Alex Jones, Quintet and Trio

Alex Jones, principal clarinet of the Pittsburgh Philharmonic works with two musical groups that offer programming for libraries:

The Clarinet Quintet: A Musical Tour

Alex Jones has teamed up with the Washington Symphony String Quartet to bring you this program that begins and ends in Vienna, Austria. It starts with a recently discovered work fragment by Mozart for clarinet quintet in B flat. Then the tour moves to the opera house of Italy with Rossini's "Introduction, Theme and Variations" for clarinet and string quartet, based on two of Rossini's unfinished opera works. Then travel to Russia via the Orient Express with Glazunov's "Oriental Reverie." Head back to Vienna via the Black and Mediterranean Seas and stop off at Jerusalem to explore the three Hebrew Sketches of Russian composer Alexander Krein. Upon a brief respite, the program concludes with a Viennese daytrip to Budapest with Johannes Brahms's arguably best chamber work, the clarinet quintet in B minor, an expansive opus that couples Brahms late-romantic German compositional style with Hungarian folk melodies still heard today by street musicians playing the clarinet.

The Morningside Trio presents, It's Beethoven! Or is it?

Ludwig van Beethoven is a household name amongst classical music novices and experts alike due to his amazing command of the musical language and his innovation in pushing the envelope of musical expression. While arguably most famous for his symphonic works, he was a master craftsman of chamber music. His late piano sonatas contained notes that were not available in pianos of his time and his string quartets foreshadow the construction of pieces by much later composers. As part of his vast collection of chamber compositions, Beethoven wrote two trios for clarinet, cello, and piano. Beethoven's influence reaches composers even today, so it is not surprising that many composers have also embraced the trio of clarinet, cello, and piano. This program explores works written in the style of Beethoven. During each performance the audience is exposed to a work and asked to guess whether the piece was composed by Beethoven or another composer. Programs may include multiple works by Beethoven, ore even none, but what's for sure is you'll love the music. The Morningside Trio is a trio of clarinet, cello, and piano. Venues that have a functional piano are preferred.

Details:

1- 1.5 hours

Fee is negotiable

Contact:

Alex Jones, akj850[at]gmail.com

Morningside Trio website

Washington Symphony String Quartet Facebook page