CLEMEN/PATTERSON

Bettine Clemen is a German-born flutist who has played on some of the great stages of the world, including Lincoln Center in New York and The Royal Albert Hall in London. Richard Patterson started out as a jazz guitarist, and studied classical guitar in Spain with some of the instrument's greats.

Together they are known as the Clemen-Patterson Duo, heralded by Resonance magazine as "one of the finest guitar-flute combinations in the world."

Clemen-Patterson, who have been playing together since 1983, will perform a Christmas-oriented program at 3 p.m. Sunday at Academic Auditorium on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University.

Clemen's husband, Peter Longley, also will contribute holiday readings to Sunday's concert. That isn't Longley's regular job: He's the cruise director of the Queen Elizabeth II.

Their repertoire ranges from Bach to Saint-Saens to Chic Corea. They are praised for their eclecticism, their rapport and dramatic sense of timing.

"The concert was one of those events that smiles out from the stage...," a reviewer for the New York Times wrote.

Patterson, head of the guitar department at the College of Notre Dame in Belmont, Calif., says their rapport as performers is based on "synchronicity and longevity. When you play with somebody for years it becomes second nature."

Clemen, who is spotlighted in the duo, plays bass flute, alto flute, piccolo, a bamboo flute from Tibet and a gold flute, which is reputed to have a warmer tone than the silver variety. She also uses some electronic effects, including echo and digital delay.

Some of their music, such as the spacey "Tibetan Mountain Call," could be labeled new age, Patterson says. "But we play anything from straight classical music to jazz to our own compositions."

Their latest collaborative CD is titled "Classical Offering." Their 1991 release, "An Angel's Noel," was voted one of the top-three holiday recordings of the year.

Clemen, who has been associated with numerous international orchestras, has made 15 recordings, the most recent "Forever" with member of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Patterson has played on 15 recordings and contributed to the soundtrack for the upcoming feature film "Little Odessa," starring Vanessa Redgrave and Maximilian Schell.

He said he became serious about the guitar during his tour of duty in Vietnam. He returned to the United States with a shrapnel-scarred Gibson guitar, resolved to become a professional musician.

"When I got out of the Army I realized I wanted to do something with my life that was creative rather than destructive," he said.

Flute and guitar may seem a strange combination to some. "A lot of people say they never would have dreamed the two instruments sound so good together," Patterson said.

But the classical repertoire links them as far back as lutes playing with recorders. Clemen-Patterson use some of these, but Patterson says, "We're both creative artists, so we're not content to just play music from the old repertoire.

"We might be a little bit different in that respect. Most everything we play is transcribed from other instruments."

Among the selections the duo will play Sunday is a 15-minute paraphrase of the "Nutcracker" that uses all of their instruments.

The program also will include "Greensleeves," "Ave Maria," "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring," "Angels We Have Heard on High," and readings from "Christmas is Coming," "Holy Night," "The Shepherds" and "Scrooge's Change of Heart."

Admission is free with Southeast Missouri Community Concert membership or Southeast student ID. General admission is $10.