About

Yamaha Young Performing Clarinet Artist Katsuya Yuasa, from Kobe, Japan, moved to US and made his solo debut at age 12 at the Center for the Performing Arts in San Jose, California. From a young age, music became his voice and dream. He studied with Tom Serpa, Fred Rast, Roman Fukshansky, and completed his BM in Clarinet Performance while serving as principal clarinet in both Wind Symphony and Orchestra for four years at San Jose State University (SJSU, 2013) under the guidance of Dr. Janet M. Averett.

Everything began in California. Some of his achievements in the state are the San Diego Heritage Music Festival Maestro and Director's Award (2009), SJSU Concerto Competition winner to be the featured soloist performing Luigi Bassi's arrangement of “Rigoletto” by Giuseppe Verdi (2012), and his first inspiration in new music was when he performed as the guest artist for the world premiere of Clarinet Concerto with SJSU Wind Ensemble, “A Candle in the Dark” by Jason McChristian (2013). Simply by pursuing music, as its surrounding community had become something like a second home, Mr. Yuasa was ready to expand his horizon and had the opportunity to also tour across South America with San Jose Youth Symphony. He now resides in Boston, MA and contributes in various outreach events through the Conservatory Connections Performance Program.

In the recent years, Mr. Yuasa has worked with artists such as Carol McGonnell, Robert Spring, Eddie Daniels, Alan R. Kay, Michael Webster, Guy Yehuda, Elsa Ludewig Verdehr, Ayako Oshima, Charles Neidich, and Richard Stoltzman, among others. In May 2014, he performed with Boston Conservatory (BoCo) Wind Ensemble as a featured soloist in “Paganini in Metropolis” by Frank Proto, who quoted: "I wonder what Mr. Yuasa will be sounding like in a few years if he continues on his current upward trajectory."

Just this Spring 2015, he has already been featured on Boston Symphony Hall, recorded to complete the WCRB - WGBH's sonic logo, and frequently requested to take part with the Boston Symphony Association of Volunteers to serve for the New England community's music education programs. He also encountered the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra Instrumental Competition as a finalist (New London, CT), and on the same day he collaborated to perform with International Contemporary Ensemble for world premiere concerts (Boston, MA). He was awarded the Honorable Mentions for Brookline Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition (Boston, MA), Philharmonic Society of Arlington (Arlington, MA), won Grand Prize and 1st Place for Rio Hondo Symphony’s 47th Annual Young Artists Competition (Whittier, CA), and is looking forward to perform Claude Debussy’s “Première Rhapsodie” for regional artist debut in the Fall season. He also won 3rd Prize and Performance Award from White Lake Solo Competition (Muskegon, MI), then 1st Place and Grand Prize for Clarinet Colloquium's 2015 Young Artist Competition (Dallas, TX). He was a clarinet teaching assistant at Summer in the City (San Jose, CA) and New York Summer Music Festival this summer.

Mr. Yuasa became a Yamaha Young Performing Artist in 2014, and finished MM in May 2015 at BoCo where he studied with Michael Norsworthy. He will begin his next journey pursuing the prestigious Artist Diploma program with full scholarships at BoCo. He will not only embody as the Conservatory’s music ambassador, but also have the opportunity to continually concertize extensively as a soloist, chamber musician and contemporary artist. Currently he is preparing solo performance with Rio Hondo Symphony, Duo Esplanade (http://duoesplanade.wix.com/music) Midwest concerts tour, and Berklee/Boston Conservatory Merger Projects.

For more information, please visit http://katsuyayuasa.wix.com/clarinet

Music

Selected Repertoire (for full list, please contact at [email protected])

Clarinet and Piano

Arnold – Sonatina, Op. 29
Babin – Hillandale Waltzes
Bassi – Concert Fantasia on Motives (from Rigoletto)
Benjamin – Le Tombeau de Ravel
Bennett – Ballad in Memory of Shirley Horn
Bernstein – Sonata
Bozza – Bucolique
Brahms – Sonata No. 1, Op. 120
– Sonata No. 2, Op. 120
Bush – Tributes for Clarinet and Piano
Busoni – Elegy
Cahuzac – Cantilene
– Pastorale Cevenole
– Variations sur un air du pays d'Oc
Copland – Clarinet Concerto
D’Rivera – Contradanza
Danzi – Sonata
Debussy – Claire de Lune from Suite Bergamasque
– La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin
– Premiere Rhapsodie
Draeseke – Sonata, Op. 38
Dunhill – Phantasy Suite, Op. 91
Finzi – Five Bagatelles
Gabaye – Sonatine
Hindemith – Sonata for Clarinet and Piano
Honegger – Sonatine
Horovitz – Sonatina
– Two Majorcan Pieces
Ireland – Fantasy Sonata
Krommer – Concerto in Eb, Op. 36
– Concerto in Eb, Op. 91
Lutoslawski – Dance Preludes
Martinu – Sonatina
McCabe – Three Pieces
Mendelssohn – Konzertstuck No. 1, Op. 113
Messager – Solo de Concours
Milhaud – Sonatine
– Duo Concertante
Mozart – Clarinet Concerto, K. 622
Muczynski – Time Pieces
Osborne – Rhapsody for Bb Clarinet
Piazzolla – Tango Etudes
– Histoire du Tango
– Oblivion
Ponchielli – Il Convegno, Op. 76
Poulenc – Sonata
Prokofiev – Flute Sonata, Op. 94 (arr. Kennan)
Rabaut – Solo de Concours
Raff – Scherzino, Op. 85 (originally for violin & piano)
Reade – Suite from The Victorian Kitchen Garden
Rimsky-Korsakov – Hummelflug
Rosenblatt –Fantasy on Themes from “Carmen”
Rossini – Introduction, Theme and Variations
– Variations for clarinet and piano (Neufeld)
Saint-Saens – Sonata, Op. 167
Schreiner – Immer Kleiner
Schumann – Drei Romanzen (Three Romances)
– Fantasiestucke, Op. 73
Shaw – Concerto for Clarinet
Spohr – Concerto No. 1 in c minor, Op. 26
– Concerto No. 2 in Eb Major, Op. 57
Vaughan Williams – Six Studies in English Folksongs
Verdi – La Traviata (arr. Lovreglio)
Weber – Concertino, Op. 26
– Concertino No. 1, Op. 73
– Concertino No. 2, Op. 74
– Grand Duo Concertante, Op. 48
– Introduction, Theme and Variations
Weiner – Peregi Verbunk

Clarinet Concerto with Orchestra/Wind Symphony (or piano)

Debussy – Premiere Rhapsodie
Finzi – Concerto for Clarinet
Gillingham – Double Star
McChristian – A Candle in the Dark (World Premiere)
Mendelssohn – Konzertstuck No. 1, Op. 113
Ponchielli – Il Convegnio, Op. 76
Proto – Paganini in Metropolis
Stravinsky – Ebony Concerto
Verdi – Rigoletto (arr. Bassi)
Krommer – Concerto for 2 Clarinets in Eb, Op. 35

Chamber Music

Agostini – Trio Quebecois
Arnold – Divertimento Op. 37
Arutiunian – Suite
Barber – Summer Music
Bartok – Contrasts
Beethoven – Trio, Op. 11 & 38
– Trio for two flutes and clarinet
– Quintet in Eb, Op. 16
Bermel – Twin Trio
Bissell – Three Hoaxes
Bizet – Carmen Entr’acte for flute, clarinet, piano
Brahms – Clarinet Trio, Op. 114
– Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115
Bruch – Eight Pieces, Op. 83
– Trio in f minor, Op. 83, No. 5
Buss – Impromptu
Carter – Quintet
Curtis – Three Klezmer Trios
D’Rivera – Vals Venezolano/Contradanza
– Aries Tropicales
Damase – Quartet: flute, clarinet, bassoon, piano
Danzi – Sinfonia Concertante
Daughtrey – Strange Dreams
Doppler – Andante and Rondo
Dvorak – Serenade in d minor, Op. 44
– Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81
Farrenc – Trio, Op. 44
Goldman – Sonatina
Hindemith – Quintet, Op. 30
– Kleine Kammermusik, Op. 24 No. 2
Holst – St. Paul’s Suite
Haydn – Divertimento No. 1 in Bb Major
Hosokawa – A song from far away
Ibert – Divertissement: Introduction, Cortege, Parade and Finale
Khachaturian – Trio
Kleine Kammermusik – Wind Quintet Op. 24 No. 2
Mahler – Das Lied von der Erde
May – Impromptu
Messiaen – Quartet for the End of Time
Milhaud – La Cheminee Du Roi Rene
– Suite Op. 157b
– Pastorale
Mozart – Clarinet & Strings, K. 581
– Kegelstatt Trio, K. 498
– Serenade No. 10, “Gran Partita”
– Quintet for Winds and Piano, K. 452
Muczynski – Fantasy Trio for clarinet, cello, piano
Piazzolla – Fuga y Miisterio
– Histoire du Tango
Piston – Three Pieces for Wind Trio
Poulenc – Sonata, Op. 7
– Sextet, Op. 100
Ravel – Introduction and Allegro
Reich – New York Counterpoint
Reinecke – Wind Octet, Op. 216
– Trio in b minor for piano, clarinet, horn
Saint-Saens – Caprice Op. 79
Scarlatti – Shostakovich 2 Pieces
Schickele – Serenade for Three
Schoenfield – Sonatina for flute, clarinet, piano
Schubert – Der Hrt auf dem Felsen, D. 965
Schumann – Fairy Tales, Op. 132
Spohr – Grand Nonetto
Stravinsky – Octet for Wind Instruments
Thuille – Sextet for Winds and Piano, Op. 6

Unaccompanied

Arnold – Fantasy, Op. 87
Cahuzac – Arlequin
Kovacs – Hommage a C. Debussy
– Hommage a Carl Maria von Weber
– Hommage a J.S. Bach
– Hommage a Manuel de Falla
– Hommage a R. Strauss
– Hommage a B. Bartok
– Hommage a N. Paganini
Messiaen – Abyss of the Birds (from End of Time)
Paganini – Caprice No. 24
Penderecki – Prelude for Solo Clarinet
Piazzolla – Tango Etudes
Stravinsky – Three Pieces
Rachmaninov – Variations from Rhapsody one a Theme of Paganini, Op. 4
Harvey – Three Etudes on Themes of Gershwin

Clarinet Ensemble:

Abreu – Tico Tico (arr. Mangani)
Bach – Chromatic Fantasia & Fugue in d minor, BWV 903 (arr. Stoltzman)
– Fugue in g minor, BWV 578 (arr. Schorr)
– “The Little” (arr. Curry)
Bamert – Trio
Bartok – Romanian Folk Dances
Beethoven – Trio Op. 87
Bizet – “Aragonaise” from Carmen (arr. Mazzini)
Blatti – Caduta Libera
Brahms – Hungarian Dance No. 5 (arr. Schorr)
Brown – Symphony
Brubeck – Blue Rondo a la Turk (arr. Swierc)
Carter – Canonic Suite
Cervantes – Two Cuban Dances (arr. Denwood)
Chopin – Minute Waltz (arr. Johnston)
Christensen – Pachelbel’s Canon
Curtis – Three Klezmer Trios
– Global Tour
D’Rivera - Habanera
Damase – Quarte a Quatre
Debussy – Danse (arr. Thilde)
– Golliwog’s Cakewalk (arr. Schorr)
– Minstrels (arr. Brady)
Dubois – Quatuor
Dvorak – Five Bagatelles, Op. 47 (arr. Scott)
– Op. 46 & Op. 72 (arr. Spink)
Farkas – Scenes from Hungary
Faure – Pavane Op. 50 (arr. Kovacs)
Frackenpohl – Licorice Licks
Francaix – Petit Quatour
Gershwin – Summertime (arr. Marshall)
– Three Preludes (arr. Brady)
Gounod – Funeral March of a Marionette (arr. Johnston)
Grainger – Shepherd’s Hey
Granados – Danzas Espanolas (arr. Gee)
Grundman – Bagatelle for Four Bb Clarinets
– Caprice for Clarinets
Guami – Canzon (arr. Schorr)
Harvey – Fantasia in One Movement
– Quartet
Haydn – Minuet String Quartet No. 1 (arr. Schorr)
Jacob – Introduction and Rondo
Joplin – The (Not So) Easy Winners (arr. Six)
Kondo – Super Mario Bros. Medley (arr. McLaughlin)
McLaughlin – Simple Gifts (arr. Niehaus)
Mozart – Marriage of Figaro (arr. Cailliet)
– String Quartet K. 387 (arr. Schorr)
Piazzolla – Histoire du Tango
– 9 Tangos (arr. Labaste)
Picqueur – Young @ Heart
Prokofiev – The Love of Three Oranges
Raff – String Quartet (arr. Schorr)
Reich – New York Counterpoint
Resphigi – Antiche Danze Ed Arie Per Liuto
Rossini – Il Barbiere di Siviglia (arr. Mazzini)
– Sonata No. 1 for string orchestra (arr. Corstjens)
– Sonata for a Quattro No. 1 (arr. Schorr)
Six – Springtime “The Olympics”
Walters – Valse a La Scherzo
Waschka II – Skim
Weber – Hunting Song, Der Freischutz (arr. Schorr)
Weill – Music from The Threepenny Opera
Woolfenden – Gordian Knot

Premiere:

Andriasov, Iosif – Clarinet Concertino
Choi, Daniel – Fugue and Prelude for Clarinet Quartet
Ellis, Rika – Quieting
McChristian, Jason – A Candle in the Dark
Kabat, J.T. – Inventions
Keating, Corey – Trio for clarinet, violin, piano
Russ, Jonathan – Quintet (2 cl, vln, vlcl, pn.)
Sears, Brian – Contemplations on Duality
Yuasa, Katsuya – Fuga y Miisterio (Piazzolla)
– Andante and Rondo (Doppler)
– Sonate in c (C. Schumann)

Videos