DESCRIPTION:
By Satoshi Yagisawa (b. 1975), trans. Joe Clark (b. 1994)

Kaitlin Baker, Eb clarinet
Emily Gaskins, Bb clarinet 1A
Cassy Fagundes, Bb clarinet 1B
John Charney, Bb clarinet 2A
Andrew Peloquin, Bb clarinet 2B
Tim Coffey, Bb clarinet 3A
Aidan Morehouse, Bb clarinet 3B
Sara Nelson, alto clarinet 1
Matt Borneman, alto clarinet 2
Mitchell Sugar, bass clarinet 1
Isabelle Culotta, bass clarinet 2
Clarisse Neilan, bass clarinet 3
Steph Alderson, contrabass clarinet
Joe Clark, conductor

There is not a lot of music in the clarinet choir repertoire, so it is common for such ensembles to turn to transcriptions – taking other people’s music and re-scoring them for the instruments at hand. I was intimately familiar with these pieces, having played both of them in my time at North Middlesex under the baton of Mr. Jason Bielik.

March-Bou-Shu, originally for band, was commissioned by the All Japan Band Association (Chiba Prefecture) to commemorate their 45th anniversary. The composer, Satoshi Yagisawa, was requested to write a march that was easy enough for junior high students to play, and was based on the folk songs in Chiba Prefecture. Initially it was very difficult to find a folk song that was suitable for a march. After several months of research, the composer finally discovered Boushu Oiwake, a lyrical folk song sung with the Japanese bamboo flute and shamisen (a three-stringed Japanese instrument).
~Taken from the original score

Performed at the fourth annual chamber music recital at the Lawrence Library in Pepperell, MA on August 9, 2014.