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College: Fine Arts

Musician Takes Viewers, Listeners on 'Ascending Journey' through Cancer

Published: Feb 8, 2012

"The Ascending Journey" trailer from Vis Center and UK Research Communications on Vimeo. For a transcript of the video, click here.

"The Ascending Journey," a documentary about Nancy Clauter's experience produced by UK Research Communications and the UK Center for Visualization and Virtual Environments, will premiere at 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, in the Davis Marksbury Theater at UK.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 8, 2012) − A new documentary and CD chronicles one University of Kentucky faculty member's battle with an incurable disease. Diagnosed in 2008 with multiple myeloma, oboist Nancy Clauter is taking others on her journey through cancer treatment and her fight to continue to play.

An oboist for more than 45 years, Clauter earned a bachelor's degree in music from Arizona State University and a master's degree in music from University of Arizona.

Clauter joined UK's faculty in 1997, where she quickly began focusing her research on arranging and performance. Active in the local music scene, she also performs as principal oboe for the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra. Currently, Clauter is an associate professor of oboe at the School of Music in the UK College of Fine Arts.

The musician's journey with cancer began in 2008, when Clauter visited an urgent care center with symptoms she believed to be the flu. Less than a day later, she found herself in the hospital undergoing an endless battery of blood tests and facing what seemed to be an impossible diagnosis: multiple myeloma, a rare, blood-related cancer with no cure.

A fighter, Clauter chose to undergo an autologous stem cell transplant, the most cutting-edge treatment available to multiple myeloma patients, at the UK Markey Cancer Center. As part of the treatment, Clauter's stem cells were collected, she endured high-dose chemotherapy, and then her stem cells were transfused back into her. Remission for patients of the disease who choose this treatment typically lasts for two to three years after the transplant.

Clauter lost her ability to play for six months due to the treatment and drugs she was taking, which can cause side effects of reduced lung capacity and tremors.

"Myeloma is particularly associated with something called peripheral neuropathy, and that’s damage to normal nerve function," said Dr. Dianna Howard, associate professor of medicine at UK. "And for someone like Nancy, that was a big deal because if you use your hands, then that’s immediately a concern. If I give her therapy that’s going to compromise how she feels and senses and plays her instrument, then I’ve taken something away from her. The disease has taken away something from her."

"So I realized in October that I was not going to be able to continue playing," Clauter said. "They were gracious enough to give me a temporary leave from the orchestra until I knew for sure if I could even come back to playing. Which, frankly, if they would've told me I couldn't come back, I still would've found a way."

Wanting to inspire and comfort others who face the disease, Clauter decided to record a CD. "MERIDIAN: The Ascending Journey," featuring a new Oboe Concerto and Clauter with artists from UK and the Lexington Philharmonic, was made possible through funding from the UK Research Foundation.

"This is the right time, and I’m so grateful that there was the opportunity to do it through UK, and a grant research project, because I would not be able to afford the musicians," Clauter said.

"MERIDIAN" was released in August 2011. The other artists who performed with Clauter on the CD include: Professor James Campbell, director of UK Percussion Studies, on percussion; Associate Professor Peter Simpson on bassoon; Casey Robards on piano; and Associate Professor Scott Wright on clarinet. UK alumnus Ryan Shirar served as the conductor for the CD's concerto.

In addition to inspiring its listeners, "MERIDIAN" is also raising money for research into the rare blood cancer. The CD can be ordered online from the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, where 100 percent of the proceeds go to MMRF's work funding drug discovery and development efforts to treat multiple myeloma. To purchase the CD from MMRF, visit here. The Bluegrass community can also find the CD locally at Joseph-Beth Booksellers.

Clauter also agreed to participate in a 30-minute documentary of her story, allowing a media team from Research Communications and the Center for Visualization and Virtual Environments at UK to follow her for six months. "The Ascending Journey" tells Clauter's story, from her diagnosis, through chemotherapy and the stem cell transplant therapy.

The documentary premieres at 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, in the Davis Marksbury theater at UK. While seating is limited, the premiere is free and open to the UK community and public.

View a trailer of the documentary.

MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, (859) 257-8716 or whitney.hale@uky.edu

File Downloads

the_ascending_journey_trailer_transcript.doc

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