The sounds of sustainability

Published 10:41 am Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Audrey Miller, who grew up on the Island and graduated from Mercer Island High School, is a professional musician and music teacher. Her focus has shifted however, from the sounds of a clarinet to its source.

Concerned about how her profession may contribute to the loss of an important tree in the sub-Saharan lands of Africa, she is part of a mission to ensure it survives.

Clarinets are often made of wood from Tanzania’s national tree, the mpingo (also known as African Blackwood and Grenadilla).

The mpingo tree is an increasingly rare, scruffy-looking, slow-growing tree producing hard and durable wood. The core of its hard wood is black, hence the name African Blackwood. It is often compared to or referred to as a type of ebony.

The tree is also of great value to artists, furniture makers and hardwood carvers all over the world.  The high demand for its wood has threatened the tree’s future. Due to its popularity, the mpingo is being harvested at an unsustainable rate. Its dwindling presence is exacerbated by its slow growth. It takes a tree 70 to 100 years to reach harvestable size.

Growing alarm over the potential loss of the rare tree has brought musicians into the cause for its preservation.

Clarinets for Conservation (C4C), an environmentally focused musical non-profit organization, was founded in 2010 on the connection between the materials and the music.

C4C aims to highlight sustainability through music.  Each summer, clarinet teachers from the United States travel to Moshi, Tanzania, teaching the importance of conservation and performing clarinet at schools and orphanages.

Students of the program learn about the importance of protecting the mpingo tree and other natural resources. The young musicians serve a vital role in educating their families and community members about protecting the environment.

Miller just completed her Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in clarinet performance at Arizona State University. Miller performs throughout Phoenix area as part of the Classical Revolution, the Kaleidoscope Reed Quintet, and with C4C. She regularly participates in community outreach, teaching clarinet workshops to young, aspiring musicians. Audrey earned her M.M. at Florida State University and earned her B.M. from Western Washington University.

She also performs around the United States and had her international debut in Belgium in 2011. She spent the summer of 2013 in Moshi, Tanzania teaching clarinet, sustainability, and conservation.

Throughout the year C4C travels throughout the United States to promote the program in Tanzania, educate the community through concerts and lectures, as well as fundraise for the summer. All performances are open to the public. C4C  invites all clarinetists to join in a performance of the Tanzanian National Anthem. All students will receive two  hours of community service for performing with the group.

Clarinets for Conservation will be coming to Seattle for its first Northwest tour from Jan. 15 -19. Miller will perform along with musicians from around the United States in a weekend of recitals, shows and lectures. The performances will feature contemporary and standard works for clarinet as well as chamber music composed by Sophia M. Kuyenga from Tanzania, Africa.

Those wishing to contribute but unable to attend an event can donate tax-deductible donations of money, clarinets, music, books, stands and reeds.

For more, visit clarinets-forconservation.org. If you have a clarinet to donate, email audreymil@gmail.com or call (206) 491-6806.

Clarinets for Conservation Events

•  5 p.m., Thursday Jan. 15, a lecture, recital and master class at Western Washington University Performing Arts Center, in Bellingham, Wash.

•  3:30 p.m., Saturday Jan. 17, a recital at the Benoroya Hall Soundbridge in Seattle.

•  2 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 18, an art show featuring Clarinets for Conservation at the MIVAL Gallery on Mercer Island.

•  5:30 p.m, Sunday Jan. 18, a recital at the Mercer Island Evergreen Covenant Church.

• 3 p.m., Monday Jan. 19, a  lecture and recital at Seattle Pacific University.

Admission to the art gallery is free. A $10 donation is requested for recitals.