Date of Defense

1-17-2026

Date of Graduation

5-2026

Department

Music

First Advisor

Ellen Breakfield-Glick

Second Advisor

Scott Boerma

Third Advisor

Jeremiah Quarles

Abstract

My honors thesis was presented in the form of my Senior Recital which took place January 17, 2026 at 3:00pm in the Dalton Recital Hall. The program included 6 pieces that I either played as a solo work with a collaborative pianist, or small chamber groups. The pieces on the recital in order were Solo de Concours by Andre Messager, Chansons de la nature pour la clarinette by Jeni Brandon, Shepherd on the Rock by Franz Schubert, Sonata for two clarinets by Francis Poulenc, String Quartet No. 8 by Dmitri Shostakovich that I arranged for clarinet quartet, and the final piece was Premier Rhapsody by Claude Debussy. The music of this recital spans across centuries from the Schubert being the oldest piece written in the 19th century, all the way to as present as the Brandon which was written in the 21st century during the pandemic for the International Clarinetist Corona Competition. Half of the pieces in my recital were written by French composers such as Debussy, Poulenc, and Messager, and the Brandon, though written by an American composer, is titled in French and represents concepts from French folklore. The first and last piece on the recital which were the Messager and the Debussy, were written for the purpose of being a contest piece for clarinetists graduating from the Paris Conservotoire. Though these pieces were written for the same purpose and were only 13 years apart, they sound completely different and have different technical demands. During this recital, I showcased the first and third movements of Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 8 that I arranged for clarinet quartet. Playing on this piece were Western clarinet studio members Canon Cochran and Steven Davenport on B-flat clarinet and Mady Johnson on basset horn. The two b-flat clarinets transposed the violin parts, the basset horn played the viola part, and I played bass clarinet which was originally the cello part. During this recital, I programmed the pieces in a way where the next piece was very different from the previous. I did this in an effort to keep the audience engaged. The recital began with a technical and flashy contest piece being Andre Messager's Solo de Concours. After that, I performed the playful and programmatic Brandon which was an unaccompanied mutli-movement work. After performing Schubert's beautiful long and lyrical Shepherd on the Rock with collaborative pianist Chris Gray and Soprano Emily Barron, things picked up again with a quirky and vibrant duet performed by myself and Canon Cochran. The duet was placed before the dark and dramatic Shostakovich which showed off skills I had learned in arranging and performing on the bass clarinet. The last piece being the Debussy in conjunction with my first piece being the Messager, showcased my growth and dedication as a Clarinet Performance major at Western.

Access Setting

Honors Thesis-Restricted

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