Melia Watras

MELIA WATRAS: SCHUMANN RESONANCES
for clarinet and piano (2025)

World Premiere: Cameron DeLuca, clarinet; Ella Kalinichenko, piano; May 23, 2025, Seattle, WA

Duration: 5:17

Program Notes:
In 2025, Cristina Valdés, my extraordinary colleague and director of the Modern Music Ensemble at the University of Washington, asked me if I would like to work with her and her group. She suggested that I make a transcription of my piece Schumann Resonances (originally for viola and piano) for the clarinetist and pianist to perform. Cristina sited well-known shared viola/clarinet repertoire from the past.

For violists, the Brahms transcriptions of his clarinet sonatas are a fulcrum of our canon. Resonating Schumann for the clarinet seems fitting.

Dedicated to the marvelous musical explorers Cristina Valdés, clarinetist Cameron DeLuca and pianist Ella Kalinichenko.

—Melia Watras