Gregory Oakes presents his new quarter-tone extended clarinet, which was recently built especially for him. The polymicrotonal sounds that arise between his quarter-tone clarinet and the fifth-tones of the Fokker organ form the basis of this extraordinary concert. Gregory Oakes is an American virtuoso and energetic clarinettist with a strong preference for performing music by living composers. He obtained his degrees from Michigan State University, DePaul University, and a doctorate from the University of Colorado. Oakes has performed in the United States, Brazil, Thailand, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. He has held residencies at Princeton, Harvard, Dartmouth, Aspen, and STEIM (Amsterdam), and has given masterclasses at several conservatoires, including in Amsterdam. He is currently on the faculty of Iowa State University as a clarinet lecturer, and also serves as principal clarinettist of the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra. Gregory Oakes has released several CDs.
Together with the regular Fokker organist Ere Lievonen and the American-Dutch composer and flautist Ned McGowan – a long-standing figure in the Fokker organ series and for many years involved in the activities of the Huygens-Fokker Foundation – he performs a thrilling programme in which experimentation is not avoided. In addition to premieres by American composers Bill Alves and Stirling Rutty for clarinet and organ, three works by Ned McGowan will be heard in various instrumentations, including the premiere of Three Pieces for Quarter-tone Extended Clarinet. Alongside the intriguing The 31st Cloud for solo Fokker organ by the Finnish composer Miika Hyytiäinen, a new arrangement by Sebastian Dumitrescu will be performed of Ancient Wisdom, which he originally composed in 2019 with great craftsmanship for Ensemble SCALA. The three musicians will conclude the concert with a dazzling collective improvisation.