Clarinetist
Performing artist
A passionate recitalist, chamber musician, and orchestral clarinetist, Christian Ellenwood performs as principal clarinetist with the Woodstock Mozart Festival/Midwest Mozart Festival, the Skylight Opera of Milwaukee, and appears regularly with other orchestras and ensembles in the region, including the Milwaukee Ballet, Bel Canto Chamber Orchestra of Milwaukee, Madison Symphony, and Madison Opera. Chamber music collaborations include performances with the Grammy Award-winning Ying Quartet and the Telluride Chamber Music Festival, as well as artists such as LA Phil principal cellist Robert DeMaine, violinist Mark Peskanov, and pianist Christopher Taylor.
His clarinet playing can be heard in frequent live broadcasts on Wisconsin Public Radio and on the Albany Records release, Music of Chris Theofanidis, and on CD projects produced by the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, where he serves as Professor of Clarinet.
Dr. Ellenwood holds degrees from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, Indiana University, where he was an I.U. Fellowship recipient, and the Eastman School of Music, where he was awarded Edith Babcock and George Eastman scholarships. Major teachers and pedagogical influences include Kelly Burke, Eli Eban, and Peter Hadcock.
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“the musicians – most notably clarinetist Christian Ellenwood – played with zeal and concentration…the open-hearted lyricism and the sharp syncopations in Copland’s score came into full bloom in this skilled, committed reading.”
—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“The works were not idle fluff, either, but ones carefully crafted and often posing considerable technical challenges. That was clear in the opening work, one of particular substance, a Quartet in C major for Clarinet and Strings by Heinrich Baermann...The writing for the clarinet here is full equally of virtuosic and lyric demands, which were met beautifully by clarinetist Christian Ellenwood.”
—The Well-Tempered Ear