Talea Trio - 5 Trios for Oboe, Clarinet and Piano (2023)

The Talea Trio was formed at the University of Missouri’s School of Music in 2019. Having collaborated previously in other settings, its three members came to see that the combination of oboe, clarinet and piano was ripe with possibilities, and that they shared a commonality as performers. There being a relatively limited body of repertoire for their instrumental trio, they devised plans to enlarge it. This recording, which is comprised of works either composed or arranged for the oboe, clarinet and piano trio, is the culmination of that effort.

Dan Willett is Professor of Oboe in the University of Missouri’s School of Music. In addition to frequent solo and chamber recitals, Willett has performed with the St. Louis Symphony, Missouri Chamber Orchestra, Kammerguild Chamber Orchestra, at festivals in Brazil, and at numerous International Double Reed Society events. As a member of the Missouri Woodwind Quintet, he has performed widely in the United States and in Brazil and China, and recorded David Maslanka’s Quintets Nos.1-3. With Brazilian guitarist Paulo Oliveira, Willett recorded Two Hemispheres, an album of works by American and Brazilian composers. He has also released premiere recordings of Maslanka’s Sonata for Oboe and Piano and Michael Horvitt’s Chamber Concerto for English Horn and String Quartet. He is a featured soloist on Jesu, Joy, a CD of Christmas music produced by the St. Louis Bach Society. In 2019 with pianist Natalia Bolshakova, Willett released Stolen Treasures for Oboe and Piano, an album featuring sonatas by W.A. Mozart, Grieg and Prokofiev. His woodwind quintet transcriptions have been favorably received, and are featured on Romantic Winds, CD by the Missouri Quintet. Willett earned degrees from Michigan State University studying with Daniel Stolper, and performs on a Lorée Royal oboe.