Jason Alder

Jason’s research focuses on the sonic possibilities of the contrabass clarinet, explored through composer-performer collaboration

He’s also investigating the cross-compatibility of these possibilities on the three different makes of professionally used contrabass clarinets. Each of these instruments has a very different design, and the lack of standardisation means that techniques may not be directly transferable between them.

The output of the research will be a compendium for composers and performers describing and demonstrating the sonic techniques with resources such as fingering charts for each of the three instruments. In addition, the project will generate new compositions for the contrabass clarinet through the collaborative process.

Jason is a low clarinet and contemporary music specialist. He regularly performs internationally as a soloist or with his chamber groups and has been invited to many clarinet and contemporary music festivals, primarily playing and premiering compositions written for him.