Acclaimed clarinet and piano duo Jon Manasse and Jon Nakamatsu and perform April 17 in the Duane Smith Auditorium. Courtesy/LACA
LACA News:
The Manasse/Nakamatsu Duo will perform in Los Alamos at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 17 in the Duane Smith Auditorium.
Presented by the Los Alamos Concert Association, the acclaimed clarinet and piano duo has won praise for its compelling virtuosity and engaging stage presence.
One of the great clarinet soloists of his generation, Jon Manasse is principal clarinetist with the American Ballet Theater and New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra. His solo career has taken him to performances around the globe including 14 tours of Japan and Southeast Asia and appearances in Israel, Germany, France and Great Britain. An avid chamber musician, he has been featured in performances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and at Charnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall.
Jon Nakamatsu’s career path is one of the more unusual stories in the world of piano virtuosos. He was teaching high school German and studying piano privately when he decided to enter the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1997. Much to his astonishment, he was awarded the gold medal, besting conservatory-trained competitors. A true aristocrat of the piano, Nakamatsu tours world-wide as both a soloist and chamber music collaborator.
Included in the April 17 program will be the Sonata in E-flat Major, Opus 120, No.2 heard on the duo’s highly acclaimed recording of the two Brahms sonatas for clarinet and piano. Also on the program are duos by Debussy and André Messager along with pieces commissioned from composers John Novacek and Gordon Goodwin.
Both gentlemen will take solo turns, Manasse with Lecuonerias from The Cape Cod Files by Paquito D’Rivera and Nakamatsu with Chopin’s Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise brillante, Opus 22.
This concert also will see the premier of the Smith Auditorium’s new audio loop system, a long-anticipated assist for concert attendees who wear hearing aids. A gift to the community from the Rotary Club of Los Alamos, the system serves the center section of the hall in rows A through P.
Tickets for this performance are available electronically through LACA’s website, in Los Alamos at CB FOX and Smith’s Marketplace, in White Rock at Smith’s and at the door. In Santa Fe, tickets are available at the Lensic box office. Continuing a long LACA tradition, tickets for young people age 6-18 are free and available at the Los Alamos and White Rock outlets and at the door. Children under 6 will not be admitted.
For complete program, venue and ticket information, visit www.losalamosconcert.org.
Jon Nakamatsu and Jon Manasse perform April 17 in the Duane Smith Auditorium. Courtesy/LACA
