Creative Commute (Canvas Series)

Inspiration doesn’t always wait, and can often shake free when taking a stroll through nature. For this reason, Beethoven carried small sketchbooks while on long walks in the countryside to capture the muse at work. Indeed, the only thing better than getting to your destination safely is having created a masterpiece along the way! Clarinetist Dominic Giardino joins forces with cellist Nathan Whittaker and fortepianist Jonathan Oddie for Beethoven’s iconic Gassenhauer Trio, as well as works by Anton Eberl and Franz Joseph Haydn.

Historical clarinetist Dominic Giardino enjoys a varied professional life as a performer, administrator, educator, and researcher. Dominic performs in period-instrument orchestras throughout the continent, including in recent seasons with Boston Baroque, the Washington Bach Consort, and the Pacific Baroque Orchestra. He also regularly performs in chamber music programs with the Raleigh Camerata and Wit’s Folly. Dominic has recorded with the Smithsonian Chamber Players, the Bach Choir of Bethlehem Orchestra, Newberry’s Victorian Cornet Band, and Three Notch’d Road: The Virginia Baroque Ensemble. He is the executive director of Arizona Early Music, serves on the faculties of the University of North Texas and George Mason University, and co-directs the period-instrument ensemble Music of the Regiment. Dominic is a 2016 Fulbright grantee and holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.

Nathan Whittaker, violoncello, enjoys a diverse career as a soloist, chamber musician, recitalist, teacher, and historical cello specialist, with concert stops ranging from New York to Seattle to Dubai. He is Artistic Director of Gallery Concerts (Seattle), a chamber music series on period instruments, and appears frequently with the Trinity Baroque Orchestra, New York Baroque Incorporated, ARTek, Twelfth Night, The Sebastians, and the Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble. He has also served on the faculty of Cornish College of the Arts and each summer hosts “Cello Day,” a one-day workshop for adult cellists. His performances can be heard on recordings for ATMA Musique, Harmonia, and Centaur, as well as in live broadcasts on NPR, CBC, and KING FM. Dr. Whittaker holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Washington and Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Indiana University. He performs on a 1957 cello by Mario Gadda and a baroque cello by Johann Christian Ficker II, c.1770. When not playing the cello, Nathan enjoys strolling through Hell’s Kitchen, coffee in hand, with his wife, soprano Linda Tsatsanis, and their mischievous mutt, Julep. Photo Credit: Chuck Moses

Jonathan Oddie is professor of practice in historical performance: historical keyboards at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Jonathan is in demand across the United States as a versatile performer on harpsichord, fortepiano, and continuo organ. As a continuo player, he works with leading musicians including violinist Dmitry Sinkovsky and flutist Janet See, and with orchestras including Portland Baroque Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony. He has performed on chamber music series including Gallery Concerts Seattle and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and has been featured as a soloist with the Northwest Sinfonietta and Saratoga Orchestra. Jonathan studied piano and harpsichord at Indiana University, where his teachers included Elisabeth Wright, Jean-Louis Haguenauer, and Edmund Battersby. Oddie also holds a doctorate in musicology from the University of Oxford, where he researched the instrumental music of English composer Orlando Gibbons (1583–1625). He has published research in the journals Early Music and Historical Performance. His awards include a Performer’s Certificate from the Jacobs School of Music and a Frank Huntington Beebe Fellowship.

Program & Program Notes

Sonata in B-flat Major, Op. 10 No. 2 (1800)
Anton Eberl (1765–1807)
Allegro spirituoso ~ Romance: Andante espressivo ~ Rondo: Allegretto

Sonata in G Minor, Op. 5 No. 2
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Adagio sostenuto e espressivo – Allegro molto più tosto presto ~ Rondo: Allegro

--Intermission--

Andante with variations in F minor (H. XVII:6)
("Un piccolo divertimento")
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809)

Piano Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 11
Ludwig van Beethoven
Allegro con brio ~ Adagio ~ Tema con variazioni ("Pria ch'io l'impegno"): Allegretto