My Clarinet Concerto (2022) has three contrasting yet closely related movements and was composed during a painful time. The thematic materials emerged as emotional reactions to the death of a dear friend, and to the terminal illness of a close family member. The nostalgic first movement begins with a sweetly mellifluous opening melody contrasted by a playful secondary theme. The youthful, innocent quality found in the first movement transforms in the short second movement to a more immediate emotional space colored by sadness and loss. The final movement transforms the material from the opening movement into an insistent dance full of dark, agitated energy.

Background of the Clarinet Concerto

The Clarinet Concerto was originally a Sonata for Clarinet and Piano written for clarinetist Benjamin Fingland in 2015. Ben premiered it with me as the pianist at Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts inn 2015.

In 2022, I arranged the sonata into a Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra for clarinetist YaoGuang Zhai. Yao premiered this version at the ClarinetFest 2022 gala concert with the Reno Philharmonic conducted by Jason Altieri.