Press

The clarinet is determined to be a prominent advocate of the musical avant-gard. Highly sympathetic to this objective, and extremely skilled at promoting it, is clarinettist Roslyn Dunlop…
Fred Blanks Sydney Morning Herald ’89

…As is usual with Ros Dunlop’s enterprising explorations of recent clarinet music, these thoughtful performances offered a welcome chance for engagement with the music of some of today’s more compelling musical minds…
Roger Covell Sydney Morning Herald ’91

…A solo recital of contemporary clarinet music might sound like a rather esoteric proposition, but when the scores are in the hands of an expert proponent like Roslyn Dunlop, any such prejudice is quickly undermined. She performed a dazzling array of new music that ranged across a wide cross-section of styles…
Tara Werner New Zealand Herald. ’93

…diversity makes for an unfailingly interesting program, well executed by Dunlop and well recorded…
Andrew Ford ABC 24 hours magazine ’98

…Roslyn Dunlop dazzled us at the recent clarinet and saxophone conference in Brisbane, and her performance on this CD is equally entertaining…a must for the connoisseur of contemporary music…
CASS Quarterly Australia ’98

…Roslyn Dunlop’s performances were well prepared and compelling. The tonal nuances she achieves with some brilliant playing in Zuquerq, and the delicate strands and timbres in “Stanzas from Pascoli” show her to be an artistic and fluent clarinettist…

…The performers throughout are quite breath-taking. Roslyn Dunlop’s technical skill on all the clarinets is a feat in itself.…
CASS Quarterly Magazine UK ’99

…Prologue, Night Piece and Blues for Two for clarinet and piano is a wonderful showpiece which is given a dazzling performance by Dunlop and David Howie”…”The title of the piece 4 x 2 x 1 by Don Banks…This piece, in and of itself spellbinding, receives spectacular treatment at the hands of Dunlop and White…The compositions are intriguing, the performances are flawless, and the technical achievement is impressive…
The Clarinet USA Dec ’99

…Miss Dunlop presents a programme that is a feast of contemporary clarinet repertoire…
ISCM spnm Magazine UK ‘2000

…Her technique, understanding and interpretation of the works is admirable….
Music Forum 2003

….This CD displays Ros Dunlop’s exemplary aptitude and adility in the performance and interpretation of contemporary music. … I think her work is sure ot inspire those searching for a different approach to clarinet music making in the 21st Century….
Austrlian Clarinet and Saxophone 2003

…every school of music should have this CD ……there is much to treasure and great skill from Ms Dunlop…
Music in the Air New Zealand 2003

….a dazzling performance by Ros Dunlop and David Howie,…the artists are to be congratulated…
International Clarinet 1999

…..Ms Dunlop’s bass clarinet playing was wonderful…
International Clarinet 1998

… a compelling sequence of images fading into one another, colours and textures constantly on the move, all under the control of the composer and his Macintosh. The tape merged broadcast sound bites with choral passages and electronic effects, big noise with jaunty instrumental numbers, all synchronised with the visual images. Over the top was Ros Dunlop’s live clarinet. “X” refers to the resistance leader Xanana Gusmão, imprisoned in 1999 while the Indonesian military withdrew from East Timor. The images were brutal. So was the music, though the screaming clarinet might have benefited from some amplification to match the volume of the tape and heighten the anguish in the climactic passages. However, in quieter parts, Ros Dunlop’s melancholy lines were serene.
David Morris in Clarinet & Saxophone, London, Spring 2003, re: a 2003 London performance of Martin Wesley-Smith’s multimedia piece X:

from e-mails received after previous tours:

from Radford, Virginia 2003:
What an experience! It was interesting and thought-provoking and so well performed. The audience was small, but I think very appreciative and attentive and absorbed in the whole experience. Thanks for arranging such an extraordinary program.

from the University of Northern Illinois 2003:
Thanks for the great program here. Several of my students talked to me about the concert very enthusiastically.

from the University of Santa Clara 2003:
The performance yesterday was absolutely stunning – powerful and substantial, and beautifully crafted – if I had my way, I would require all of our students to see it since so much echoed essential principles of our University.
Again on behalf of our faculty staff and students, thank you for reminding us that the performing arts are among the most effective tools we have for the promotion of justice in the world.

from Bowling Green State University 2003:
Thanks so much for your visit … I truly enjoyed your ‘provocative’ presentation.

from Cal State 2005:
had the audience spellbound

from composer Jane Brockman, Mon Oct 3 2005:
Last night was truly memorable – you deliver a high-powered program! Thanks too for the marvellous performance of my piece … your playing and you are amazing, and Martin’s work has a lasting impact …

a satisfied audience member, writing to the School of Music, University of Kentucky, Louisville, USA, Tues Oct 4 2005:
I want to thank you for having the rare combination of musical perspicacity and intellectual courage to bring Ros Dunlop to Louisville. I have no doubt that you and the School of Music will be called to defend the poignant and explicit political critique that informs her choice of works … I personally believe that it is always more important that music and its ancillary media be more substantially true to ardent conviction than tethered to superficial conventions of either form or content. Kudos to Ms. Dunlop, you and U of L!

from Bruce P. Mahin, composer, Radford, USA, Wed Oct 5 2005:
Ros did a great concert last night

from Nancy May, concert organiser, Encinitas, Wed Oct 5 2005:
Thanks for your performance the other night. I though it was terrific. I would have like to have just sat and watched the whole thing but work prevailed. Your playing was really spectactular!

from Bishop Benjamin Hopkinson, Newcastle, UK, Wed Oct 12 2005:
Thank you, more than I can say, for coming to Newcastle and for the concert you gave. It was thought-provoking, moving, knowledge-building, heart-rending and beautiful; in other words it was a truly artistic and memorable evening … The music was fascinating in itself, and your playing was tremendous, but the way you worked the music and images together was really marvellous. The images were so good, too, with such very high quality, beautifully composed photography.

from Lidia Tindle, Secretary, Tyneside East Timor Solidarity, Newcastle, UK, Thurs Oct 13 2005:
Music and film images very thought-provoking, including Papua Merdeka, Martin’s most recent work … A special thanks to Ros and Martin for coming to Newcastle, sharing their music and ideas with us

from Marc Satterwhite, University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA, Tues Nov 1 2005:
There’s still a certain buzz about your concert. I am so glad we were finally able to make this happen, and perhaps we can again sometime.

Helen Tuckey Western Australian Symphony Orchestra… after Totally Huge New Music Festival 2006
…congratulations to Martin Wesley-Smith for a thoroughly inspiring, musically witty, entertaining and challenging evening. Ros Dunlop was so impressive, both in her playing and her social/performing cv – a true top-level community artist – what a star….