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NEWS

8/17/15

Debut Album Recording Begins

Duo Rodinia will be working in the studio with Garnet House Productions, LLC during April and May for a disc of world premiere recordings. The works on the disc are as follows:

 

  • Raven (2004) by Edward Knight (clarinet and marimba)

  • The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage (2015) by Brandon Nelson (clarinet and vibraphone)

  • Three Situations (2015) by Jamie Whitmarsh (clarinet and tenor steelpan)

  • De profundis (2015) by Joshua William Mills (clarinet and marimba)

  • Two-Letter Words (2005) by Ingrid Stölzel (clarinet/bass clarinet and marimba/vibraphone)

  • Zodiacal Lights (2015) by Jamie Whitmarsh (bass clarinet and electronics)

  • Hymnus 2 (2011) by Joshua William Mills (solo vibraphone)

 

By May we hope to complete half of the works and anticipate recording the remaining works by winter. We are thrilled to be working with these fantastic composers and the recording engineers at Garnet House Productions!

4/3/15

3/29/15

March Tour Complete

In March we performed 8 recitals in 5 states, had 5 Q&A sessions, and 3 masterclasses. Despite the 4 flights and over 30 hours of driving, we are still alive and well. Many thanks are in order:

 

  • David Bessinger, Stacy DiPaolo, Keith Talley, and Rhyesa Hamilton at Southwestern Oklahoma State University

  • David Steffens, Andrea Venet, Edward Knight, and Sean Erwin at Oklahoma City University

  • Antosia Meyers, Darnell Zook, and Kyle Thompson at Yukon High School

  • Wonkak Kim, and Colin Hill at Tennessee Tech University

  • Mark Lackey, Grant Dalton, and Ryan Beach at Samford University

  • Adam Blackstock, Brian Nozny, and Rachel Nozny at Troy University

  • Trey Cox, Michael Greg, and Jocelyn Simmermaker at Thomasville Music Academy

 

Of course, many thanks also to our composers who wrote the pieces we were able to premiere on this tour: Joshua William Mills, Brandon Nelson, and Jamie Whitmarsh.

New Works in Production

We have been fortunate to have several works written for our duo over the past year by composers Joshua William Mills, Aaron Spotts, Jamie Whitmarsh, and Brandon Nelson. Thanks to our expanding network of composers and new music enthusiasts, we now have several more works being written for us. 

 

Olga Harris: Born in Moscow, composer and pianist Dr. Harris studied composition with Aram Khachaturian. Dr. Harris specializes in chamber music and has composed three symphonies, a piano concerto, two quartets, four sonatas, five song cycles, two cantatas, and over 600 pieces for piano and acoustic instruments. Currently, Dr. Harris is Professor of Music Composition at Tennessee State University. She is writing a work for clarinet and marimba for Duo Rodinia after hearing a performance of Edward Knight's Raven at the College Music Society Southern Regional Conference.

 

Benjamin Fraley: A percussionist and composer, Benjamin Fraley has performed and trained in Portugal, Canada, Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, Ghana, Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic as well as throughout the United States. Fraley is writing a work including theatrical spoken dialogue for Duo Rodinia.

 

Additional composers who are currently writing for us include Al Kovach, Roderick Gorby, and Dan McPherson. The works by Kovach and McPherson will include electronics and Gorby's work includes tenor pan. NEW MUSIC!

2/23/15

Summer Summary and Season Planning

While our summer season has not been as action-packed as spring, it has involved recitals, educational events and good news about our 2015-2016 season!

 

2015-2016 Season News: We have been selected to perform Edward Knight's Raven at the Society of Composers, Inc. National Conference and 50th Anniversary Celebration. The conference is scheduled for November 12-14 at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Additionally, we will be performing a full recital at the SCI Region VI conference February 11-13, co-hosted by Friends University and Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas. Composers are encouraged to submit for the conference by September 15: Call for Scores

 

Summer Activities and Thanks:

  • Thank you to David Bessinger and Jeremy Parr for hosting us at the 2015 SWOSU Marimba Camp. This is the second year we have performed for the camp and had an opportunity to speak with the students. 

  • This year we also performed a recital, followed by a talk, for the Performing Arts Academy at OCU Summer Percussion Camp. Thank you to David Steffens and Sarah Neely for inviting us to perform. 

  • We tremendously enjoyed our first summer festival residency as Guest Artists with the Taneycomo Festival Orchestra. Many thanks to Larkin Sanders, Artistic Director. We highly recommend this festival to fellow performers.  

 

On the Move: Duo Rodinia has bid farewell to Tallahassee and relocated to Oklahoma City. We will maintain our active touring schedule and perform at universities and secondary schools in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas this season. 

2/23/16

Spring Conference and Touring Season

It may only be February, but we have already premiered two works and performed several recitals with more to come in March

2016 Thus Far: 

  •  Outreach: We started our year with performances and short lectures at Moore High School and the Casady School performing for elementary, middle, and high school students. These performances included excerpts from Ingrid Stölzel's Two Letter Words, Edward Knight's Raven, and Three Situations by Jamie Whitmarsh. Students were particularly interested in learning about the layout and tone production of the steel pan. 

  • Conferences: As Featured Guest Artists of the Society of Composers, Inc. Region VI Conference we performed a recital of works including the world premiere of Aaron Spotts's Two Days' Bar Talk. All six of our composers were in attendance! The following week, we gave the premiere of Duo for Clarinet and Marimba by Olga Harris at the College Music Society's Southern Regional Conference--the same conference where we met Olga last year. 

 

What's Next:

  • Dr. Kim Loeffert invited us to Oklahoma State University as guest presenters in her post-tonal theory class. Our presentation and performance, March 10th, will showcase the stylistic and harmonic variety of contemporary chamber literature. 

  • We have been accepted to perform Three Situations at the University of Nebraska Kearney New Music Festival March 11-12. Lisa Kachouee will also be performing Jamie Whitmarsh's Zodiacal Lights for solo bass clarinet and electronics at the festival. 

  • Following the festival, Duo Rodinia will travel to the University of Nebraska Omaha for a recital March 13th and a masterclass March 14th. Many thanks to Dr. Scott Shinbara for inviting us out to perform. 

  • We will be presenting a 30 minute recital at the College Music Society's South Central Regional Conference March 18, 2016 at 9:00am. 

 

Recent Commissions: 

  • Ben Fraley's Prattle for two narrators doubling percussion instruments is now complete, and we look forward to performing this piece over the summer. 

  • Dr. Michael Broder is nearing completion of his work Flee-Persue for clarinet and marimba. 

  • A Doctoral Candidate at Florida State University, Jon Overholt is working on a concert opener titled Facing West from California’s Shores for clarinet and marimba.

  • In our second collaboration with composer Brandon Nelson, he will be adapting a recent composition from his catalogue, Mannanan mac Lir, for clarinet and percussion. 

  • A Visiting Professor at the University of Northern Illinois University, Stephanie Pieczynski is writing a duo for clarinet and tenor pan. This will be the second concert work ever written for clarinet and tenor pan. 

2016 Wrap-up and 2017 Events

Rodinia's Fall 2016 season was relatively light as both members are now on faculty at Oklahoma City University and work with marching bands in the OKC area. We are now ramping up for outreach concerts at local high schools, conferences, and a spring tour. 

2016 Fall Highlights: 

  •  Ingrid Stölzel's Faculty Composition Recital: We traveled to the University of Kansas in Lawrence to perform Two-Letter Words (marimba/vibraphone and clarinet/bass clarinet) on September 25th. See more of Ingrid's catalogue including solo, chamber, and large ensemble works at her website: www.ingridstolzel.com. 

  • UAFS Residency: Many thanks to faculty members Tommy Tobbs (percussion) and Dr. Andrew DeBoer (clarinet) who acted as our gracious hosts. Through lessons and a lecture we were able to meet the bright, enthusiastic students at UAFS. Our Visit concluded with a recital including works by Stölzel, Spotts, Whitmarsh, Mills, and Nelson. 

  • SCI Student National Conference: Two Days' Bar Talk by Aaron Spotts was selected for performance at the SCI Student National Conference at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. It was a pleasure bringing the piece to a receptive audience of young composers and composers. 

2017 News

  • Spring Tour: Thus far, we have secured concert dates at Oklahoma City University and Midwestern State University. Watch our Facebook page for additional tour dates. 

  • ClarinetFest 2017: Duo Rodinia was selected to perform Three Situations for clarinet and tenor pan by Jamie Whitmarsh at ClarinetFest 2017 in Orlando. See you there!

1/4/17
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