 Clarence Padilla |
MEDIA CONTACT: Tory Olson, 515-271-1834, tory.olson@drake.edu
Drake University Professor of Music Clarence Padilla will perform a clarinet recital on Tuesday, Sept. 1. Drake Associate Professor of Piano Nicholas Roth and Cynthia Guinta, lecturer in music at Drake, will accompany Padilla in the performance.
The concert, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 8 p.m. on the Jordan Stage of Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main, 2507 University Ave. The event is free and open to the public.
The trio will premiere “Windsongs for B Flat Clarinet and Piano,” written by William Dougherty, the Ellis and Nelle Levitt professor of music at Drake. This piece was specifically written and dedicated to Padilla in October of 2008.
Each inspired by a different type of wind, “Windsongs” has three movements:
- Zephyr suggests the gentle and generally beneficial winds that typically blow from the west.
- Cat’s Paw captures the essence of the light breezes that are just strong enough to ripple the surface of water, and uses extended techniques on the piano to create its atmospheric aura.
- Boreas represents the cold, northerly winds typically associated with winter and has oblique references to Frédéric Chopin’s “Etude, Opus 25, No. 11,” the so-called “Winter Wind Etude.”
“I am proud and excited to premiere ‘Windsongs’ at my upcoming faculty recital,” Padilla said. “William Dougherty’s work is filled with great energy, appeal and enthusiasm, and I’m certain that it will be embraced by all audience members.”
“Variations sur un Air du Pays d’Oc” by Louis Cahuzac, “Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, Opus 167” by Camille Saint-Saëns and “After You, Mr. Gershwin!” by Béla Kovács will also be performed.
Padilla holds a bachelor of music degree from California State University, Long Beach, and a master of music degree in clarinet performance from the University of Southern California.
He has been a member of the Drake music department since 1993 and has performed with a varied list of artists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Ray Charles, Pat Boone, Amy Grant, Simon Estes, The Manhattan Transfer and Patrick Stewart.