Songs of My Fathers was a concert that I put together for the Berkeley Chamber Performances series in 2011. It featured:
Simple Gifts, by John Williams, dedicated to Barack Obama, Father of our country.
Anna Pressler - violin, Andy Luchansky - cello, Joanne De Phillips - piano, Deborah Pittman - clarinet
The Dancer Within Me, a collaboration with dancer, Sheila Coleman. A tribute to our dads, it started with Sheila trying to teach me some dance moves as a simple echo to her moves. If you’ve ever seen me dance, you can imagine what a disaster that turned out to be. I have long been a fan of shadow work, so we decided to start as one person, behind the scrim and I would separate from the “dancer within” to accompany her. We come back together in the end, thus the audience is spared from my dancing. I later performed this piece with Nicole Manker and with Bobbi Bolden at my retirement recital.
The World According to Earl: A Father Daughter Biography, a piece based on weekly conversations with my dad. Although unable to come out from the east coast to join us for the performance, Earl was with us on stage, in the form of a life-sized puppet.
Trio MôD: Makquette Kuper - flute, Omari Tau - baritone, Deborah Pittman - clarinet
Claire Hurni - Puppet designs and manipulation
Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, a tribute to Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, one of the composer “fathers” of the African Diaspora, featuring the Sun Quartet.
Brooklyn Bridge by Michael Dougherty for Clarinet and Band
This work was brought to my attention by my colleague at Cal State Sacramento, Robert Halseth. I was fortunate to perform it with Dr. Halseth and the CSUS Symphonic Band several years ago. There were several of my clarinet students in the ensemble, completing this amazing experience.
I have since performed that work with Greg Bergantz, conducting the San Josh Metropolitan Band and Pete Nowlen, conducting the UD Davis Concert Band.
Clarisonix
Lunch with the man who first put a clarinet in my hands, Jules Hirsch
Native American flute tour
Playing with my former students at my retirement recital in 2013
