Michael Fine, composer
Clarinettist, Conductor and Grammy Award-winning recording producer
Michael began to compose two years ago as a response to his wife’s diagnosis with Multiple Myeloma, an incurable blood cancer. It was a creative outlet and a discovery that the voice he found, the music he felt compelled to write was completely other than what he had imagined. The inspirations from his musical memories, his surroundings, and from everyday life, led to his first composition - Quartet Moments with vignettes such as Dutch Weather, Dutch Tango, The River by Window and the Meadow - combine clear visual elements with a nostalgic look at compositional styles from times past. Hints of jazz come up in the Clarinet Quintet while Skipping Stones - which conjures the childhood game of skipping stones on the water - was described as nostalgically French at its premiere in California’s Festival Mozaic.
Fine’s output in the short time he has been composing already includes several orchestral scores and chamber music for several instruments.
Works
Chamber ensembles:
* Quartet Moments for String Quartet (20’) - publisher Le Chant du Monde
* Quartet Moments 2 for String Quartet (10’)
* Skipping Stones for Flute and String Quintet (6’)
* Dance Movement for Wind Quintet (10’)
* Elegy for English Horn and String Quartet (5’)
* Namsan - Trio for English Horn, Clarinet, Cello (3’)
* Quintet for Clarinet and Strings (11’)
* Quintet for Oboe and Strings (14’)
Concerted works:
* Skipping Stones for Flute and String Orchestra (5’)
* Double Concerto for Two Violins and String Orchestra (12’)
* Memories for Violin and Orchestra (14’)
* To a Distant Star for Trumpet and String Orchestra (4’)
* Distant Snow - encore for Clarinet and String Orchestra (2’30”)
* Cello Concerto
* Oboe Concerto
Orchestra:
* At the Gate - Overture for Orchestra (6’)
* Seasonal Rites - Suite for Orchestra in Four Seasons (20’)
* Prelude and Ballad for Orchestra (9’)
* Suite for Strings - String Orchestra (16’) - publisher Le Chant du Monde