Clarinetists from Plattsburgh, Canada Join Forces in Concert

Twenty students and one faculty member from Cegep de Sherbrooke will visit the campus on Saturday to participate in an ongoing exchange with members of the SUNY Plattsburgh Clarinet Choir. Students will spend the day working collectively in rehearsals and perform several selections together at the culminating performance. The concert program will feature pieces that trace the development of music through the ages; will include representative works from the Baroque, Renaissance, Romantic and Contemporary eras; and will include brief explanations of each period by the students.

The in-person component is just one aspect of the ongoing partnership between the two institutions initiated in fall 2007. In 2008-2009 a technology component was added which combined traditional music instruction with various distance learning technologies such as video conferences, shared Web-based research and communication using Skype - a free software download that allows for real-time Web chats. In addition, students from both sides of the border sent self-recordings to their cross-border counterparts and shared information through a special clarinet project Web site, set up by a Cegep student, and linked to the Cegep de Sherbrooke Web site.

The SUNY/Sherbrooke Cross Border Clarinet Project and day-long clarinet exchange is generously supported by the Department of Music, Media Services Department, Arts and Sciences Department and the Center for the Study of Canada at SUNY Plattsburgh. The SUNY Plattsburgh Clarinet Choir plans to visit the Cegep de Sherbrooke students in a reciprocal exchange in spring 2010. For more information contact Janine Scherline at 518-643-6530, [email protected].