Melissa Koprowski is Assistant Professor of Clarinet at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Alabama, and completed her Master’s and Doctorate degrees in clarinet performance from The University of Southern California, where she had the privilege to study with Yehuda Gilad. She has also studied with Danny Granados, Scott Bridges and Judy Donaldson. Dr. Koprowski is an active performer and soloist. She has won first place in numerous competitions, some of which include the International Clarinet Association Young Artist Competition, Pasadena Showcase, MTNA Young Artist, Grand prize from the Birmingham Music Club, and a three time first prize recipient of the Alabama Federation of Music Clubs Competition. At the age of 18, Dr. Koprowski was appointed as the 2nd/Eb clarinetist of the Tuscaloosa Symphony. She has also performed with many orchestras across America including the Alabama Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, Downey Symphony, Burbank Philharmonic, American Youth Symphony, and Debut Orchestra. Dr. Koprowski can be seen and heard as clarinetist on the Dreamworks film, The Soloist. Roberta Garten grew up in San Diego, CA and received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University of Southern California, where she studied with Johanna Graudan and Nancy Bricard. She has been on faculty of the Colburn School of Performing Arts as staff accompanist for over 30 years. Roberta has performed with principal players in many symphony orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, and New York Philharmonic and as has performed through the US, Spain, Japan, South Korea, and South America. She can be heard on Summit Label, and is very pleased to have performed and recorded with Melissa Koprowski. Russian-born Victor Babin (1908 - 1972) is best known in the United States as a duo-pianist with wife Vitya Vronsky, and as Director of the Cleveland Institute of Music from 1961 – 1972. His style is distinctly post-romantic – conservative but colorful. The Hillandale Waltzes for clarinet and piano (1947) was composed toward the end of World War II. The waltzes are based on a theme of the German composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837), which he used in his Introduction, Theme and Variations for oboe and piano. A series of eight waltz variations, some of which test the technical prowess of the clarinetist, follow the landler-like theme. The composition was dedicated to Anne Archbold, who kindly provided housing for the Babins in the Hillandale Mansion in Washington D.C., near Georgetown University, shortly after their immigration to the United States. Viennese-born composer Joseph Horovitz (1926 - ) emigrated to England in 1938 where he studied music at New College, Oxford. He was an official lecturer in music appreciation to the Forces and gave piano recitals in army camps. After completing his BMus and MA degrees, he studied composition with Gordon Jacob at the Royal College of Music and with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. He has won numerous prestigious composition awards throughout his long career. The Sonatina for clarinet and piano was composed in 1981 at the request of Gervase de Peyer and Gwenneth Pryor. It is light-hearted and utilizes the traditional three-movement division. The first movement concentrates on the middle register of the clarinet, mainly lyrical against a rippling piano background, and is in classical sonata form. The second movement is an A-B-A song structure employing some of the lowest notes of the wind instrument in a long cantilena over a slow chordal accompaniment. A loose rondo form is used for the finale. It alternates two themes in equal proportions, exploiting the upper register of the clarinet. The harmonic idiom of the whole work is tonal and is melodically and rhythmically influenced by jazz and other popular music. Arthur Benjamin (1893 - 1960) was Australian by birth before moving to London as a young man, where he studied composition and piano. He was active in the growing musical life of the time, giving many performances of new works, including his own. During the 1940’s his music was inspired by the music of Caribbean natives. Le Tombeau de Ravel is a set of six contrasting Valse-Caprices framed by an introduction and a finale. This work is loosely modeled after Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales which, in urn, were inspired by two sets of waltzes by Schubert. The composition evokes the sound world of Ravel and the general atmosphere of French music of the time, including hints of the salons, echoes of the café-concert and images which seem to leap from Toulouse-Lautrec’s illustrations. American composer, Sy Brandon (1945 - ), was recently commissioned by the Arizona Centennial Commission to compose a band composition to celebrate Arizona’s 100th anniversary of statehood. Other first prize awards include WITF-FM's 25th Anniversary Composition Contest, and Franklin and Marshall College’s Wind Ensemble Composition Contest. The Czech National Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Bulgarica, and the Kiev Philharmonic have recorded his music. Two compositions of his are heard on this CD. Badinerie, composed in 2001, is a rhythmic exciting piece in a modal style. The piece is in a large ABA form. The A sections contain much syncopation and counterpoint. The B section has a more sustained clarinet part over an ostinato in the piano. Die Fledermaus Fantasy, which closes this CD, is modeled after Sarasate's "Carmen Fantasy". It uses themes from the opera and expands upon them in order to show off the solo instrument. The material used comes from the overture along with Rosalinde's Csardas inserted in the middle. Carlos Guastavino (1912 - 2000) was born in Santa Fe, Argentina. He was one of the foremost Argentine composers of the 20th century. His reputation was based almost entirely on his songs, and Guastavino has sometimes been called “the Schubert of the Pampas.” His style, always tonal and lusciously romantic, is fully based on Argentine folk music. Tonada y Cueca (1965) is comprised of two contrasting pieces exploring rhythms from Northwestern Argentina. A Tonada is defined as a Latin American folk song of the sentimental type or as a work song that accompanies such diverse tasks as milking, farming, maize milling, and harvesting. The Cueca, derived from the Peruvian "Zamacueca", is a lively couple's dance of courtship and is also the national dance of Chile.