UW Faculty Recital Series Features Clarinet and Piano Performance April 19

The University of Wyoming Department of Music Faculty Recital Series will feature Blake McGee, clarinet, and Brooks Hafey, piano, in a free public performance at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 19, in the Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts recital hall.

The program will feature works by 20th century composers exploring a wide range of musical styles, including “Ballade” by Eric Ewazen; Sonata for Clarinet and Piano by Francis Poulenc; and Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra by William Bolcom.

Hafey has been dazzling audiences with his exceptional musicianship and refined technique since boyhood. As a soloist, he has performed in a wide range of venues throughout the U.S., including Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, and also in France, Italy and Norway. His wide-ranging repertoire spans the works of French Baroque masters.

Hafey is an active chamber musician, collaborative artist and conductor. He has held teaching positions at Gulf Coast State College, in Panama City, Fla., and Sam Houston State University, in Huntsville, Texas. He currently is on Chadron (Neb.) State College’s music faculty.

McGee, UW Department of Music professor of clarinet, has performed as a member of the Portland Opera, Vancouver Symphony and Oregon Mozart Players chamber orchestra. He currently is principal clarinet of the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra and second clarinet with the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra.

A versatile performer, McGee is interested in styles ranging from traditional classical to folk, free improvisation and avant-garde. He maintains an active schedule of performance engagements, master classes and clinics, including recent residencies in Thailand, China and Montenegro. He regularly collaborates with active living composers on new solo works for clarinet and performs premieres each year.

For more information, call Kathy Kirkaldie, UW Fine Arts coordinator, at (307) 766-2160 or email kirisk@uwyo.edu.