Brahams, Debussy and Panizza

“For me, it’s about making intelligent consensus and understanding one another’s viewpoints,” pianist Anirunn “Andy” Sharma said of his musical partnership with clarinetist Janet Coleman. “Unlike a concerto, where there are more people playing, this is a chamber piece—you can hear the clarinet and the piano individually.”

This musical duo from Portland State’s School of Fine and Performing Arts will perform three works from three unique musical eras in a junior recital Thursday, May 10, in Lincoln Hall.

Sharma and Coleman will first play a 20-minute sonata in F-minor by German composer Johannes Brahms, followed by a rhapsody by impressionist Claude Debussy and then conclude with a piece by Giacomo Panizza.

When asked if he had a favorite piece, Sharma responded: “It’s a difficult question. The Brahms is inspiring, and the Debussey is quite a masterpiece in itself. You can hear the use of impressionism merged with the natural idiom of the style. Every piece we play represents a more unique voice to the clarinet.”

Sharma and Coleman have been working together since fall term, when they performed a piece for their “jury,” a final exam for musicians that displays their prowess and progress. They have known each other for three years, since they came to PSU.

“Janet is a wonderful collaborator,” Sharma said. “She has a wonderful sensitivity to the pieces she plays and knows how to make crucial decisions about how the music is played.”

Although they are presenting only three pieces, each one hails from a separate cultural and historical background and, in their own ways, communicate the nuances of their musical eras. It is this element that Coleman and Sharma seek to share with their audience.

“What we are doing as artists is recreating a piece through the composer. We are the voice of the composer, speaking to the audiences on their behalf,” Sharma said. “With Brahms, you should feel the sensuality, the romanticism. There’s a passion there, a kind of personal connection to the audience.

“In the Debussey piece, it’s all about suggestion rather than the subject of something or a particular feeling: the suggestion of air, water and nature,” he continued. “And there’s a definite flamboyancy in the Italian piece, the Panizza.It should bring out character, delight.”

For Sharma, music is a medium in which none should come seeking perfection but should arrive expecting to be moved.

“Music can be a luxurious thing. It is one of the ways we make sense of our lives, the way we express things when we have no words for them,” Sharma said. “If you have a final or a midterm or a work issue you’re worrying about, this is an opportunity to forget about it for a while.”