Please note: This Sept. 9 concert has been canceled.
Glenn Korff School of Music Professor of Clarinet Diane Barger will present a faculty recital titled “Nattmara” on Thursday, Sept. 9 at 7:30 p.m. in Kimball Recital Hall.
The concert is free and open to the public. The performance will also be live webcast. Visit https://music.unl.edu/webcasts the day of the performance for the link.
“When planning for this recital last spring, I immediately thought of performing a work I heard years ago with the title ‘Nattmara,’ Barger said. “Meaning ‘nightmare,’ I thought it would be apropos considering we all just survived our own Nattmara of 2020+. Ironically, the title has even more meaning for me as I am currently battling breast cancer again, which was diagnosed earlier this summer. So, I offer this recital in celebration of life and in honor of the battles and nightmares we all individually face.”
Barger will be joined by Mark Clinton, piano; Karen Becker, cello; Hye-Won Hwang, dancer/choreographer; and sloDance, featuring Artistic Director Susan Ourada with Katie Heckman, Hwang, Beth Danielle Jensen, Melissa Templeton and Kathryn Voigt.
“I am grateful for my wonderful friends who will join me for this recital,” Barger said. “I am also thrilled to have dancers featured in the first half of the program, performed and choreographed by Hye-Won Hwang and Susan Ourada and her sloDance colleagues. Please join us for music by Malcolm Arnold, Michele Mangani, Germaine Tailleferre, Lori Ardovino and Johannes Brahms.”
Clinton said the recital represents our emergence from the “nightmare” of COVID.
“It’s not yet the end, I suppose, but we’re moving toward that goal,” Clinton said. “The program itself is quite varied with dancers, pre-recorded tracks, along with a pianist and a cellist for good measure. The music is quite interesting, with lesser-known works programmed alongside a monument of the chamber repertoire (the Brahms Clarinet Trio).”
The program includes Arnold’s Sonatina, Op. 29; Mangani’s “The Dancing Doll,” with Hwang as dancer/choreographer; Tailleferre’s “Arabesque;” Mangani’s “Romanza;” Ardovino’s “Nattmara for clarinet and CD,” with sloDance; and Brahms’ Trio in A Minor, Op. 114.
SloDance is a group of professional dancers that Ourada assembles to work on various dance projects.
“I was delighted that Diane asked me to create work for Nattmara, a beautiful modern piece of music that the choreography is interpreting rather literally, leaving it to the audience to decide how to see what is presented,” Ourada said.
Hwang said she and Barger were looking for dance-music collaboration opportunities and planned to perform “The Dancing Doll” last fall, but they were unable to perform it because of the pandemic.
“The music is beautiful and evokes a serene mood,” Hwang said. “Incorporating some balletic movements inspired by Edgar Degas’ ballerina paintings, I hope to convey utter calm and unruffled repose through dance, along with gorgeous music performed by Diane and Mark. I think that the entire recital will bring various artistic styles and forms, as well as colorful emotions. I hope the audience will have a chance to recuperate themselves by attending the recital.”
Clinton said performing with Barger on this recital was special to him.
“For me personally, it means a lot to be an integral part of this program with Diane. We’ve been close friends since I came to Lincoln in 1995. We’ve had so many wonderful experiences performing together over the years—concerts, recordings, tours, etc.,” Clinton said. “The Brahms Trio (arguably the cornerstone of the program) represents the apex of connections and friendships that music brings into our lives—three longtime friends and colleagues making music together. It doesn’t get any better than that.”