World-renowned clarinetist performs in final Pipino concert of the season
The concluding event of Youngstown State University’s 2018-19 Donald P. Pipino Performing Arts Series features a concert by world-renowned clarinetist David Krakauer and Ancestral Groove at the Ford Family Recital Hall in downtown Youngstown.
The concert, presented by the YSU Cliffe College of Creative Arts and Communication and sponsored in part by the Jewish Community Center of Youngstown, is 8 p.m. Saturday, April 27. Tickets are $34 for adults, $28 for senior citizens and YSU faculty and staff, and $5 for students. Tickets are available at 330-744-0264 or at www.deyorpac.org.
As part of its visit to Youngstown, on Friday, April 26 from 2 to 4 p.m., Ancestral Groove presents mini-clinics and a master class for the YSU Jazz area in Bliss Hall Room 2222. In addition, from 4 to 6 p.m., Krakauer will teach a master class to the Dana Clarinet Studio, also in Bliss Hall Room 2222. And, on Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. to noon, Krakauer and Jeremy Flower present a clinic/master class to the Dana composition studio in Bliss Hall Room 2222. Each master class is free and open to the public, but seating is limited.
“David Krakauer and Ancestral Groove bring our tremendous 2018-19 Pipino Performing Arts Series to a close - and what a mesmerizing conclusion they will provide,” said Phyllis Paul, dean of the Cliffe College.
“Recognized among the world’s finest clarinetists, Krakauer’s virtuosic performances have received sensational reviews internationally, including one from The Sydney Morning Herald that proclaimed, 'I may have just heard God – and he plays the clarinet.' Thanks to everyone who has joined us this season. We look forward to seeing you next year for another extraordinary series that will include the Dance Theatre of Harlem, the American Brass Quintet, the National Marionette Theatre, and many others.”
For more than two decades, Krakauer has been reinventing and remixing the Jewish music of his ancestry with the sensibility of a contemporary musician strongly informed by funk, jazz and hip-hop. Widely considered one of the greatest clarinetists in the world, Krakauer has been praised internationally as a key innovator in modern klezmer as well as a major voice in classical music. In 2015, he received a Grammy nomination in the Chamber Music/Small Ensemble category as soloist with the conductorless orchestra A Far Cry, and a Juno nomination for the CD Akoka with cellist Matt Haimovitz. He has appeared with the world’s finest orchestras, including the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Baltimore Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, the Weimar Staatskapelle, the Orchestre de Lyon, the Phoenix Symphony, the Dresdener Philharmonie and the Seattle Symphony. Highlights of Krakauer’s career include performances with the Kronos, Emerson, Tokyo, Orion, and Miro String Quartets; performing during the inaugural season of Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall with renowned jazz pianist Uri Caine; an eight-year tenure with the Naumburg Award-winning Aspen Wind Quintet tours; and performing in the International Emmy Award-winning BBC documentary Holocaust, A Music Memorial from Auschwitz.
Krakauer’s discography contains some of the most important clarinet recordings of recent decades, including The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind, The Twelve Tribes and Tempest Fantasy. He can be heard in the score for the Ang Lee film Taking Woodstock and throughout Sally Potter’s The Tango Lesson. Newer releases include his 2015 album Checkpoint with his band Ancestral Groove, Paul Moravec’s Clarinet Concerto with The Boston Modern Orchestra Project and The Big Picture in 2014. An avid educator, David Krakauer is on the clarinet and chamber music faculties of the Manhattan School of Music, the Mannes College at the New School, and the Bard Conservatory.