Guest Artist Trumpet & Clarinet - 'Vive Ensemble Feb 22

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Posted on February 13, 2026 by Keith Bohnet

Keith Bohnet

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Spencer Brand and Katrina Clements will present a Guest Artist Trumpet and Clarinet Recital on Sunday, February 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the Laidlaw Performing Arts Center Recital Hall. The program will include an eclectic, appealing variety of music by Spencer Brand, Derek Brown, Jeremi Edwards, Ivana Loudová, Jörg Widman, and Beth Wiemann. The ‘Vive Ensemble is a clarinet/trumpet duo committed to promoting chamber music for their distinctive instrumentation through performance and education. Comprised of Dr. Katrina Clements (clarinet) and Dr. Spencer Brand (trumpet), faculty members at McNeese State University, this duo seeks to expand the repertoire for clarinet and trumpet through performances of existing works, creative transcriptions, and new commissions.

Admission to this Department of Music concert is free and open to the public. Persons needing more information about this event or in need of special accommodation may call 251-460-7116 or 251-460-6136.

Need directions to Laidlaw? Just go to Google Maps and enter "USA Laidlaw Performing Arts Center." We're actually on the corner of University Blvd. and USA Drive South.

This concert is presently scheduled to appear on the USA Department of Music Live Stream page available on our website. Please check this linked site for more up-to-date information about watching this performance virtually -- 
southalabama.edu/music/livestream

For information about the Department of Music at the University of South Alabama, proceed to our website -- southalabama.edu/music

About the artists and the 'Vive Ensemble

The ‘Vive Ensemble is a clarinet/trumpet duo committed to promoting chamber music for their distinctive instrumentation through performance and education.  Comprised of  Dr. Katrina Clements (clarinet) and Dr. Spencer Brand (trumpet), faculty members at McNeeseState University, this duo seeks to expand the repertoire for clarinet and trumpet through performances of existing works, creative transcriptions, and new commissions.  Recent performance highlights include appearances at the College Music Society Northwest Regional Conference in Bellingham, Washington, the 2024 International ClarinetFest in Dublin, Ireland, and the International Duo Symposium in Natchitoches, Louisiana, in 2024. The duo gave a Louisiana tour in the fall of 2025 with a program consisting of all new works written explicitly for their duo.

Dr. Spencer Brand servesas Artist/Assistant Professor of Trumpet at McNeese State University, where he teaches applied trumpet, chamber music, and music history. Brand has performed with the Lake Charles Symphony Orchestra, Rapides Symphony Orchestra, Phoenix Brass Collective, the  Musica Nova Orchestra (Phoenix, Arizona), Symphony of the Southwest (Mesa, Arizona), and other ensembles. Brand earned his DMA degree from Arizona State University, and his research centers on Czech trumpet playing and repertoire. Brand’s investigation of Czech musical style encompasses interviews and consultations with famous Czech trumpet players, culminating in a catalogue of over 200 Czech solo works for trumpet, providing a resource for performers and educators seeking to explore underrepresented European trumpet repertoire. He has presented this research at the International Trumpet Guild Conference, Historic Brass Society Symposium, and trumpet studios across the country. Brand is a Van Laar performing artist, and his teachers include David Hickman, David Baldwin, Robert Dorer, Ladislav Kozderka, and Albert Moore.

Dr. Katrina Clements is Assistant Professor of Music at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where she teaches applied clarinet and saxophone, chamber music, and woodwind methods. She plays clarinet/bass clarinet with the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra and has recently joined the Lake Charles Symphony Orchestra as principal clarinet. During the summers, she teaches at the Minnesota Clarinet Academy and the International Music Camp. Previously, she was the Assistant Professor of Woodwinds at Valley City State University in North Dakota. As a proponent of creative collaborations across art disciplines, her current work focuses on commissioning and performing new pieces for clarinet and multimedia that include visuals to create deeper sensory experiences for audiences. Recent performances, premieres, and lectures include the Low Clarinet Festival in Arizona, the Oh My Ears New Music Festival, and presentations for studios across the US. Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Clements received the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from Arizona State University and is a Henri SELMER Paris/Conn-Selmer performing artist.

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