AdZel Duo
Music & Culture for Two Clarinets
Mariam Adam
Mariam Adam
The AdZel Duo has taken their recitals, concertos, and masterclasses to Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall, Eastman School of Music, the Juilliard School, University of Michigan, Northwestern University, Indiana University, The International Clarinet Association Conferences, The European Clarinet Conference, Costa Rica International Clarinet Festival, Madrid Royal Conservatory, Zodiac Festival, Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival, University of California, San Francisco Conservatory, Rutgers School of Music and the Yale School of Music among many others. Working with the leading voices of contemporary music such as Mohammed Fairouz, Jason Barabba, Annie Guzzo, Ingrid Stolzel, Forrest Pierce, Beth Wiemann, and with future works by Valerie Coleman, Rachel Whelan, Sergio Delgado, and Jennifer Bellor, AdZel has created new dialogues in sound.
Their unique performances have been lauded as "truly inspiring" and "beautifully presented." Blending original music and spoken word, their concerts combine education and music into a modern language that embraces diversity in classical music.
Stephanie Zelnick
“Stephanie Zelnick is fabulous...bringing her considerable all to focus in a
most rewarding performance-hopefully one that will inspire other clarinetists...”
-Audiophile Audition
"Each note is shaped with care and warmth so that Zelnick's full range of color effortlessly shines through."
-The Clarinet
DR. STEPHANIE ZELNICK is the Professor of Clarinet at the University of Kansas and Principal Clarinet of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra. As a solo, orchestral, and chamber musician she has performed throughout North America, Asia, South America, and Europe to great critical acclaim. Performing at Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, Northwestern University, Yale School of Music, and many others, she has received critical acclaim for her committed and polished performances.
In addition to recent broadcasts on Performance Today and other NPR affiliates, she has performed and taught extensively in Italy, France, England, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Spain, Costa Rica, Slovakia, Germany, and most recently at festivals in Brazil, Lithuania, Mexico, Serbia, Romania, Colombia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Taiwan. Recent performances and masterclasses include Indiana University, Eastman School of Music, University of Michigan, Florida State University, Real Conservatorio Superior de Madrid, the Lithuanian Academy of Music, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Festival Internacional de Clarinetes Costa Rica, the Academy for the Performing Arts in Prague, The Dame Myra Hess Series, and Carnegie Hall, among others.
She is the recipient of awards from Privrednik, Serbia’s leading humanitarian organization, the Lithuanian Council on Arts and Science, the Fulbright Commission, and American embassies around the world. She has appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras. Dr. Zelnick was awarded the University of Kansas School of Music 2021 Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award.
Dr. Zelnick’s recordings can be heard on the Innova, Accademia del Clarinetto, and Naxos labels, among others. She has also released two solo albums, Diaspora and Diversions: the Midcentury Clarinet and a chamber music album, entitled AdZel. Of her recordings, The Clarinet states, “each note is shaped with care and warmth so that her full range of color effortlessly shines through.” Her most recent project Wind and Bow, recorded with members of the Kansas City Symphony, features rarely recorded works for clarinet and string quartet and will be released in 2021. She was also recently featured on the Brazilian album Choro Joiado.
She previously held principal clarinet positions in Central City Opera, Johann Strauss Opera in Vienna, Mississippi Symphony, Prague Opera Orchestra, Colorado Ballet, and Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra and has appeared with various other orchestras including Colorado, Prague Chamber Symphony, Kansas City, Tallahassee, Colorado Music Festival, and Tucson Symphonies. With Mariam Adam, she is a founding member of the AdZel Duo, a group committed to establishing social dialogues through music.
Previous teaching positions include the University of Wyoming and the University of Northern Colorado. She has appeared at numerous International Clarinet Association ClarinetFests as an invited artist and headliner at other festivals and conferences. Dr. Zelnick has served on the artistic committees of the 2008 and 2016 ClarinetFests and hosted the latter event.
She has published featured articles in The Clarinet including “The High Altitude Clarinetist” and "Notable Women Clarinetists." In addition to her performing, she is a member of the National Peer Review Committee for the J. William Fulbright Committee and was herself a Fulbright Grant recipient in the Czech Republic. She is a Buffet-Crampon Artist and Clinician.
Innovation in sound
Hailed by critics as "inspired and sensitive," AdZel is creating new dialogues through music. A duo formed from friendship, AdZel has performed around the world, collaborating with composers, performers, and conductors on three continents. Their concerts combine dynamic new music with fresh interpretations of classics works, energizing audiences and reshaping the way that we think about classical music.
“Mariam Adam plays with amazing versatility, yet beauty of sound"
-American Record Guide
“Mariam Adam evoked human-sounded wailing, achingly-cool dance rhythms and uninhibited emotion…”
– Washington Post
MARIAM ADAM, born in Monterey, California to an Egyptian father and a Mexican mother, lives between New York and Paris, a composite of influences that has shaped her musicianship and collaborations worldwide. She is the clarinet professor at Vanderbilt University. She has performed with Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Paquito D’Rivera, Yo-Yo Ma, Eric le Sage, Claudio Bohorquez, Simon Shaheen, Kuss Quartet, Gil Kalish, Ann Marie-McDermott and in such venues and series as Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Walt Disney Hall, Jordan Hall, Kennedy Center, San Francisco Performances, Wigmore Hall, Paris’ Cité de la Musique, Beijing Performing Arts Center, Bremen Musikfest, Jazz a Marciac and France’s pre-eminent Folle Journee.
A founding member of the Grammy-nominated woodwind quintet, Imani Winds, she maintained an active international touring schedule for over 15 years. The quintet is a pillar in the classical music community, unparalleled in developing the wind quintet to a new level through virtuosity, style, repertoire and engaging programs.
Besides her career with Imani Winds, Mariam has been invited for solo recitals and chamber music concerts in such prestigious venues and festivals as Chamber Music Lincoln Center, Burlington’s Lane Series, Chamber Music Northwest, Skaneatles Festival, Chenango Festival, Fontana Arts, La Folle Journée Festival in Nantes, Théâtre de l’Archipel in Perpignan, Musica da Curitiba-Brazil, and various festivals and series in the United-States, Europe and South America. As a soloist, she has played with the Sacramento Symphony, the Monterey Symphony and the Appassionata Ensemble in France and the Singapore National Youth Symphony. She has been a regular principal clarinetist with Chinese! in London performing with the orchestra and chamber music regular appearances on the BBC and BBC Proms.
Her clarinet/piano duo TransAtlantic Ensemble, an official Steinway Ensemble, specializes in commissions of crossover styles, standard repertoire and presents their concerts in unique formats throughout Europe and the United-States with original works by Paquito D’Rivera, Miguel del Aguila and many more. In 2010 she started the AdZel Duo with clarinetist Stephanie Zelnick performing works celebrating their combined heritage from the Middle East. Their music covers the conflicting yet homogenous cultures through special commissions and master classes on an international scale.
As an educator she has been invited to give master classes throughout the United States, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, London, Costa Rica, Brazil, Colombia, France, China and Germany at the top conservatories. She is currently Ensemble-In-Residence at the Mannes School of Music in New York with the Imani Winds.
Mariam has recorded 7 albums with Imani Winds (Koch Classics, E1°) before being signed by EMI for their exciting wind quintet version of the Rite of Spring which was selected in 2013’s Best of iTunes. She can also be heard on Chick Corea’s “The Continents”, Wayne Shorter’s “Without a Net”, Steve Coleman’s “Ascension to Light” and Mohammed Fairouz ‘s “Native Informant”. TransAtlantic Ensemble will release it's newest CD with the Archive Label in 2016.
Mariam Adam is an exclusive Selmer Paris Artist on the Privilege series and has served as an advocate for the arts as Vice President of the Board for Chamber Music America.