Welcome our Clarinet Symposium Guest Artists
PC Brittany Faith Photography
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For more than 35 years, clarinetist/composer Eric Mandat has been at the forefront of clarinet extended performance techniques exploration, particularly multiphonics, microtones, and timbral modulations. Through his work with these extended techniques, Eric has developed a deeply personal artistic expression as a performer and composer, and he is recognized worldwide as one of the foremost authorities on clarinet extended techniques.
Eric enjoys an extremely diverse performance career as a soloist and chamber musician. He tours regularly as a concert artist, premiering and performing his works throughout the world, and at international festivals in Europe, Asia, South America, and the United States. He was a member of the Chicago Symphony's MusicNOW ensemble from 2000 to 2014, performing under eminent composer/conductors Pierre Boulez, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and George Benjamin, among others. As an improviser, Eric was a member of Tone Road Ramblers, an eclectic sextet dedicated to free improvisation exploration, for more than 25 years. He continues to perform regularly in solo and small group improvisation contexts. Eric’s ongoing solo improvisation project, Infinite Edges, with live electronics, has received wide acclaim at performances throughout the United States and in Europe. Eric has received numerous honors and awards for his work as a composer/performer, including multiple Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowships for Composition. He has been awarded more than 25 artist residencies at the Ragdale Foundation and at Brush Creek Center for the Arts. His recent work Parallel Histories: an Excursion for two clarinetists and wind ensemble was premiered in June, 2016 by The President’s Own Marine Band at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., with two of his former students, Jay Niepoetter and Jihoon Chang, soloists. Eric has taught at Southern Illinois University Carbondale since 1981, where he is currently Visiting Professor of Clarinet and Distinguished Scholar. Eric was the recipient of the 1999 Southern Illinois University Outstanding Scholar Award, the university’s highest honor for research/creative work. A dedicated and in-demand teacher, Eric has presented master classes and lectures on extended performance techniques at more than 120 conservatories and universities around the world, and he regularly appears as guest artist at clarinet-specific events throughout the United States. Eric received his degrees from the University of North Texas (B.M.), the Yale School of Music (M.M.), and the Eastman School of Music (D.M.A.). His teachers include Richard Joiner, Lee Gibson, Keith Wilson, Stanley Hasty, and Charles Neidich. Eric Mandat is a Buffet Crampon USA Performing Artist and Clinician. |
BLACKWOOD CLARINET QUARTET
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Lisa Bellino received her BM degree in Clarinet Performance from The Eastman School of Music and a MM degree from The Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She studied privately with Ben Armato, Clark Brody, Michael Webster, Ronald DeKant and Eli Eban. She has performed as Principal Clarinet with the Philharonie der Nationen in Germany, Second Clarinet with the Peninsula Music Festival, and was a member of the Midland-Odessa Symphony, Northwood Orchestra, and The West Texas Winds. Mrs. Bellino served as Adjunct Professor at Odessa College and Western Connecticut State University and from 1994-2004, Mrs. Bellino has worked as Clarinet Professor and Administrative Assistant at The American Festival for the Arts Summer Music Conservatory in Houston, Texas. She presently teaches and manages music educators with the Paul Effman Music Service, residing in Poughkeepsie with her husband Paul, and children Sophia and Nicholas.
Jennifer Tibbs is originally from Hendersonville, N.C. She attended high school at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston – Salem, earning her high school diploma. She received her Bachelor ’ s Degree in Clarinet Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She studied privately with Robert Listokin, Ronald deKant, Daryl Coad and Dr. Robert Cheesebro. She has performed with the Carolina Youth Symphony, the Hendersonville Symphony , the Winston-Salem Symphony, the Cincinnati Ballet Orchestra, the Northern Kentucky Symphony, the Chappaqua Symphony, the Putnam County Symphony, and the Newburgh Symphony. In 1993, she began her career as a clarinetist in the United States Military Academy Band at West Point. Since her retirement from the Army in 2014, she has been teaching elementary school band and violin in Hudson Valley Catholic schools with the Paul Effman Music Service. She is also the clarinet instructor at Dutchess Community College Academy of Music and The Mountain Laurel School in New Paltz. Jennifer lives in New Windsor with her husband and two daughters. Jeff Geller is originally from Rome, NY where he began his formal studies with his father, Herb Geller and John Flaver, Jr. of Syracuse. He later studied with Gerald Zampino, former principal clarinetist of the Syracuse Symphony and attended The Oberlin Conservatory. Following his time at Oberlin, Jeff continued his studies with David Weber at The Juilliard School of Music. He enjoyed a fulfilling career in the West Point Concert Band at the United States Military Academy at West Point and retired after serving a 24-year career. During his time in the West Point Band Jeff performed extensively across the United States and Canada. He has enjoyed several performances in Carnegie Hall, as well as joint concerts with the West Point Band and The New York Philharmonic. In 2014, Jeff was featured in a solo recital during the International Clarinet Festival held in Baton Rouge, LA. Currently, Jeff is the principal clarinetist in the Woodstock Symphony Orchestra and enjoys performing with the Blackwood Clarinet Quartet . Joe Mariany began playing clarinet and composing music at the age of 9. By age 12, he added tenor sax and studied clarinet and music theory at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. He performed the Mozart Clarinet Concerto at age 14 and performed Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring at age 16 with the Florida Symphony. With 50+ years of experience, he has performed with the Walt Disney World Band, Virginia Beach Pops, West Point Concert Band and Jazz Knights, West Point Saxophone Quartet, Benny Goodman, Al Martino, Jermaine Paul (The Voice), Doug Ferony, The Four Aces, Jay and the Americans, Edith Prock, Jersey Knickerbockers, Dominos International, Alex Meixner, Alpine Squeeze, Schwarzenegger Connection, Spitze! German-American Show Band, Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra, Westchester Symphonic Winds, Hudson Valley Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Corey Glover and The Funk Junkies. he currently perform s with the New Jersey Wind Symphony and Flute Choir, The Adlers German-Austrian Band , Jimmy Sturr Orchestra, and New York Swing Exchange. |