Égide Duo : Gone is Gone

Label: Soundset Recordings
Item Number: SR1117
Format: CD

Year Recorded: 2020

Gone is Gone

Égide Duo

Joshua Gardner - Clarinet

Stefanie Gardner - Bass Clarinet

Playlist
Artists
Details
Reviews

The Bangui Anomaly	01.	Eric Mandat: The Bangui Anomaly 8:44

Jonathan Russell: This Homeless Way
A Shiver is All	02.	I. A Shiver is All 1:57
Am I Invisible	03.	II. Am I Invisible 4:18
This Homeless Way	04.	III. This Homeless Way 3:20

Kurt Mehlenbacher: Lost and Forgotten
The Salt River Running Dry	05.	I. The Salt River Running Dry 2:17
Prodoxidae	06.	II. Prodoxidae 1:27
The Joshua Tree	07.	III. The Joshua Tree 4:41
A Quick and Ceremonious Exodus	08.	IV. A Quick and Ceremonious Exodus 2:02

Duet for Clarinet and Bass Clarinet	09.	Steven Bryant: Duet for Clarinet and Bass Clarinet 7:01

John Steinmetz: Coal Seams
Under Ground	10.	I. Under Ground 3:10
The Devourer	11.	II. The Devourer 6:14
Gone is Gone	12.	III. Gone is Gone 4:34

Total Playing Time: 49:45

Égide Duo

As agents of new repertoire, Égide Duo’s mission is to collaborate with composers to create and present music that addresses social change, including issues involving the environment/climate, animal and human rights, and equality. The duo aims to provide clear and pointed musical commentary on issues that affect our society today and tomorrow in an effort to draw attention to and encourage active public engagement on such issues. Joshua and Stefanie Gardner have commissioned works by Eric Mandat, Kurt Mehlenbacher, Jon Russell, John Steinmetz, Joel Love, and others dedicated to effecting social change through music.

The duo has been invited to perform at conferences for numerous organizations, including the International Clarinet Association and the College Music Society. Their recent performance at ClarinetFest 2019 was described as “powerful” with a “vibrant color palette and captivating quality” by the conference review team. They have appeared as guest artists throughout the US and in France.

In addition to performing, Joshua and Stefanie hold teaching positions in higher education. Joshua teaches at Arizona State University and Stefanie teaches at Glendale Community College (AZ). They both perform with the Paradise Winds Reed Quintet and are Selmer Paris/Conn-Selmer and Silverstein Works performing artists.

Joshua Gardner - Clarinet

Joshua Gardner is Clinical Associate Professor of Music and Director of the Performance Physiology Research Laboratory at Arizona State University, where he has taught since 2011. He maintains an active performance career, performing with several ensembles, including the internationally recognized Paradise Winds and Égide Duo, and is a frequent soloist with high school and college ensembles. He has performed and lectured at conferences for the International Clarinet Association, European Clarinet Association, International Double Reed Society, and North American Saxophone Alliance and has been featured on American Public Radio’s Performance Today.

In addition to performing and teaching, Gardner has a strong interest in woodwind pedagogy and research. He won first prize at the International Clarinet Association Research Competition in 2008 and has presented lectures on tongue motion during clarinet performance throughout the US, often accompanied by live tongue imaging. He is currently exploring the use of ultrasound for quantified research and performance diagnostics. As part of the PPR Lab, Gardner often mentors student research initiatives ranging from examining embouchure force dynamics using thin-film force transducers to exploring non-articulatory tongue motion during saxophone performance using ultrasound imaging. He is also a member of the interdisciplinary ASU research group, SAMBA – Science of Art, Music, and Brain Activity. The group plans to integrate ecologically-based perceptual scene-analysis theory, music performance and education principles, and neural brain modeling tests to further our understanding of music perception and education. They recently won a collaborative grant with neuroscientists from the Mayo Clinic to develop pre-surgical mapping procedures to preserve cognitive functions important to professional musician patients.

Dr. Gardner received Bachelor’s degrees in Music Education and Clarinet Performance from the University of Kentucky and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Arizona State University. Gardner is a Henri Selmer Paris/Conn-Selmer Performing Artist playing Privilege clarinets, a Silverstein Pro Team Artist, and uses Vandoren mouthpieces.

Stefanie Gardner - Bass Clarinet

Dr. Stefanie Harger Gardner teaches clarinet, chamber music, and music theory at Glendale Community College and Ottawa University. Previously she served on the faculty at Northern Arizona University and Mesa Community College. Gardner maintains an active performance career, performing with Arizona Opera, the Phoenix Symphony, Red Rocks Chamber Music Festival, Seventh Roadrunner, the internationally recognized Paradise Winds, and grant-winning Égide Duo, whose mission is to commission, record, and perform music inspiring social change. She has performed in conferences for the International Clarinet Association, the International Double Reed Society, the North American Saxophone Alliance, and the International Viola Congress. Gardner’s chamber music albums are recorded on the Soundset label and can be heard on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube. In addition to performing and teaching, Gardner has a strong interest in woodwind pedagogy. In 2012, Gardner won first prize at the International Clarinet Association Research Competition with her study, “An Investigation of Finger Motion and Hand Posture during Clarinet Performance,” where she collaborated with the Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing at ASU to study hand posture and finger motion during clarinet performance using CyberGloves®. Recently, she was awarded “Outstanding Contributions in Private Teaching” by Arizona State University, and has been hired by Norton Publishing Company to review theory and aural skills textbooks. Dr. Gardner received Bachelor, Master, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Clarinet Performance from Arizona State University studying with Robert Spring. Gardner is a Henri Selmer Paris/Conn-Selmer Performing Artist playing Privilege clarinets, a Silverstein Pro Team Artist, and uses Selmer mouthpieces.

Gone is Gone. Égide Duo, Joshua & Stefanie Gardner (2020)
The Clarinet, v. 49, no. 2, March 2022

As Égide Duo, clarinetists Joshua Gardner and Stefanie Gardner have commissioned works by Eric Mandat, Kurt Mehlenbacher, Jonathan Russell, John Steinmetz, Joel Love and others dedicated to effecting social change through music. They have been invited to perform at the International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest® and the College Music Society, and have performed throughout the U.S. and France. Additionally, Joshua teaches at Arizona State University and Stefanie teaches at Glendale Community College.

Eric Mandat’s The Bangui Anomaly is certainly a tour de force for clarinet and bass clarinet that was executed with both technical precision and beautiful colors in this recording. The blend between the Gardners is especially remarkable, as is their intonation in this performance. The cadenzas for each instrument, extreme in registral and technical demands, were handled with great command of technique and captivating musicianship.

This Homeless Way by Jonathan Russell is a very mournful work allowing the Gardners to display their lyrical and soulful playing. Again, intonation is impeccable in this work, as is ensemble cohesiveness and blend. As the disc does not indicate who is playing which instrument, I will say that, in movement two of this work, the soprano clarinetist sings from the heart employing an impressive range of colors and styles. In movement three, the bass clarinetist gets their opportunity to shine with their soulful, cantabile playing. Wide registral leaps were handled with superb control by both players.

The third work on this disc is Lost and Forgotten by Kurt Mehlenbacher, in four movements. The striking element of the first movement is the performers’ creation of perfectly-blended klangfarbenmelodie amidst a mostly ostinato underpinning. Articulation is especially remarkable in this performance. Dynamics and colors are aptly displayed here as well as consistent technical mastery that is evident throughout the disc. The final movement of this work exhibits the performers’ fluency of extended techniques such as slap and flutter tonguing. This movement sparkles with rhythmic energy and jazzy soprano clarinet style.

Composer Steven Bryant wrote his Duet for clarinet and bass clarinet in 2020. The opening of the work seems to be an homage to Stravinsky’s first piece in Three Pieces for Clarinet Solo in its melancholic opening. The work follows with a theme in quartal and quintal harmonies which are handled with exquisite intonation. The following jaunty, humorous section is performed with much style and panache. Kudos, again, to the soprano clarinetist’s jazzy styling here. Pitch bending by both was also quite impressive. The chorale section displayed their consistently excellent pitch on this disc.

Coal Seams was written by John Steinmetz in 2019. As with the Bryant work, the opening movement is comprised of mostly open harmonies which, again, demonstrate Gardner and Gardner’s perfect handling of intonation. Movement two is a lighthearted romp that is delivered with consummate style and humor. The final movement, Gone is Gone, is a somber, reflective chorale that is performed beautifully and further demonstrates the pair’s intonation, blend and lyricism.

Égide Duo has provided us with an extremely well-played recording that features works that are sure to become standard in the clarinet duo canon.

– Kenneth Long