Omega Ensemble: Elevator Music

Legendary UK clarinettist Michael Collins mixes the classics with the common man in this side-winding and heart-racing performance. Celebrated as a “composer of uncommon gifts and unusual methods” (The New York Times), Grammy-nominated composer Anna Clyne's "Stride" takes fragments of Beethoven’s Pathétique Sonata, refracting the work's adored lyricism in a captivating exploration of tension and release. An enduring masterwork brilliantly showcasing the clarinet’s expressive range, Aaron Copland’s Clarinet Concerto opens with one of the composer's most tender melodies before launching into an energetic cacophony filled with jazz rhythms and capped by a thrilling clarinet “smear.” Brimming with a tongue-in-cheek charm, the world premiere of Graeme Koehne's Double Clarinet Concerto — written especially for Michael Collins and David Rowden — is a work of joyful contrasts, equally full of soul-searching melodies, popular references and heart-racing rhythms.