The Official Website for Clarinetist, Bryan A. Crumpler - last updated: 6/6/2010 12:36:03 AM
ROBERT SCHUMANN'S 200thBIRTHDAY
On June 8th, 2010 the world will celebrate the 200th Birthday of one of the grand masters of the 19th century, Robert Schumann. In honour of Schumann's Bicentennial, we are disseminating this video of Bryan performing Schumann's Fantasy Pieces for Clarinet & Piano, so as to grant others the opportunity to experience the passion and energy of Schumann's music.
This work was performed at the 15th Russian Chamber Music festival organized by the Culture Factory (better known as "the Rode Pomp"), featuring clarinetist Bryan Crumpler and pianist Alexandre Rabinovitch-Barakovsky, who is often acknowledged for his longstanding relationship and piano-duo partnership with A-list pianist Martha Argerich.
According to Harry Haskell, "the Phantasiestucke were part of an outpouring of instrumental miniatures and other 'minor' works intended in large part for amateur music makers. Hoping to earn greater fame (and no doubt a bit of real money), Schumann aimed to capture the widest possible market by designating the score 'for clarinet or violin or cello and piano.' Horn players have taken the work up enthusiastically as well." The composition is from 1849, just 7 years prior to Schumann's death.
CRUMPLER JOINS NORTH CAROLINA SYMPHONY
We are proud to congratulate Bryan on becoming one of the newest auxiliaries with the North Carolina Symphony. He made his debut performance with the ensemble with guest conductor Andrew Litton, Music Director of Norway's Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Artistic Director of the Minnesota Orchestra's Sommerfest and Conductor Laureate of Britain's Bournemouth Symphony. Bryan's love for symphonic repertoire is a result of the NCSO's inspiring educational outreach programs and of having been exposed to classical music by staff of the Boys & Girls Club of Pitt County, who would take him to see the NC Symphony perform in ECU's Wright Auditorium as a child.
Principal Clarinetist, Jimmy Gilmore is set to retire after the 2009-10 season, and his shoes will be hard to fill, not only from a performance perspective, but from an influential perspective on advocacy for classical music education and labour laws/wages for musicians in the NC community - Gilmore is a longstanding president of the American Federation of Musicians Local 500. "Jimmy coached me at age 15 on the Mozart concerto the same year that I was preparing my debut solo with the Wilmington Symphony after I won their regional concerto competition," Bryan recalls. "I will never forget sitting on stage with him in Kenan [Auditorium]. Now, here I am, having the opportunity 16 years later to sit and perform in Meymandi Hall with the 1st symphony orchestra I ever heard in my life. This is amazing! It's even sweeter now that I am able to do this before [Jimmy Gilmore] retires."
The North Carolina Symphony is an ensemble of 69 full-time professionals. It is the oldest and most prestigious state orchestra in the US and is a vital and honored component of North Carolina's cultural life. The NSCO performs around 175 concerts per year, but has been plagued with economic troubles as of late and is enduring financial hardships that it hopes to put behind them completely by 2012. The symphony's outreach program is one of the only ways young kids continue to stay connected with the classical music world, especially given all the cuts in arts programs in NC schools. "It's a shame what [school boards] are doing," Crumpler quips. "If it weren't for public school programs, I certainly would not be the musician or the world-traveled person I am today."
MOZART AT NOON, EVERYDAY IN JUNE? ON WCPE?
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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.
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....
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CRUMPLER BOYCOTTING WCPE 89.7 FM
"It was a fairly gloriously warm - not to mention, humid - day in Cary, North Carolina. I was coming from Bojangles and enjoying some music on WCPE Radio, the local classical station here in Raleigh, while munching on a sausage biscuit. Then, I nearly vomited. I spit out my iced tea and chunks of biscuit and half-chewed sausage onto my dashboard when I hear the presenter state: 'It's Mozart at Noon, Every Day in June!'." - Bryan A. Crumpler
By now, it should be no secret to anyone that Mozart is #1 on Bryan's most "disliked" composer list. "Yes, I hate Mozart," Bryan states candidly. "The music is incredibly mushy, harmoniously glorious yet as boring and predictable as a Britney Spears pop tune." Indeed it is somewhat baffling that classical radio and symphony orchestras dare to think that it is appealing to audiences to be listening to the same old, same old... all the time.
Classical Radio is indeed becoming a bit like pop radio in that sense. Airtime goes to only those few big names - mostly ones in the public domain, meaning no terrestrial radio royalty payouts. Mozart, Strauss, Haydn, Beethoven, Vivaldi, Chopin would be among those. "If I hear another Blue Danube from the Vienna Phil, I will vomit," Crumpler rants. "Basically, by turning off my radio from 11:59am to 2:01pm, I am telling WCPE that I'm tired of hearing Mozart all the time. It's time to take a stand for the many living composers with great music who deserve equally as much radio play, but aren't getting it due to airwaves being hogged by these 300 and 400 year old dead guys who will never get with the times. Give me Mahler at noon every day in June. Or Prokofiev, or Schumann - it's his 200th birthday this month. Anything but Schmoe's Art!"
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.
SOUND CLIPS WORTH A LISTEN
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.
ROBERT SCHUMANN'S 200thBIRTHDAY
