Crane Flute & Clarinet Alumnae Perform Concert in Honor of 125th

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From left, Vanessa Breault Mulvey ’90 on flute and Michelle Shoemaker ’95 on clarinet are the Revelia Duo.

POTSDAM, NY (09/08/2011)(readMedia)-- As part of the ongoing 125th anniversary celebration of SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, two accomplished alumnae performers will return to their alma mater to present a concert next week.

The Revelia Duo will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 13 in Sara M. Snell Music Theater. Featuring Vanessa Breault Mulvey '90 on flute and Michelle Shoemaker '95 on clarinet, the Revelia Duo will present several works, along with guest artists Kenneth Andrews and Julie Miller.

Along with works by Heitor Villa-Lobos, Charles Koechlin and Paul Steinberg, Mulvey and Shoemaker will perform "Half Moon at Checkerboard Mesa," a 1997 piece by Phillip Kent Birnstein. That work includes sounds recorded by the composer by a waterhole in Zion National Park in Utah, including the sounds of canyon tree frogs, coyotes, crickets, rocks, thunder and the rushing waters of the Virgin River. They will also perform "Barn Dances" by Libby Larsen, a set of four abstract pieces for flute, clarinet and piano. Each piece draws its title from the name of a particular dance step used in cowboy dances.

Described by the Boston Globe as "deploying loquacious, coruscating lines with energy and grit," the Revelia Duo is committed to sharing music for flute and clarinet with audiences of all ages. The artistry of flutist Vanessa Breault Mulvey and clarinetist Michelle Shoemaker intertwined at the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, Mass., where the two met as faculty members in 2002. Both musicians are alumnae of The Crane School of Music in Potsdam, and credit their professors there for introducing them to the rewards of performing chamber music.

Their passion for music making inspires them to perform cutting edge new music, along with traditional repertoire. The duo has performed at the National Flute Association National Conference in New York City, King's Chapel Noontime Series, Longy's SeptemberFest, GBFA's New England Flute Fair, and live on Boston's WGBH Radio. A member of the Flute/Clarinet Duo Consortium, future projects for Revelia Duo include new music commissions and designing an interactive recital program for young audiences, incorporating the arts and geography. Learn more by visiting www.revelia.org.

This event is free, and the public is invited to attend.

For more information about the many concerts taking place as part of Crane's 125th anniversary celebration, visit www.potsdam.edu/academics/Crane/125years.

Founded in 1886, SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music has a long legacy of excellence in music education and performance. Life at Crane includes an incredible array of more than 300 recitals, lectures and concerts presented by faculty, students and guests each year. The Crane School of Music is the State University of New York's only All-Steinway institution, and is celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2011.

-www.potsdam.edu/crane-