Canadian Clarinetist James Campbell to Perform

James Campbell — acclaimed by the Toronto Star as Canada’s preeminent clarinetist and wind soloist — will collaborate with pianist Leonard Hokanson in a free recital on Friday, February 9, at 8:15 p.m. in the recital hall of the James J. Whalen Center for Music. The concert will feature works by Carl Maria von Weber, Johannes Brahms, Claude Debussy, Gabriel Pierne, and David Baker.

In addition, the performers will be involved in several events in the recital hall on February 10: Campbell will present a master class at 1:00 p.m., and Hokanson will conduct a master class at 10:00 a.m. and a chamber ensemble coaching at 4:00 p.m. These free events are made possible by a grant from the Robert G. Boehmler Community Foundation. Boehmler, a 1938 graduate of the School of Music, established this foundation to support education in the communities in which he lived.

Campbell was introduced to the clarinet as a child listening to his father’s recordings of the great jazz artists Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw and the big bands of Duke Ellington and Count Basie. After winning the Jeunesse Musicales Competition in 1971, however, he embarked on a series of classical solo concerts. In 1984 he was asked to fill in for an ailing Benny Goodman on a chamber music tour with the legendary Amadeus String Quartet, and Campbell’s early interest in jazz was reawakened. When the tour was over, he met Gene DiNovi, a pianist whose name Campbell remembered from the jackets of his father’s collection of jazz records. The two musicians formed the duo Classical Jazz, which performed, with guest bassist Dave Young, throughout Canada, Europe, and Asia with symphony orchestras.

In addition to his work with Classical Jazz, Campbell has collaborated with many of the world’s great musicians, including Janos Starker, Menahem Pressler, the Borodin Trio, and the late Glenn Gould and Aaron Copland, as well as with the Penderecki, Amadeus, and Colorado String Quartets. He has been a guest soloist with over 50 orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, and the Belgrade Symphony.

American pianist Leonard Hokanson is an accomplished recitalist, soloist, and chamber musician who has lived predominantly in Germany and Austria. He has achieved international recognition through his numerous recordings and concert appearances. Winner of the Steinway Prize of Boston and a prizewinner at the international Busoni Competition in Bolanzo, Italy, Hokanson has performed at the festivals of Aldeburgh, Berlin, Lucerne, Prague, Salzburg, Tanglewood, and Vienna.

A prolific recording artist, he recently released Norbert Burmuller’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra on the MDGA label. He has also recorded Haydn sonatas; Mozart concertos; Brahms intermezzi; and Schubert’s complete works for violin and piano, with Edith Peinemann.

For more information call Alex Dippold in the School of Music at 274-3717.