Clarinetist Wenzel Fuchs to Play Millersville University, 10/08

Wenzel Fuchs, principal clarinetist of the Berliner Phillharmoniker, will appear in a program of classical music at the Winter Visual and Performing Arts Center at Millersville University on Wednesday evening, Oct. 8. The Winter Center is located at 60 W. Cottage Ave, Millersville. Fuchs is considered to be one of the most exciting clarinetists in the world today. He has appeared with such eminent conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Herbert Blomstedt, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Simon Rattle and Franz Welser-Möst.

Fuchs was born in Innsbruck, Austria, in a region where traditional wind music is highly valued. The scion of a musical family, he was already playing clarinet in various wind ensembles as a child. After first studying in Kitzbühel and Innsbruck, he went to the Vienna Musikhochschule, where he had the opportunity to play as a substitute with the Wiener Philharmoniker. He began his professional career as principal clarinetist of the Vienna Volksoper, then move to the Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra and, in 1993, to the Berliner Philharmoniker.

In addition to his orchestral work, Fuchs is active as a soloist and chamber player in, among other groups, the Philharmonic Wind Ensemble, Philharmonic Wind Soloists, Philharmonic Octet and the Philharmonic Friends of Vienna-Berlin.

Fuchs will be accompanied in Wednesday's concert by pianist Joan Allen and clarinetist Christy Banks, associate professor of music (clarinet and saxophone) at Millersville University, and will perform the Concerto in E-flat major, Op. 26, by Carl Maria von Weber, Sonata for Clarinet and Piano by Francis Poulenc, Konzertstück, No. 2, Op. 114, by Felix Mendelssohn, and Sonata No. 1 in F minor for clarinet and piano, Op. 120, by Johannes Brahms.

Tickets are $18 for general admission, $15 for seniors , and $5 for students. They can be purchased online at ArtsMU.com, or by calling the Millersville University Ticket Office, at 717-871-7600, or the Ware Center, 717-871-7018. Tickets can also be purchased at the Ticket Office, located in the Student Memorial Center on the MU campus, or at the front desk of the Ware Center, 42 N. Prince Street, Lancaster.

For more information, contact the Music Office at 717-871-4700 or by email, at music.assistant@millersville.edu.