Clarinet is the star of Shandon Presbyterian music weekend

Consider the clarinet.

Unlike the piano or the violin, it can be a tough instrument to identify. For one, it’s sound is remarkably diverse: think of the difference between the grand yet meandering clarinet solo in Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and the plucky sound of the cat – also a clarinet – in “Peter and the Wolf.” It’s also got a unique sound, one that’s both clear yet filled with texture.

Composers know this, too, which is why Beethoven, Brahms and others often chose this licorice-stick of a woodwind as a foil for cello and piano in some of their most memorable trios.

Joe Eller, who is an associate professor of music at USC and a professional clarinet player, has been playing since he was 8 or 9 years old. Like most kids, he spent his first few years playing under protest. But the clarinet drew him back: after a short stint as a math and engineering major in college, he switched to music so he could pursue the clarinet full time. “It’s hard to match the purity of the clarinet’s tone,” he explains. “It adds interest and beauty to a composition.”

He’s in good company: Jimmy Kimmel, Julia Roberts, Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen and Alan Greenspan all play the clarinet.

Trios by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Carl Frühling, both of which will feature Eller on the clarinet, will be performed on Friday, May 15, at Arts at Shandon’s Chamber Music Festival. Max Bruch’s “Kol Nidrei,” for cello and piano, will also be performed. The festival continues on Saturday, May 16, with works by Beethoven, Ravelle and Thuille.

The festival begins at 7:30 p.m. each evening at Shandon Presbyterian Church. Tickets are $15. For more information, visit shandonpres.org

Katie McElveen, Special to The State

This story was originally published May 14, 2015 at 4:28 PM.