Free | No ticket required
Brian Jaap Master’s Clarinet Recital
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Program
Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano Joseph Horovitz, (1926-2022)
Monologue (Impressions on The True Story of Ah Q) Chen Yi (b. 1953)
Fantasiestucke, Op. 73 Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
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Originally from Stillwater, MN, Brian Jaap is a multi-faceted clarinetist, music educator, and arts administrator based in Madison, WI. Brian received his Master of Music degree in Clarinet Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his Bachelor of Music Degree in Music Education from Concordia College. In Madison, Brian currently serves as the Project Assistant for UW-Madison’s Division of the Arts Arts Residency Programs, and performs regularly as a member of the Madison Gamer Symphony, the Madison Chamber Players, and Driftless Reeds. He has played with many groups around the Midwest as a guest artist including the Madison New Music Ensemble, Encore Wind Ensemble, and the La Crosse Symphony.
A passionate music educator and advocate for music in public schools, Brian was the Elementary Music Teacher at Como Park Elementary in St. Paul Public Schools for three years. He received his Orff-Schulwerk music teacher certification from Vandercook College of Music in Chicago, IL, and has taught various music courses in public schools across the country, including General Music, Band, Digital Music, African Drumming, Percussion Ensemble, and Woodwind Technique classes. Brian has taught clarinet, flute, and saxophone privately since 2020, and teaches clarinet at Shell Lake Arts Center Concert Band Camp in Shell Lake, WI.
Brian’s confident and heart-felt playing has won him numerous accolades, including performing as a featured soloist with The Concordia Band, (Mendelssohn’s Concert Piece No. 2,) and as a finalist in UW–Madison’s Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition (Artie Shaw’s Clarinet Concerto.)
A fierce advocate for chamber music, Brian is a member of the professional reed quintet, Driftless Reeds. Driftless has competed in multiple chamber music festivals. Driftless is excited to be an ensemble-in-residence at the Akropolis Chamber Music Institute at Interlochen Center for the Arts. In 2026, Driftless Reeds embarked on their inaugural tour, performing recitals and teaching masterclasses to undergraduate woodwind students at the University of Arkansas, Arkansas State University, Murray State University, and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Driftless Reeds are active in the greater Madison, WI area and regularly perform across the Midwest.
While Brian is a versatile soloist and chamber musician, he has also participated in multiple national and international festivals for chamber music, opera, film music, and large-group ensembles that have brought him all over the world. These include the Zodiac Chamber Music Festival, Chicago Summer Opera, Music Academy of the West, the Los Angeles Film Composers Intensive, and the Minnesota Music Educators convention.
Apart from performing and teaching, Brian is also passionate about arts administration. Through his Project Assistantship at the University of Wisconsin’s Division of the Arts, he worked to bring many artists-in-residence of all mediums to UW through their International Visiting Artists and Interdisciplinary Arts Residency Programs.
