Join us for a unique concert featuring music for clarinet and organ, with some solo works for each instrument.
Sonata in E minor, BWV 1023 Johann Sabastian Bach (1685-1750)
arr. for A clarinet by J. Eller
Allegro
Adagio ma non tanto
Allemanda
Gigue
Andante Molto (1945) Artur Kapp (1878-1952)
for Clarinet and Organ
(if only) for a moment (2017) John Fitz Rogers (b. 1963)
for solo clarinet
Sonata da chiesa (1941) Frank Martin (1890-1974)
for oboe d’amore and organ
Toccata in F, BWV 540 Johann Sabastian Bach (1685-1750)
for organ
Pastoral and Rhapsody, Op 23 and 24 Gleb Nikulin (b. 1974)
for clarinet and organ
This recital is made possible in part by support from Buffet Crampon, USA and D’Addario Woodwinds
Clarinetist, Joseph Eller, was appointed as a member of the University of South Carolina School of Music faculty in 2005. He has performed solo and chamber music recitals throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia. Mr. Eller was appointed principal clarinetist of the South Carolina Philharmonic in 2012 and has played extra with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Opera Orchestra, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Greenville Symphony and numerous other orchestras throughout the southeastern United States. Previously, he served as principal clarinetist of the Cobb Symphony Orchestra in Georgia from 1997-2005 and was the clarinet professor at Kennesaw State University from 1998-2005. Additionally, he was principal clarinetist of the 214th Army Band in Atlanta, GA from 1996-2000, where he was a featured soloist on many of their national tours. He has recorded on the Centaur, Mark, Vestige, Beauport Classical and Allgood record labels. A native of Ypsilanti, Michigan, Mr. Eller received performance degrees from Eastern Michigan University and Louisiana State University and began his doctoral studies at the Peabody Institute. Mr. Eller was co-Host and co-Artistic Director of the 2006 International Clarinet Association convention, ClarinetFest® 2006, in Atlanta, GA. He is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, the College Music Society and serves as the South Carolina State Chair of the International Clarinet Association. He plays on Buffet R13 clarinets, D’Addario Reserve mouthpieces and D’Addario Reserve Classic reeds and he is sponsored as a performing artist with the Buffet Crampon USA and D’Addario Woodwinds. His hobbies include playing ice hockey, racquetball, snow skiing, and reading. He, his wife Christie, and their four children live in Columbia, SC and are active members of First Presbyterian Church, Columbia.
Thomas A. Russell is Organist and Assistant Director of Music at First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC. He holds a Master of Music in Organ Performance from the Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music and a Bachelor of Music from the University of South Carolina School of Music.Thomas was the 2010 recipient of the Robert Baker Scholarship from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, an award given to students deemed to be among the top 1 or 2 percent of young organists in the country. At USC he was the recipient of the Grace Steele Hawes Scholarship in Organ Performance. His major teachers include Thomas Murray, Dr. William H. Bates, and Dr. Ed Dunbar. Additionally, he has coached with Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin, David Higgs, Rachel Laurin, and Simon Preston. He previously served as Organist and Music Associate at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Nashville, TN; Organist at Zion Lutheran Church in Wallingford, CT; and Organist at Second Presbyterian Church in Greenville, SC. His career as a recitalist and solo performer have taken him throughout the United States and Europe. Thomas and his wife Julie have three young children and are members of First Presbyterian Church. They enjoy spending their free time hiking, camping, and perfecting the art of brewing a great cup of coffee.
