Jonathan Russell (composer)

Russell has been commissioned by, worked with, and written for ensembles including the San Francisco Symphony, Prism Quartet, Symphony Number One, Empyrian Ensemble, Wild Rumpus, Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, and the JACK Quartet.[4][5]

The Imani Winds has a long term relationship with Mr. Russell through the wind quintets Legacy Commissioning Project, which has led to three large scale arrangements of orchestral works for woodwind quintet.[6]

A frequent composer for various clarinets, Russell frequently solos as a bass clarinetist, performing his own and other works. Among his own works, he premiered his Sonata for Bass Clarinet and Piano with pianist Kate Campbell which Campbell herself commissioned.[7] Mr. Russell’s performance of Debussy’s Premiere Rhapsody was noted for giving, “increasing energy, leading to a smashingly tangy conclusion from a lurking opening. Russell is a real virtuoso with true command over his instrument’s range of expression…”[8]

Along with his partner Jeff Anderle, the bass clarinet duo Sqwonk performed in the San Francisco area.[9] The ensemble has self-released several albums of original music for bass clarinet duo as well as works for small ensemble.[10]

Sqwonk members Anderle and Russell join with Cornelius Boots and Aaron Novik to form quartet Edmund Welles: The Bass Clarinet Quartet which themselves also have their own discography.[11]

• ...and the Beast[12]
• ...in the fir trees: fireflies[13]
• Bass Clarinet Concerto[14]
• Bass Clarinet Double Concerto
• Claremont Suite[15]
• Groove: for Bass Clarinet Solo[16]
• Eleven[17][18]
• KlezDuo (2005)[19]
• Lament and Frippery[20]
• Light Cathedral[21]
• Octet[22]
• O Cool is the Valley Now
• Rain Has Fallen
• Repetitive Stress[23][24]
• Sonata for Bass Clarinet and Piano[25]
• String Quartet[26]
• Supra[27]
• Technobabble[28]
• Twelve Bean Groove Machine[29][30]

• Rimsky Korsakov: Scheherazade
• Holst: The Planets
• Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring[31][32][33]