The UMBC Department of Music’s Faculty Recital Series presents clarinetist E. Michael Richards in concert on Sunday, February 22nd at 3:00 p.m. in the Fine Arts Recital Hall. Admission is $7 general admission, $3 seniors, free for students and free with a UMBC ID.

E. Michael Richards’s program will include the Fantasia da Concerto su motivi de La Traviata di G. Verdi by Donato Lovreglio, Altre Tracce by Fabio Cifariello Ciardi, the American premiere of magnificat 2: Still by Linda Dusman, Undercurrents by Eve de Castro-Robinson, and Dal Niente (Interieur III) by Helmut Lachenmann. The pieces all connect the clarinet to the human voice, from the arrangement of Verdi arias in a bel canto style (Lovreglio), to short ambiguous (and embedded in a complex structure) quotations of famous works (part of our “cultural memory” such as Bizet’s Carmen, Rossini’s Barber of Seville, etc.) that share a motivic similarity (Ciardi), to an exploration of the passagio among registers of the clarinet that culminates in multiphonics (Jones), to extreme contrast between chalumeau and altissimo registers that includes simultaneous singing and playing (de Castro-Robinson), to the idea of a “musique concrete instrumentale,” in which all of the sounds point away from themselves as a kind of “corporeal” experience. And finally, as Lachenmann said, “The instrument becomes a device: a characteristically manipulated filter for the player’s breath.” Two of the works will be performed by the Tanosaki-Richards Duo, featuring pianist Kazuko Tanosaki.

As a recitalist of new music, E. Michael Richards has premiered over 125 works throughout the United States, Japan, Australia, and Western Europe. Trained as a clarinetist at the New England Conservatory (B.Mus.) and Yale School of Music (M.Mus.), Richards earned a Ph.D. at the University of California, San Diego. He received a 1990 U.S./Japan Creative Artist Fellowship (sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission, and Japanese Government Cultural Agency) as a solo recitalist for a six-month residency in Japan, an NEH Summer Fellowship to study traditional Japanese music, and a residency grant (Cassis, France) from the Camargo Foundation to complete a book, The Clarinet of the Twenty-First Century. Richards has performed as concerto soloist with the Syracuse Symphony and Shinsei Japan Philharmonic (Tokyo), in chamber music performances with the Cassatt Quartet, Ying Quartet, SONOR, and the East-West Quartet, and in recital at eight international festivals and more than 20 universities, as well as at Lincoln Center, the Guggenheim Museum (New York), the American Academy in Rome, and the Tokyo American Center. He has also performed as a member of the Tanosaki-Richards Duo (with pianist Kazuko Tanosaki) since 1982. Richards has recorded on the NEUMA, Mode, CRI, Ninewinds, and Opus One labels. He has taught at Smith College; the University of California, San Diego; Bowdoin College; Hamilton College; and the Hochstein Music School in Rochester, New York; and completed short terms with Kazuko Tanosaki as visiting artists in residence at the University of Massachusetts, CNMAT (Center for New Music and Audio Technologies), at the University of California Berkeley, and San José State University.

Admission
Admission is $7 general admission, $3 seniors, free for students and free with a UMBC ID.

Telephone
UMBC Artsline (24 hour recorded message): 410-455-ARTS
General Department of Music Information: 410-455-MUSC
Media inquiries only: 410-455-3370

Web
UMBC Arts website: http://www.umbc.edu/arts
UMBC Arts News Releases: http://www.umbc.edu/newsevents/oci/index.phtml?r=Art
UMBC Department of Music: http://www.umbc.edu/music/

Directions

• From Baltimore and points north, proceed south on I-95 to exit 47B. Take Route 166 toward Catonsville and then follow signs to the Fine Arts Building.
• From I-695, take Exit 12C (Wilkens Avenue) and continue one-half mile to the entrance of UMBC at the roundabout intersection of Wilkens Avenue and Hilltop Road. Turn left and follow signs to the Fine Arts Building.
• From Washington and points south, proceed north on I-95 to Exit 47B. Take Route 166 toward Catonsville and then follow signs to the Fine Arts Building.
• Daytime metered visitor parking is available in Lot 10, near the Administration Building. Visitor parking regulations are enforced on all University calendar days. Hilltop Circle and all campus roadways require a parking permit unless otherwise marked.
• Online campus map: http://www.umbc.edu/aboutumbc/campusmap/

Images for Media
A high resolution image for media is available online at http://www.umbc.edu/newsevents/arts/hi-res/ or by email or postal mail (photo credit: Richard Anderson).