Adjunct Instructor of Music Antoine Clark’s first recital on the Hill in eight years will include a diverse repertoire of 19th and 20th century composers such as Leó Weiner, Bohuslav Martinů, Louis Spohr and Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Combining lesser-known Eastern European composers with composers whose works show off the lyrical and voice-like quality of the clarinet into one performance, Adjunct Instructor of Music Antoine Clark is interested in the wide range of sounds that a clarinet can make. “I chose to perform pieces that I have yet to perform and others that are already part of my repertoire,” Clark said.
Clark teaches both clarinet and saxophone at Kenyon and at Music Royale, a music school in Powell, Ohio. Clark currently teaches just three students at Kenyon. The accomplished clarinetist and conductor explained that faculty can give recitals at any time, and since his last performance was eight years ago, he wanted to host another concert this semester. He will work in collaboration with professional soprano vocalist Jennifer Hambrick and Maria Staeblein, his piano accompanist.
Clark has a great deal of experience as both a performing artist and conductor. As a clarinetist, he has performed with the Dearborn Symphony of Detroit, Mich., the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and the Harlem Symphony, to name a few.
He currently serves as an associate musician with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and performs with several orchestras around central Ohio.
In addition, Clark has participated in conducting festivals around the world, most recently as Assistant Conductor at the Gateways Music Festival at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY this past summer.
Clark enjoys his role as an educator while entering his fifth season as founding artistic and music director of McConnell Arts Center Orchestra of Worthington, Ohio. He established the ensemble as a way to create opportunities for fellow professionals and educators to perform in a group setting.
As a teacher, Clark continues to impart practical advice to students about performance technique, such as listening to multiple recordings of the same piece by different performers.
“It helps you gain a sense of how others may interpret the music,” he said.
“The part of the performance process that I enjoy the most, aside from actually performing, is preparing an interpretation of the music with other musicians.”
Clark will give his faculty recital on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. in Brandi Recital Hall.