Clarinet student to perform solo
By Kim Sanders
April 18, 2007 9:01 p.m.
Many UCLA students have come a long way in order to accomplish their goals. Some, like graduate clarinet student Virginia Figueiredo, have come farther than others. Yet instead of journeying across the state or country, Figueiredo’s pursuit of her dream has brought her to UCLA all the way from Portugal.
When the advanced degrees she wanted were unavailable in her native country, the Doctor of Musical Arts student followed her passion for clarinet first to Cal State Fullerton for her masters degree and then to UCLA for her doctorate.
In her first year here at UCLA, Figueiredo recently won the Atwater Kent competition, which was judged by a panel of three judges from the music community outside the university. She’ll get to show off her talents in a solo performance tonight at a UCLA Philharmonia concert in Schoenberg Hall.
“I performed clarinet with piano in the competition. It was open to woodwinds, percussion and harps, so there were tons of people auditioning,” she said.
Winning the competition gave Figueiredo the opportunity to perform her solo piece tonight.
“Winning was important to me not in terms of where it places me with everyone else ““ because everyone played well and the difference between winning and not was very small ““ but because I get to play with the orchestra and get to solo, and there aren’t many chances to do that because there are so many musicians and not that many orchestras,” she said.
A musician since childhood, Figueiredo decided to become a professional at 15 and spent eight years studying music at a conservatory in Portugal.
“You put in so much time into practice (at the conservatory) that it didn’t cross my mind not to major in clarinet. If I did another major I would not be able to play as much and that just didn’t feel right,” Figueiredo said.
Figueiredo will get a chance to show off what she has learned, at both UCLA and elsewhere, when she performs tonight.
She will perform the Weber Clarinet Concerto No. 2, the piece she played in the competition.
“It is a very effective piece to play in a competition as it is a virtuoso piece,” she said. “And I like the composer.”
Weber’s distinct style of writing for instruments drew Figueiredo to his works.
“It’s almost like he’s writing for voices, but it’s just the instrument. The musicians get to become characters in those pieces,” she said of the opera composer.
Although Figueiredo appreciates the variety of dynamics and tones produced by the instrument, it was the clarinet’s individual voice that drew her to it.
“I love clarinet because you blow to produce sound so it’s very personal. It’s the air out of your lungs that creates the sound. Every person has a different sound, an extension of their own voice,” she said.
“It has so many different personalities.”
This wide range of sounds means there is always something to play.
“The clarinet has a wide repertoire ““ pieces from almost all periods of history, from classical to modern pieces,” she said. “The fountain of resources never ends.”
After receiving her doctorate, Figueiredo plans to continue tapping from this endless fountain of resources and enter the world of professional orchestral musicians.
“I want to take some time to prepare for auditions around the country, and maybe outside, for professional orchestras, and (to) apply for positions as a teacher in some universities also,” she said.
Even with these exciting prospects ahead, Figueiredo still enjoys her time at UCLA.
“I have had a great experience here. The level of the music department, both the teachers and students, gets better every day, especially the Philharmonia,” Figueiredo said.
“Every concert sounds better than the last.”
