Zoeter Teaches and Performs in Brazil During Sabbatical

Anna Lee van Buren Endowed Chair in Clarinet, Coordinator of Winds and Percussion and Professor of Clarinet Garrick Zoeter, M.M., spent the first three and a half weeks of his sabbatical this semester teaching and performing in Brazil. Zoeter formally taught at the Festival Eleazar de Carvalho festival for the summers of 1997 to 2003. This most recent trip to Brazil allowed him to perform alongside his former students there, many of which are now professional orchestral clarinetists and university professors, and to teach the students of his former students. Teaching engagements included classes at The Escola de Música of the Federal University of Rio Grande de Norte in Natal, The Instituto Federal Pernambuco in Recife, and masterclasses sponsored by Florianópolis Pró Música in Florianopolis. Performances included recitals at these universities as well as performances with the Banda Henrique Marques in Limeira and the Banda Sinfônica Municipal de Sumaré in Sumaré, which included the South American Premieres of Uruguay/United States composer Miguel Del Aguila’s “Transoceanica” for clarinet quartet and Dutch composer Carl Wittrock’s “Symphonic Sketches” for clarinet, bass clarinet and wind ensemble. The band tradition is large in Brazil and these two bands that Zoeter performed with have been in existence since 1860.