Incandescent
in·can·des·cent
/ˌinkənˈdes(ə)nt/
A. Full of strong emotion; passionate
B. A flute and percussion duo founded by Claire Noelle James and Dana LeVan. The two met in graduate school and found they have a shared passion for excellence, innovation, and social change through music.
Claire Noelle James
Claire Noelle James is a flutist and teacher who is passionate about music’s ability to positively impact individual and collective stories. She uses her skills as a creative to find unique ways to foster meaningful connections with music by teaching and performing in her local community. This includes collaboration with musicians and other artists to create innovative, cross-disciplinary, and accessible projects, usually hosted in non-traditional and local spaces; and flute education. Claire is currently pursuing her Master of Music at the University of Nebraska at Omaha under the instruction of Dr Christine Beard. In addition to music, Claire loves research and finding ways to mix academics and creativity. She was a first prize winner in the UNO Research and Creativity Fair in 2023 for her concert series: “Sound Bites,” which included collaboration with UNO, Metro Culinary School, and Blackburn High School. Claire holds an undergraduate diploma from Longy School of Music where she studied with Sergio Pallottelli.
Dana LeVan
Dana LeVan is percussionist, pianist, and teacher who is passionate about music used as a medium for social transformation and social justice. LeVan accomplishes this through projects working with underrepresented composers, performers, and artists that bring to light important social issues. LeVan is based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and performs with the Omaha Symphony Orchestra, Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, the National Composers Orchestra, and various churches. LeVan has served as a concerto soloist in China, as well as touring ensembles throughout the Midwest. In addition to performing in large ensembles. LeVan has collaborated and performed with highly acclaimed musicians Danny Elfman and Ivan Trevino. LeVan was a 2023 Fulbright Semifinalist and has collected a list of awards from various institutions including the Richard and Susie Wagoner Student-Faculty Research Award to study music production with Dr. Peter Folliard. Additionally, she studies the West African funeral instrument the Gyil in New York City, NY with master teacher Valerie Naranjo. LeVan holds a master of music degree from the University of Nebraska Omaha where she studied with Hannah Weaver and Spencer Jones and a bachelor of arts in music education from Augustana University where she studied with Dr. John C. Pennington. She also holds an AVID certification for Pro-Tools.
Projects
“The Lakota Composer Collaboration”
Incandescent is in progress of a collaboration with the Lakota Music Project. The duo is commissioning a piece by a young Lakota composer and sponsoring mentorship from a member of the Lakota Music Project. The end goal is to help the young composer write and self publish a work for flute and percussion which will have subsequent performances in South Dakota, Omaha, and at music and education conferences”
“The Lakota Composer Collaboration” has been accepted to present a lecture recital at the National Flute Association Convention in August of 2024.