Comprised of clarinetist Jon Manasse and pianist Jon Nakamatsu, two of America’s most distinguished artists, the MANASSE/NAKAMATSU DUO immediately established itself with a highly acclaimed 2004 performance in Boston. Subsequent coast-to-coast touring has included appearances on some of the country’s most prestigious series: New York City’s Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Washington’s Dumbarton Oaks and National Gallery of Art, Eastman School of Music, Charlottesville’s Tuesday Evening Concert Series, Des Moines Art Center, Duke University, Montalvo Center for the Arts, Rhode Island Chamber Music Concerts, St. Bonaventure University, Fort Worth’s Van Cliburn Foundation, University of Massachusetts Amherst. The artists are also heard at the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, which they serve as co-directors.
 
The Manasse/Nakamatsu Duo’s current season is highlighted by a return to the distinguished Tuesday Evening Concert Series in Charlottesville and performances at Converse College, Northeastern Illinois University, Samford University and for the Brookings Chamber Music Society.
 
The Manasse/Nakamatsu Duo is also dedicated to expanding the concert repertoire for
their instruments’ beautifully combinative sounds. To date, the artists have commissioned John Novacek’s Four Rags for Two Jons and Paquito D’Rivera’s The Cape Cod Files. Subsequently orchestrated by the composer, The Cape Cod Concerto received its world premiere to ecstatic reviews by Symphony Silicon Valley, under the baton of Leslie B. Dunner.
 
Individually, Jon Manasse and Jon Nakamatsu have developed extensive repertoires and lengthy discographies. Their hundreds of performances include concerto engagements, solo recitals and chamber music collaborations with orchestras, universities and music festivals, here at home and throughout the world. Additionally, Jon Manasse served as the principal clarinetist of The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, performing under the batons of Artistic Director James Levine and, among others, Andrew Davis, Valery Gergiev and Vladimir Jurowski; Jon Nakamatsu is the Gold Medalist of the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
 
The Manasse/Nakamatsu Duo’s debut CD, a harmonia mundi usa album of the Brahms Clarinet Sonatas, was released early in 2008. Almost immediately, The New York Times exclaimed, “Jon Nakamatsu’s contribution is just as important as Mr. Manasse’s, and their partnership is complete. Mr. Nakamatsu’s playing is as meltingly beautiful as Mr. Manasse’s. Harmonia Mundi’s production is impeccable, capturing such disparate instruments in full color and a lifelike perspective.” An all-American album, comprising works of Bernstein, D’Rivera, Gershwin and Novacek, was released to international acclaim in Fall 2010.

The recorded sound is also crucial to the balance of the piano and clarinet, and Harmonia Mundi’s production is impeccable, capturing such disparate instruments in full color and a lifelike perspective.
JAMES R. OESTREICH
 

"Paquito D’Rivera’s Cape Cod Concerto for Clarinet, Piano and Orchestra is sassy and brash, a big work of imagination and humor that arrives like a birthday cake with exploding candles. After Symphony Silicon Valley gave the concerto its world premiere, a woman walked up to the composer and said, ‘That was delicious, my friend.’ In this first of three performances led by conductor Leslie B. Dunner, the work’s deliciousness rose from the musicians on stage (and especially from clarinetist Jon Manasse and pianist Jon Nakamatsu, the rather stupendous soloists) and the ingredients so artfully blended by D’Rivera in the score (blues, tango, danzon and more). Mind you, this is no mishmash. One senses a love of Gershwin, Stravinsky and Ravel, but the results are pure Paquito: commanding, soulfully haunting and tautly combustible."
THE MERCURY NEWS (San Jose, CA)

"Sunday afternoon’s opening concert of the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival was, in a word, superb. Clarinet Jon Manasse and pianist Jon Nakamatsu - the festival’s new co-directors - dazzled the audience with their seamless, hand-in-glove combination of technical wizardry, refined musicianship and the poetic level of their interpretations."
CAPE COD TIMES
 
"Their performance on our Chamber Arts Society series was absolutely wonderful! I had even crusty-old chamber music subscribers say it was one of the best concerts they’d heard on this series in the last fifteen years, and it was so wonderful to see two young men so obviously in command of their instruments, the music, and with such musical chemistry between them. And they had a wonderful rapport with the audience. A great way to begin our chamber music season!"
KATHY SILBIGER, Executive Director
DUKE PERFORMANCES (Durham, NC)
 
"What an extraordinary experience Jon Manasse and Jon Nakamatsu gave to our packed house on Tuesday! We were honored by the artistry of these two virtuoso soloists who possess and uncanny ability to complement each other so seamlessly to produce such profound beauty and excitement. The planning of the program was brilliant, progressing from Brahms to Weber to Mendelssohn, Ravel, Kovács and up to the world premiere of the delightful Novacek rags. The energized audience adored everything and gave them a well-deserved standing ovation."
KAREN PELLÓN, Executive Director
TUESDAY EVENING CONCERT SERIES (Charlottesville, VA)

"Compelling, flawless performances. Both artists offer outstanding tone (captured with excellent sonics and engineering) and striking articulation that adds a convincing transparency to the poignant and darker bittersweetness of late Brahms."
THE CAPITAL TIMES (Madison, WI)

"The F Minor Sonata is played for its tragic melancholy, with particularly gripping piano figurations from Nakamatsu. Clarinetist Manasse sports a gracious tone, easily glides through the three octaves of the instrument, from the reedy flute registrations down through the gorgeous chalumeau bass."
AUDIOPHILE AUDITION

"RECORDING FINDS PASSION IN BRAHMS' LATE WORKS FOR CLARINET
The sonatas are lovingly served by clarinetist Jon Manasse and pianist Jon Nakamatsu. Mr. Manasse's warm, mellow tone flows over Mr. Nakamatsu's bold sculpting of the piano parts, anything but 'mere' accompaniments. Glorious music, lovingly played and naturally recorded."
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS

"After their outstanding Harmonia Mundi recording of the Brahms clarinet sonatas, I was eager to her Jon Manasse and Jon Nakamatsu in this programme of American music for clarinet and piano. They certainly don’t disappoint. The superb playing is matched by a recording of comparable quality. This is a very successful disc, and one I shall return to with the greatest pleasure."
INTERNATIONAL RECORD REVIEW

"Top classical CDs of 2010
Jon Manasse and Jon Nakamatsu: American Music for Clarinet and Piano (Harmonia Mundi). The duo’s command of works by Bernstein, Gershwin, John Novacek and Paquito D’Rivera is dazzling, to say the least. But what sets this recording apart is the obvious fact that Manasse and Nakamatsu are in love with the music and having an absolute blast. This album is a joy-spring. With a bit of luck, it could be a bestseller."
THE MERCURY NEWS (San Jose, CA)