The Cornell College Department of Music will present a faculty recital featuring clarinetist R. Joseph Dieker and pianist Jessica Monnier performing French music. The recital will be held in Ringer Recital Studio in Cornell’s Armstrong Hall on Sunday, Sept. 11, at 3 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
The program features a series of short pieces by French composers for clarinet and piano including works by Louis Cahuzac, Fernande Decruck, Gabriel Pierné, Antoine Grimal, Arthur Honegger, Gabriel Grovlez, and Claude Debussy. A featured piece on the program will be Michele Mangani’s arrangement of George Gershwin’s “Blues” from “An American in Paris,” inspired by Gershwin’s time spent in Paris during the 1920s.
Clarinetist and conductor R. Joseph Dieker served as dean of the college and professor of music at Cornell College from 2010–2021. He is now artist instructor of clarinet at Cornell and coordinates the Cornell Concert Series that brings outstanding guest musicians and ensembles to perform free concerts throughout the academic year.
Dieker is an active clarinetist and clarinet instructor throughout the region. He performed as principal clarinetist of the Quincy (Illinois) Symphony Orchestra for 15 years and appeared as a soloist with the Portland Chamber Orchestra, Oregon Sinfonietta, Quincy Park Band, Quincy Symphony Orchestra, Northwest Missouri State University Wind Ensemble, Truman State University Wind Symphony, and the Cornell College Chamber Orchestra. He has performed in numerous recitals and concerts on the Cornell campus and in venues in the Midwest and West Coast. His research interest in Victor Herbert’s role as an American bandmaster and march composer has resulted in his creation of modern band editions of a number of Herbert marches.
Dieker earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Warner Pacific College, a master of music degree in clarinet performance from the University of Oregon, and a doctor of musical arts degree in instrumental music from Arizona State University.
Monnier is artist instructor of piano and accompanist at Cornell. She holds a master of arts degree in piano performance from the University of Iowa and a bachelor of music degree from the University of Northern Iowa. She is working on her Ph.D. at the University of South Australia with a research focus on music at Disney theme parks. Her music has taken her worldwide with performances in Brazil with the Northern Iowa Symphony Orchestra, in Spain with the UNI Varsity Men’s Glee Club, and solo work in Germany. She won the People’s Choice Award at the UNI Performance Competition Finals and placed in the UNI Concerto Competition Finals. Monnier has held positions at Kirkwood Community College and the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra. Along with being an active collaborator, Jessica also teaches and judges at area festivals.

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Joe Dieker