Fear No Music launches their second virtual Mini Concert of the ​Tomorrow Is My Turn​ season, with intrepid clarinetist James Shields starring in solo performances of music by Black American composers. Known for his dynamism and passion, Shields is Principal Clarinetist with the Oregon Symphony, Co-Artistic Director of Chatter, a core member of 45th Parallel Universe and is also a talented composer. Shields notes, “All three of these pieces were new to me, and they were absolutely fantastic works to familiarize myself with. I think each will prove to be as satisfying and engaging for the listener as they are for the performer.”

With the ​Tomorrow Is My Turn ​season, Fear No Music offers a small glimpse into the breadth and depth of phenomenal music being created by Black artists across the nation. Thoughtfully curated for an optimal online listening experience, this Mini Concert is thirty minutes in length, and is FREE; available for streaming on ​Fear No Music’s YouTube channel​.

Click the link below to RSVP and get the concert link. Concerts are available to view for 48 hours after the initial broadcast.

Program:

Derek Douglas Carter, ​A Bite of Chocolate Milk​ ​(2018)​ ​for speaking bass clarinet
dedicated to anyone that feels the labels given to them by society limit them, and seeks to transcend them

from the song ​Chocolate Rain​:

Seldom mentioned on the radio
Build a tent and say the world is dry
History quickly crashing through your veins
Cleans the sewers out beneath Mumbai
The prisons make you wonder where it went
Zoom the camera out and see the lie

– Tay Zonday

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Ed Bland, ​For Clarinet ​(1964, rev. 1978)

Bland noted, “This 3-minute, whimsical, joyful, atonal piece for unaccompanied clarinet is very idiomatic.” William Powell recorded the work on Cambria Master Recordings and wrote for ​The Clarinet​ journal (September 2017), “​For Clarinet​ is written in a virtuoso style. The four-page piece, though difficult, especially in its rapidly changing rhythms, should be playable by a more advanced high school student or university undergraduate student. This author was very lucky to record ​For Clarinet ​under the composer’s supervision.”

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Nicole Mitchell, ​a much deserved ass whopping ​(2020) for bass clarinet

From performer James Shields: “​a much deserved ass whopping for bass clarinet​ was a really fun piece to tear into, and I enjoyed the opportunity to sharpen up some extended techniques. MItchell even requires the performer to scream through the instrument, which I was more than happy to do at this stage in the pandemic. The bass clarinet has an exceptionally wide range, and Mitchell capitalizes on this by choosing to write predominantly in the lowest and highest ranges that the instrument is capable of. I might be reading into the title a bit too much, but I found myself hearing two voices: an extremely high voiced character pleading for mercy, and a growling lower voice that was committed to dolling out a particular type of punishment.”