LOGAN — The Lightwood Duo, a pairing of the clarinet and guitar, performs around the country in both private and public settings. Performing at an exclusive country club one day, the duo may appear in a New York club the next.

                Audiences in northern Utah have a chance to hear the duo in a concert outing Thursday, Nov. 13, at 7:30 p.m. in the Performance Hall on the Utah State University campus (approximately 1090 E. 675 North, Logan). The concert is presented by USU’s Department of Music and the Caine School of the Arts.

                General admission tickets are $8, and USU students with valid ID are admitted free. Tickets are available at the door performance night. Advance tickets are available through the Caine School of the Arts Box Office online (http//boxoffice.usu.edu), by phone, (435) 797-8022, or in person at the Tippetts Gallery in the Chase Fine Arts Center on campus.

                The Nov. 13 event places the Lightwood Duo and members Eric Nelson, clarinet, and Mike Christiansen, guitar, in a concert setting. The Performance Hall has been noted for its acoustic qualities and is an ideal venue for the style and sound of the musicians.

                The duo performs a wide variety of styles, and the USU concert will include jazz standards and swing, bossa novas and sambas, interpretations of rock classics, perhaps some gypsy jazz and klezmer, and “more than a few surprises,” Nelson said.

                Nelson and Christiansen have earned reputations as master musicians, and have played together since 1985. The Lightwood Duo was formed in 1992 when Nelson and Christiansen began getting together to practice jazz standards. The sound and blend was so unique and pleasant that the two began writing arrangements and promoting the duo for concerts and casual music.

                To say the pairing took off is an understatement. They have played together in New York, Arizona, Nevada, California, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Hawaii and, of course, throughout Utah. The duo has released six CDs and has spent eight years as members of the Utah Arts Council’s Performing Arts Tour.

                Many have seen and heard the Lightwood Duo at the numerous events where it provides background music, including the Governor’s Mansion in Salt Lake City, the Salt Palace, major hotels and country clubs, the State Capitol, Abravanel Hall, the Jewish Community Center, the Sundance Film Festival, all of Utah’s ski resorts and, most recently at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts during the Picasso/Monet exhibition for the American Neurological Association.

                In the week prior to the Logan concert, Lightwood Duo travels to Eureka, Nev., for a return engagement at the opera house. The tour also includes a performance for elementary school children there.

                Also in a return engagement, the duo performs at the Jewish Community Center in Salt Lake City as part of its Jewish Arts and Food Festival Nov. 16.

                “We played this event last year, and really enjoyed it,” Nelson said. “The audience was very enthusiastic. The event is free and is very enjoyable with lots of great music and food. We enjoy pulling out the Klezmer music; something that doesn’t happen very often in Utah.”