WMU HOME > ABOUT WMU > WMU NEWS Clarinetist Jose Franch-Ballester performs in Dalton Sept. 2, 2004 KALAMAZOO--Clarinetist Jose Franch-Ballester performs at Western Michigan University as part of the Young Concert Artists Series, Tuesday, Sept. 14, at 8:15 p.m. in the Dalton Center Recital Hall. Franch-Ballester won First Prize in the 2004 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. He was also honored with many special awards, including the Alexander Kasza-Kasser Prize, which sponsors his Washington, D.C., debut at the Kennedy Center; Claire Tow Prize, which sponsors his New York City debut; Orchestra New England Soloist Prize; and Princeton University Concerts Prize and $1000 cash award, among others. Franch-Ballester has given recitals at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in Florida and Monmouth College in New Jersey, and performed Olivier Messiaen's "Quartet for the End of Time" at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston with Arnold Steinhardt, violinist of the Guarneri String Quartet. Born in Moncofa, Spain, in 1980 into a family of musicians, Franch-Ballester began clarinet lessons at the age of 9 with Venancio Rius Marti, with whom he continues to maintain a close relationship. At 16, he gave his first recital in Valencia and graduated from the Joaquin Rodrigo Music Conservatory in Valencia in 2000. General admission tickets for the performance are $10 and are available through the Miller Auditorium Ticket Office at (269) 387-2300 or toll free (800) 228-9858. Tickets for students and senior citizens are $5. The Dalton Center performance of Jose Franch-Ballester is presented by the Donald P. Bullock Music Performance Institute in the WMU School of Music. Media contact: Kevin West, 269 387-4678, kevin.west@wmich.edu WMU News Office of University Relations Western Michigan University 1903 W Michigan Ave Kalamazoo MI 49008-5433 USA 269 387-8400 www.wmich.edu/wmu/news