral masterpiece by Mussorgsky/Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition.

"What sets the Double Concerto apart from my other large-scale works," Emery says, "is that I have composed a double concerto for my daughter in which I can play alongside her supported by an orchestra of her peers and friends and led by a remarkable musician, Dr. Anthony Holland, a professor of Composition and conductor of the Skidmore College Orchestra." Emery's new work, his third piece for orchestra, was commissioned by Skidmore's music department.

Hannah Emery '14 entered Skidmore as a Filene music scholar in 2010 and completed her junior year in Paris, studying clarinet at La Schola Cantorum.

"The Double Concerto is my most ambitious piece yet for orchestra," offers Mr. Emery, "and my first professional acknowledgement of my daughter's artistry and musical abilities." While father-daughter duos have, on rare occasions, performed together, this is thought to be the first time that one of them was also the composer of the work.

Emery has been active at the forefront of the international jazz and contemporary music scenes since 1975. As a composer, he has written over 100 compositions ranging from solo guitar and chamber music to symphonic pieces. He has performed his works in over 25 countries, recorded more than two dozen CDs as a leader or co-leader, and co-founded the String Trio of New York, which celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2012. The ensemble has been featured on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition and Public Radio International's Concerts from the Library of Congress.

Emery is known for his distinctive sound and touch as an improviser and composer. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship for music composition and has performed at many of the major international jazz festivals and as a soloist in many of the world's major concert halls, from Great Performers at Lincoln Center, Espace Cardin in Paris and London's Royal Festival Hall to Tokyo's Bunkamura Music Hall, Philharmonic Hall in Berlin and the Konzerthaus in Vienna. As a sideman, he has performed and recorded with such luminaries as Anthony Braxton, Steve Reich, Joe Lovano, Henry Threadgill, John Zorn, and Muhal Richard Abrams, among other leading artists.

Live stream and archive of the concert

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Photo Credit: Federico Moretto

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