Spring 2018

February 5, 2018February 11, 2018 / Jennifer Fraley / Leave a comment

Happy 2018! We’re already over a month into classes at Troy University, meaning that there’s a lot of great performances and events coming up.

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I have a faculty recital at the end of February, and Sources Duo will be in western Tennessee for performances and masterclasses in April. In addition to some solo and duo performances, I have several orchestra concerts with a Northwest Florida and Sinfonia Gulf Coast coming up in the next few months. One of the big highlights of the spring semester is always Troy University Clarinet Day (in March 24th this year) – we have fantastic guest artists, vendors, and a massive clarinet choir! This year’s guests include: Maria Du Toit, Michael Lowenstern, Phillip Paglialonga, and Wojtek Komsta. Check out the Troy Clarinet Studio page if you’d like to attend!

This past fall was filled with wonderful opportunities, and some pretty exciting news for me! In late October, I joined the artist roster for Yamaha Woodwinds, and am very proud to represent a company that not only produces great clarinets, but spends a great deal of energy promoting music education. (If you haven’t seen their music education magazine, you can read a copy here.) At the beginning of the month, my husband and I braved the big New York snow storm to visit Yamaha’s Band and Orchestra division office in Manhattan. My clarinets got some much needed attention from the amazing Tomoji Hirakata, and we did a bit of video for a Yamaha project coming up in the next year or so.

I took January off from the E-flat Clarinet Project blog, but I’m ready to start back in with more posts, repertoire updates, and hopefully some new resource sections. I always love getting input from other clarinetist, so feel free to contact me with any E-flat clarinet repertoire, news, or topic requests! My final project for the spring will be recording the last two pieces for my solo E-flat clarinet album. I recorded two fantastic works with pianist Hui-Ting Yang in December, and I can’t wait to share the final product with all of you!

Fall 2017

September 22, 2017 / Jennifer Fraley / Leave a comment

Happy first day of fall! It doesn’t feel like fall here in southeastern Alabama – it seems like the temperature will never go down! My calendar tells a different story though, with several upcoming performances and projects.

When I posted a few months ago, I had just started The E-flat Clarinet Project. It has been a challenge to juggle playing, teaching, and website upkeep over the last six weeks, but I’m so happy to be working on a project I love which also helps others in the clarinet community. Check out my recent post on D’Addario’s new Reserve E-flat clarinet reed.

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I started practicing some new pieces (including a recent commission!) over the summer while I was a guest instructor at the New England Music Camp. It was a lot of fun working with the clarinetists in the band and orchestra. The break from the temperatures in Alabama was pretty nice too!

A few of the pieces will be on my solo album, which should be completed some time next year. Both of the pieces with piano will be recorded this December with my Troy colleague Hui-Ting Yang. I’m excited to start rehearsing with her soon!

There are several Northwest Florida Symphony concerts coming up for me this year, as well as a really crazy concert program for Sources Duo! Duo information will be updated as soon as we confirm all of our tour performance dates and locations. Check the performance page for all upcoming events!

Spring and Summer Update

June 12, 2017June 12, 2017 / Jennifer Fraley / Leave a comment

Happy Summer to all you music teachers out there! Of course, there’s not a lot of time off with band camps, course development, and other projects. Before I get lost in my own list of summer projects, I thought I’d post about a few things I did over the last few months.

The new Stanley Drucker concert collection is finally out! I wrote liner notes for the first disc.

Troy Clarinet Day: This is one of the busiest days of the year, but it is always so worth it! Like always, Dr. Tim Phillips put together a fantastic group of guest artists.

Concert with the Sarasota Orchestra: I got a last minute call to play E-flat clarinet with Sarasota on Bernstein’s On the Town. The orchestra was fantastic!

Performances of Battling Boggarts with Tim Phillips, Mark Walker, and the Troy University Symphony Band: We played this piece five times this year! In early April, we performed as a part of Troy’s Alabama All-State showcase concert, and then we played it again several weeks later for concerts at several Florida high schools.

Ben and I working on some recording projects!

The first piece on my album is recorded! Huge thanks to Brian and Rachel Nozny for engineering and producing. The rest of the album will be recorded later this year.

My biggest project for the summer so far has been The E-flat Clarinet Project. This is the beginning of an online resource I’ve been planning since my first year of my doctorate. My treatise research focused on materials to help clarinetists teach and practice E-flat clarinet, and my hope is for this page to assist clarinetists looking for information, repertoire, and general resources related to the instrument. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but I’m pretty excited to finally have a website up and running!

Happy Summer practicing!

Album Announcement

March 12, 2017 / Jennifer Fraley / Leave a comment

I’m excited to share that I will begin recording my first album this summer! I have been working with pianist Gracie Jennings since I first started commissioning solos for E-flat clarinet, and am thrilled to have her join me on this project.

We will be recording a beautiful sonata for E-flat clarinet and piano by composer Ethan Wickman, as well as the piano reduction version of an E-flat clarinet concerto written for Stephanie Thompson in 2013 by Stephen Dankner.

As of right now, there will be one or two unaccompanied pieces, and one other possible chamber piece. I will continue updating as the composers finish up their writing!

Some sneak peeks will be coming in the next few months, so check back E-flat clarinet enthusiasts!

Spring 2017 Performances

February 20, 2017February 23, 2017 / Jennifer Fraley / Leave a comment

January and February have been very busy, not only with the beginning of the spring semester at Troy University, but with several performances. I was fortunate to play with a few Florida orchestras in January, immediately followed by a Sources Duo clinic at Lee University in Tennessee. Ben and I have been working on a lot of new educational material, and are excited to share some new clinics and programs this year!

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Performing “Battling Boggarts” with Timothy Phillips and the Troy University Symphony Band

One of the highlights of the semester so far has been my performance with Dr. Timothy Phillips as soloists with the Troy University Symphony Band. We performed Battling Boggarts – a catchy, soundtrack inspired piece that is a lot of fun to play! We couldn’t have asked for a better audience, as this performance was the evening showcase concert for the annual high school Southeast United State Band Clinic – an event that brings several hundred students to the Troy campus for honor bands and masterclasses.

Up next: my March faculty recital and Troy’s Tenth Annual Clarinet Day!

2016 Review

December 1, 2016 / Jennifer Fraley / Leave a comment

2016 has been a busy year for Ben and me! We both have kept up regular performances with regional orchestras, in addition to our teaching and solo work. Our duo had a fantastic tour of Wisconsin in April. One of our stops was my undergraduate school, University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire – it was amazing to see the great things happening in the music department and the development of the campus!

Ben and I were married this past summer as well, so that sort of interrupted our regular summer music activities! We were selected to play at ICA’s Clarinetfest in Lawrence, Kansas in August, so we were right back to rehearsing after the honeymoon.

This fall, I started full-time at Troy with applied clarinet, accompanying, and class piano courses. It has been challenging to keep up with the crazy schedule of teaching and performing, but it is paying off as I see so many students start to understand what it takes to major in music.

It is almost finals week here at Troy. We are all looking forward to winter break and coming back fresh for all of the spring semester projects!

Almost done!

July 31, 2015 / Jennifer Fraley / Leave a comment

Today and tomorrow morning are full of sound checks for Bang on a Can’s Summer Festival Marathon tomorrow. We will be playing for 6+ hours starting at 4pm. There has been so much music every day that I think we are prepared for it!

Tonight I’ll be in one last pre-marathon concert: premiering short works for soprano, vibraphone and clarinet/bass clarinet in Mass MoCA’s Chalet.

Concerts!

July 24, 2015 / Jennifer Fraley / Leave a comment

We’re starting to check some pieces off our performances lists as the concerts pick up at Bang on a Can!

I loves performing Phillip Sink’s Particulates in the Artists Choice gallery yesterday. The multi phonics were a hit.

Today’s midday recital featured soundpainting (search it online to learn more- it’s really cool!)

Looking forward to some rehearsals and performances this weekend leading into the last week of the festival!

Update from Mass MoCA

July 21, 2015 / Jennifer Fraley / Leave a comment

I finally got the blog synced to my phone! Hopefully I will be able to do some regular updates now. The days are pretty full from 9am to 10pm. I will get some pictures up eventually!

I played a duo with the other clarinetist today for the midday gallery concert in the Sol Lewitt exhibit.

(Thanks to Lara for the picture!)

Looking forward to playing Danny Clay’s piece for Sources Duo with one of the percussion fellows tomorrow!

Bang on a Can: Day 0

July 13, 2015July 13, 2015 / Jennifer Fraley / Leave a comment

image (1) Hello from North Adams, Massachusetts! Ben dropped me off early this afternoon after a quick look through the art galleries. The Bang on a Can festival will officially begin in a few hours when all the staff and performers meet for dinner at the museum. Looking forward to meeting everyone and getting started with rehearsals tomorrow!