CBTP Opening Night: Sylvan Winds

This special opening night program includes works by MacDowell, Lefebvre, Still, Debussy, Burleigh and Dvorak.

About Sylvan Winds:

Anna Urrey flute, piccolo; Kathy Halvorson, oboe; Nuno Antunes, clarinet; Gina Cuffari, bassoon; Eric Huckins, French horn

Hailed by the New York Times for "…its venturesome programming and stylishness of performance," the Sylvan Winds has appeared under the auspices of Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival and the Caramoor International Music Festival. Chosen to perform at the NY Governor’s Arts Awards, the ensemble has presented imaginative and scintillating programs of chamber works for winds in such places as Town Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, the White Mountains, the Cape Cod and Skaneateles Festivals, Rutgers University’s Summerfest, Amherst College, the Chicago Chamber Music Society and the Sejong Cultural Center in Seoul, Korea. They have recorded for the Koch Classics, and CRI/New World, and North/South labels, and have enjoyed collaborations with such distinguished artists as Gerard Schwarz, Ransom Wilson, the Guarneri String Quartet, pianist Claude Frank, radio personality Robert Sherman, and actor Louis Zorich.

History:

The SYLVAN WINDS, an integral part of New York City's cultural offerings, has earned both critical and audience acclaim for its spirited performances and innovative programming. Exploring the entire body of work of chamber music for wind instruments, it is the only group of its kind to present an annual concert series in New York City that was inaugurated at the historic Church of St. Luke in-the-Fields in Greenwich Village. The ensemble celebrated its 35th Anniversary during the 2012-13 season. Following a concert sponsored by the Carnegie Hall Corporation in 1982, the Sylvan Winds performed regularly in Weill Recital Hall. That summer also marked the beginning of their affiliation with Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, presenting outdoor pre-concert wind serenades, Avery Fisher Hall pre-concert programs, and participation with the Festival's winds in performances of the Mozart Gran Partita (K. 361/370a) and Handel's original orchestration of the Royal Fireworks music.

Established as one of New York's most versatile chamber music ensembles, the group has also appeared at Town Hall, Merkin Concert Hall and Symphony Space, and was chosen to perform at the Governor's Arts Awards. They have also performed at the White Mountains, Cape Cod and Caramoor International Music Festivals, have toured major university and chamber music series nationally including Amherst College, the Chicago Chamber Music Society, Rutgers University's Summerfest, and the University of the Pacific, as well as performing in Korea, including the Sejong Cultural Center. Featured as the chamber ensemble in-residence at the White Mountains Festival, they are now In residence at the Killington Music Festival in Vermont. The group has been heard on New York City radio stations WQXR and WNYC, WGBH in Boston, Minnesota Public Radio and on National Public Radio's Performance Today. Koch International Classics released the ensemble's debut recording of French chamber music for winds.

Noted for a wide range and breadth of repertory in delightful and intriguing programs of standard and contemporary works, they have presented a number of New York, United States and world premières by Gustav Holst, Gunther Schuller, David Chaitkin, Max Lifchitz, Arthur Weisberg and Robert Dick. Invited to perform as part of the Cutting Edge concerts in New York City, their CD The Sylvan Winds Plays American Composers with works by Bruce Adolphe, George Tsontakis, and David Chaitkin, features Guarneri String Quartet founder Michael Tree in the solo part of Etler's Concerto for Violin and Wind Quintet, and was released on CRI (now New World). The most recent recording Startling Stories, features works by Max Lifchitz, Robert Dick, and Cynthia Folio and is on the North/South label.

The Sylvan Winds have garnered numerous commissioning, recording and general support grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and Meet the Composer. Recent initiatives include exploring music from different cultures - notably "Sounds of the Americas," "Russian Nights," "Scandinavian Winds," and "Croatian Composers" – as well as a historical series of concerts "From the Library of Georges Barrère." Many of the works they perform are written for a variety of instrumental groupings and have included collaborations with such illustrious guest artists as conductors Gerard Schwarz and Ransom Wilson, the Guarneri String Quartet, pianist Claude Frank, harpsichordist Kenneth Cooper, harpist Kristi Shade, guitarists Oren Fader and Pedro Da Silva, mezzo-soprano Wendy White, narrator Robert Sherman, actor Louis Zorich, and the American Brass Quintet. SylvanWinds.com