The Official Website for Clarinetist, Bryan A. Crumpler - last updated: 5/12/2009 12:29:11 PM
THANKS TO ALL!
Thanks to everyone who generously contributed to the fundraising campaign for the Beijing International Music Competition. More than $2350 was raised to defray costs. The bad news is Bryan only returned with great friendships, stronger connections, a novel's worth of wonderful cultural experiences in China, and a collection of challenging ideas on music making. Not so bad at all for not having won a prize. Fundraising efforts made participation possible without incuring an enormous amount of debt. For that, we thank everyone who visited sponsor ads, donated, offered moral support, housing, storage, postage, waivers, encouragement and more. It was a worthwhile event. Pictures soon to come!
NEXT STOP, FINLAND
Congratulations are again in order. Bryan ventures off to Uusikaupunki, Finland for Crusell Week as one of the top 40 candidates accepted to the Crussel International Clarinet Competition. The event will take place during the 2009 Crusell Festival. Among many of the participants are incredibly talented colleagues from around the world, including Dos Hermanas top prize winner Antonio Duca, Geneva & Beijing Prize Winners Valentin Uryupin and Matthieu Roskam, among others. Bryan looks forward to the challenge of performing for a highly prestigious jury, including Alessandro Carbonare, Wenzel Fuchs, and former Chicago Symphony Principal, Larry Combs.
NOW BOOKING FOR THE 2009-10 SEASON
With a follow-up tour of South Africa in 2011, masterclasses and chamber music in Stellenbosch in 2009, recordings of works by Russian composer Alexandre Rosenblatt, a pending release of Amazing Grace & Improvisations on Schindler's List, and exotic adventures into Egypt, Israel & Dubai in years to come, Bryan's world travels are far from complete. Now based in the USA, we are accepting bookings for Bryan to perform in your venue - large or small - during the 2009-10 season.
If you want to follow Nashville's lead and are itching to squeeze Bryan into an opening during the current concert season (2008-09), Bryan will be happy to work towards finding a suitable arrangement. For more information, email info@whosthatguy.com
SCHUMANN WITH ALEXANDER RABINOVITCH
Depending on how the performers play, applause can say quite a lot about how well the piece was received. Some audiences wildly spring to their feet while other, more reserved audiences may clap only briefly. Regardless, all audiences (big or small) indicate to performers how well they play on the basis of applause. For the 15th Russian Chamber Music festival organized by the Culture Factory (better known as "the Rode Pomp"), virtuoso clarinetist Bryan Crumpler teamed up with international piano superstar Alexandre Rabinovitch-Barakovsky, who is most known for his relationship and piano-duo partnership with A-list pianist Martha Argerich. Click below to hear how this one small audience in the Rode Pomp responded to Bryan & Alexandre's interpretation of Schumann's Fantasy Pieces for clarinet & piano from memory. For your own listening enjoyment, we've included the final movement so you too can appreciate the passion and energy leading into a seemingly never-ending applause for this one piece.
CITY RISES TO THEIR FEET IN OVATION
In what was termed an "all-American feast of playing", Bryan Crumpler and touring partner pianist Francois du Toit brought crowds to their feet on a key stop on their national tour in South Africa. After having given several concerts in Durban, Bloemfontein, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Potchefstroom, both Bryan and Francois were double booked to perform for the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra on "Rhapsody in Blue", "The Age of Anxiety", "An American in Paris", and Copland's decievingly difficult "Concerto for Clarinet, Piano, Harp & Strings". Bryan's first performance of Copland was in honour of Chancellor James Moeser on the closing concert of his induction ceremony at the University of North Carolina. It was then a memorable occasion for the entire university. And again, Bryan has stamped another memory in the hearts and minds of South Africans. Deon Irish, known to be one of the toughest critics for the Cape Times, states:
"Copland's concerto for the clarinet was played in memorable fashion by the young American clarinettist, Bryan Crumpler. He is a most assured instrumentalist, and one possessed of a sure musical instinct as well. The elegiac first movement afforded him opportunity of demonstrating a lovely sense of phrasing, the architecture of the yearning lines being faithfuly reproduced. The cadenza, which - in Handelian fasion - is really the central movement, gave him more than enough opportunity to demonstrate dexterity of fingering, seemingly inexhaustible breath control and a sure intonation throughout the registers. Thereafter, the romping finale flashed past in quicksilver mode, the brilliant passage work being crisply accompanied by the strings orchestra and the whole coming to an enthusiastically recieved conclusion."
INTERVIEW BY "THE WITNESS" MAGAZINE
MAY 18, 2008: See Bryan in action while rehearsing for the "Memorable Concert Series" at Hilton College.
Video courtesy of Galen Schultz, The Witness Magazine
A few notes on Hilton College: Hilton, based in the Midlands of South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal / Pietermaritzburg area), is one of the premiere, most elite, private boarding schools of South Africa tailoring a world-class secondary education to some of the wealthiest and most prominent figures in the entire country. Among its student body are children of ambassadors, government officials, high-profile businessmen and women. Bryan had not only the honour of performing in the school's concert hall, but also was enthusiastically received as a guest professor, giving masterclasses and an outreach concert for some of the students.
MONOCHROME AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE Bryan's first CD "Monochrome", is now available for purchase not only here at WhosThatGuy.com, but also via 2400+ brick & mortar retailers worldwide (retailers see one-stop distributor Super-D). CDs also available now at major online retailers Amazon.com, Borders Books, Walden Books, Virgin Mega, Target, CD Baby and CD Now. If you can't find the item in stock at one of the abovementioned stores, you can always ask to have them special order discs, or order them at their respective websites with shipping method of choice - including expedited shipping. A limited list of retailers will be available soon.
AMAZING GRACE TO BE FEATURED ON NEW CD
In September 2005 Bryan offered relief for victims of hurricane Katrina in the form of mini-concert... performing a soulfully sensitive rendition of Amazing Grace backed by full orchestral accompaniment. If you missed it, you can read the full release of the performance here. The rendition, originally produced by David Hamilton for 5-time Grammy Award winner Sandi Patty, is being re-released as a full instrumental version with Bryan as the feature soloist on a future CD. The album - currently under the working title "Memoirs" - is a relaxing collection of slow, melodious performances (live and studio recorded) that have served as key events throughout the budding of Bryan's young career.
BRYAN CRUMPLER & BRIAN McKNIGHT
Not fond of classical music? Love R&B/Easy Listening? Well this is your opportunity to fuse the two! Bryan's second CD release is already underway - including a taste of R&B. After success and popularity of an R&B instrumental crossover for a best friend's wedding in the Summer of 2004, it was off to the studio to do an instrumental single of Brian McKnight's hit "Back at One". A release date has not yet been determined, so sign up to the mailing list, or visit the site regularly to keep up with developments. A sample 1-minute Windows Media clip from the recording is below for demo purposes only.
Football was supposed to be Bryan Crumpler's destiny. He defied that destiny. Crumpler has long been a name associated with the NFL Bryans father, formerly of the Washington Redskins and Buffalo Bills, is a legendary running back gracing the walls of the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame alongside Michael Jordan and Dean Smith. One brother, Carlester, is a retired tight-end for the Seattle Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings, while second brother, Alge, is currently a nationally ranked pro-bowl tight-end for the Tennesseee Titans after a 7 year career with the Atlanta Falcons. Bryan, however, chose an entirely different path: music. Read the entire article here....
GET ON THE MAILING LIST Sign up to the mailing list to stay updated on concerts, competitions, cd giveaways and more. The process is simple. You can start by choosing your preferred contact method below. (Note: For those who have had problems signing up previously, the application has been fixed)
AUDIENCE RAVISHED BY CLARINET
Coming from America - where everything is [supposedly] bigger and better - Bryan Crumpler's glowing reputation brings somewhat of an element of doubt: Just how masterful can a 28-year old clarinet player really be? See what Eretha Britz at the Volksblad had to say about this by clicking here...
WORLD CITIZENS SUPPORT BARACK OBAMA
Clarinet Virtuoso Bryan A. Crumpler & WTG Productions proudly support Barack Obama for President 2008.
Click the image above to watch the music video of world citizens, like Bryan, supporting Barack Obama as the countdown to election day continues.
NEW SOUND CLIPS
New high quality sound clips of Clarinet Soloist, Bryan A. Crumpler have been added to the Sound Clips library for your listening pleasure. For those of you who were able to see Bryan perform during the Festival of Flanders in Brussels, you may remember his performance of the Poulenc Sonata for Two Clarinets with up and coming Dexia Classics winner Sven Van De Voorde. In this WTG Classics recording of the 2nd movement "Andante", Bryan displays even tone control, meticulous yet fluid phrasing, and seamless circular breathing techniques to support the perpetual ostinato in the lower clarinet voice. In addition to the Poulenc duo, be sure to check out the world premiere recording of Bryan's latest creation: "Marisian Episodes", scored for 4 clarinets with accompaniment by Sythesized Bass, 2 Guitars (Steel & Acoustic), and Gospel Organ. The work is based on Marisian improvisations - or improvisational techniques inspired by modern improvisation expert & jazz trumpeter Bart Maris. More on this later.
DEBUSSY: PREMIERE RAPSODIE
JULY 25, 2006: Clarinetist Bryan A. Crumpler & Pianist Iris DeBlaere performing Debussy's Premiere Rapsodie for Clarinet & Piano in the K. Miry Concert Hall at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent. Video courtesy of ClariPeru - the premiere spanish language website dedicated to clarinet.
BRYAN DOES IMPROV: MARISIAN EPISODES
As a part of Bryan's new crossover efforts, he's been doing a lot of improvising. Bryan's latest creation, "Marisian Episodes", is just that. Marisian Episodes highlights a interesting improvisation process that offers an element of surprise in 3 stages. The technique is named in dedication to Bryan's improvisation teacher Bart Maris, who always teaches that a true improvisation is a performance from the heart, unpredicatable and non-calculating, ex tempore, interactive, and immediately responsive with respect to the participating instrumentalists. Basically, the classical theories on jazz improv, which focus mainly on fixed scales, charts, and sometimes prepared solos etc are out the window. All sounds, clatter, and playable notes are free game in a Marisian improvisation.
So what exactly is a "Marisian Improvisation"? During the improvisation, a minimalist theme or ostinato is repeatedly played back in a headset that each performer wears. Only the participating performers hear this theme. The instrumentalists then begin improvising on top of the theme in no specific rhythmic pattern, though the ostinato should guide more or less the direction of the music. Whilst feeding off of ideas from the other performers, the audience hears what seems to be a loose, unstructured and highly unpredictable mesh of sounds. The improvisation is then looped through a series of loudspeakers for playback, at which point the ostinato fades in slowly for the audience to hear. Check the sound clips to hear the fascinating result, which Bryan was able to demonstrate performing on 4 clarinets.
VIDEOS WANTED!
Anyone who has video recordings of Bryan performing or interviewing live is encouraged to submit either digital uploads, dvds, or VHS video so we can post them here on the website. The videos need not be of professional quality. Please consult Bryan at clarinet(a)whosthatguy.com about how to send/transfer materials.
Download a sample clip of the Finzi Concerto by right-clicking on the link below and selecting "Save As". LIVE video of Bryan performing Debussy's Premiere Rhapsody is now available. The audio version of this live recording can already be found in the Sound Clips section.
30% OFF "MONOCHROME" AT CD BABY
Now at CDbaby.com you can get ahold of "Monochrome", an enormous undertaking for Bryan to reproduce an entire orchestra of clarinets alone, is now available at 30% off when you order multiple CDs. This deal is only available for purchases made at CD Baby. This a great opportunity for distribution outlets, CD stores, and the fan who just wants more! Orders can be placed at CD Baby's Website.
LEGENDARY APPEARANCES
Next to Bryan's musical talents, he has taken on the Hollywood Profile venturing into acting and even modeling to sustain a career in Arts & Entertainment. His acting talents were recently discovered in a happenstance request to perform musically guided narration in Jacob de Haans The Book of Urizen with the Gent Conservatory Wind Symphony in March 2004. The work is a massive undertaking, in two movements, scored for Wind Band, CD sound collage, a female Soprano, and male Actor/Narrator to tell the story of William Blakes genius work The Book of Urizen. This past December, Belgian audiences witnessed two back to back, nearly sold out performances with the Royal Vrank & Vrij Wind Symphony, directed by Wim Belaen. The concert was themed Legends, featuring many trascriptions of film scores for wind band. Bryan was not only featured in the Book of Urizen, but also was the guest soloist in an arrangement of John Williams ever-moving soundtrack theme from Schindlers List (originally scored for violin). The performance was followed with an encore of circular breathing madness in Paganinnis Perpetual Motion!
MORE ON MOZART SUCKS
In a challenge to himself to tackle one of the largest heavyweights of classical music during "the year of Mozart", Bryan (somewhat known for his Mozart sucks opinion) was able to showcase his talents in a performance of the Mozart Clarinet Quintet (nicknamed the Stadler Quintet) with the Ciurlionis String Quartet from Lithuania. I always get critique about my something with my Mozart, a note here note there Bryan says, but I think we did rather well with only one 30-minute rehearsal and no rehearsal on the day of the performance. It was a highly spontaneous experience. The performance was particularly amazing considering 2nd violinist Darius Diksaitis had no feeling in his fingers when positioning his arms in playing position. They are definitely a hard working group with an amazing spirit and sense of patience, Bryan adds. The quartet has performed over 3500 concerts in its nearly 40 year history, making it one of Europes most prestigious string quartets. It is one of the only professionally active ensembles in the world working exclusively as a string quartet. The current members of the quartet (Jonas Tankevicius 1st violin; Darius Diksaitis 2nd violin; Gediminas Dacinskas viola; and Saulius Lipcius cello) are all a fantastic, highly inspirational group of guys who really know the art of music making. Sound Clips of the concert are available here at WhosThatGuy.com.
BRYAN ON THE BIG SCREEN
Eva Cools' film "De Puta Madre" has finally hit the big screen! The film has been featured in several international film festivals in recent years, including the popular International Film Festival of Flanders in Belgium. In addition to making a brief cameo in "De Puta Madre", Bryan assisted in subtitling efforts for the film as well as for other Eva Cools films, such as "El Camino Deseo", which aired on Canvas television station for the first time in August 2008. We offer our congratulations to Eva on this major accomplishment and thank her for inviting Bryan to be a part of her success. Her films have rapidly taken popularity at independent film festivals throughout Belgium, earning Eva her an official spot in the International Movie Database. Eva Cools has additionally worked on several projects, including a music video of a popular Studio Brussel radio hit by "The Arquettes" from the Worcester in the UK.
THANKS TO ALL!
