Stoltzman’s virtuosity, technique, imagination, and communicative power have revolutionized the world of clarinet playing, opening up possibilities for the instrument that no one could have predicted. He was responsible for bringing the clarinet to the forefront as a solo instrument, and is still the world’s foremost clarinetist.

He performed the first clarinet recitals in the histories of both the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall, and, in 1986, became the first wind player to be awarded the Avery Fisher Prize. As one of today’s most sought-after artists, Stoltzman has been a soloist with more than a hundred orchestras as well as a recitalist and chamber music performer, innovative jazz artist, and prolific recording artist.

Deveau is an American classical pianist critically acclaimed internationally for his expressive and poetic interpretations of solo piano repertoire ranging from Haydn to the present. Born in Concord, Massachusetts, he has appeared as soloist with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestras, the San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Portland Symphony Orchestras, as well as many regional orchestras in the United States and abroad.

Shafer is quickly emerging as a sought-after operatic and concert artist. She recently made her professional operatic debut in the role of Barbarina and the cover role of Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro at the Glyndebourne Festival and at the BBC Proms in London’s Royal Albert Hall. During the 2012-13 season, she made her American debut with Opera Memphis singing Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore, she performed the role of Mary Lennox in the world premiere of San Francisco Opera’s newly commissioned work The Secret Garden, and as Papagena in Opera Philadelphia’s Die Zauberflöte.

Tickets are $36 for Ovations’ members, $40 for the general public and a limited amount of $10 student tickets are also available. To purchase tickets, visit www.portlandovations.org, contact PortTIX at 207-842-0800 or stop by the box office window at Merrill Auditorium, 20 Myrtle St.

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