Introduction
Hello! I’m Karen Luttik …
…a freelance clarinetist in the Boston area. I hope this site creates a picture for you of my activities in music and my hopes for future endeavors. Please contact me if you’d like to be involved in some way! I look forward to meeting you.
Influenced by….
I am a musician who draws great inspiration from experiences with wonderful conductors, teachers and colleagues as I teach and perform in a variety of US and European settings. Teachers who have passed on some of their artistry include Charles Russo, NY City Opera; George Pieterson, Concertgebouw Orchestra; Jonathan Cohler, Soloist; Jorge Montilla, Simon Bolivar Orchestra; Steven Bates, Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra, Judy Bose and Marco Granados of Longy School of Music of Bard College, Ethan Sloane and David Martins, Boston University.
Performed with….
I’ve served as principle clarinetist with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra for four years and worked with conductors such as Okko Kamu and Gerard Schwarz. On their Scandinavian tour the SSO performed numerous concerts in Gothenburg, Oslo, and Copenhagen. I had the pleasure of recording some unusual works with the SSO including Franz Lachner’s Symphony No. 1 in Eb Major, Op. 32, Mikhail Mikhailovich Ippolitov-Ivanov’s Symphony No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 62, and Mili Balakirev’s Chopin Suite, In Bohemia, King Lear Overture and Overture on a Spanish March Theme.
Teaching….
Teaching is a passion of mine; I’ve worked with enthusiastic clarinet students in a variety of settings: Crescendo Harmonie Vereniging in Bleiswijk, the International School of the Hague Music School, the Nashua Community Music School, the Tufts Community Music Program on Saturdays and my private studio currently in Wilmington, MA. Current and prospective students, please see the page devoted to you on my site (www.karenluttik.com) !
Out of the box events…
Doing out of the box events is another passion of mine: from a complete recital dedicated to using as many senses as possible to enhance the musical experience of the listening participants (see Longy recital video) to a unique presentation of one particular piece (see Messiaen on video page), to a Lecture Recital about a newly discovered piece (see Lecture recital and performance video); Karen is open to all kinds of daring newness in the concert hall! Prospective collaborators, please contact me if you’re interested in working on a project together!
Commissions…
Commissioning pieces is another favorite activity of mine as I strive to keep clarinet music alive and progressing. Sam Beebe’s piece “How Was it We Were Caught?” features the spoken stories of needy people, telling of their hardships while a clarinet melody dramatically weaves in and around the audio (see video page). Are you an composer interested in composing a piece with a purpose? Please see my “composer’s commission” page on my website; maybe we can get some synergy going and create some progressive and exploratory concerts together!
