Shriver Hall Concert Series Presents The Grammy-Nominated Imani Winds

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mallory McFarland | Morahan Arts and Media
mallory@morahanartsandmedia.com | 646.241.0899

SHRIVER HALL CONCERT SERIES PRESENTS
THE GRAMMY-NOMINATED IMANI WINDS

Quintet to Perform a World Premiere by Carlos Simon,
Plus Works by Mongo Santamaría, Jason Moran,
Heitor Villa-Lobos, and Miguel Del Aguila

Sunday, May 14 at 5:30pm at Shriver Hall

“the ensemble’s hot rapport churns with conviction throughout” —Gramophone

www.shriverconcerts.org

Baltimore, MD (April 3, 2023) — Shriver Hall Concert Series (SHCS) concludes its 2022-23 season with a special performance by the Grammy-Nominated Quintet Imani Winds on Sunday, May 14, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. at Shriver Hall. There will also be a pre-concert conversation at 4:30 p.m. with composer Carlos Simon led by WBJC's Jonathan Palevsky.

Celebrating more than 25 years of music-making, Imani Winds is committed to expanding their repertoire by commissioning music from new voices that bring light to historical events as well as present times. The group will be performing a variety of compositions that embrace traditional chamber music repertoire.

Mongo Santamaría’s piece, Afro Blue, was written in 1959 and illustrates Santamaría’s fusion of Cuban percussion and elements of West African traditions. Valerie Coleman, founder of Imani Winds, writes that her arrangement for wind quintet “simulates an African call-and-response ritual and aspires to continue the celebratory tradition that Mongo gave the world.”

Heitor Villa-Lobos provides a Trio for Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon. The first movement combines modernistic elements, recurring dissonances, and onomatopoeic effects. The second movement evokes the style of French Impressionism and South American dance. The trio concludes with the driving rhythms of the third movement, which are likely influenced by both the composer’s Brazilian heritage and the Ballet Russe works of Igor Stravinsky.

Other composers featured on this program include Jason Moran, Carlos Simon, and ??Miguel Del Aguila. Moran’s Cane, written in 2008 for Imani Winds, was inspired by the novel of the same name by Jean Toomer, a prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Imani Winds will also perform the world premiere of Carlos Simon’s Giants for Wind Quintet, commissioned by Shriver Hall Concert Series and Imani Winds. Lastly, the groupwill perform Quintet No. 2 by Uruguayan-American composer Miguel Del Aguila.

“Shriver Hall Concert Series has such a stellar connection with its community,” shares Toyin Spellman-Diaz, oboist of Imani Winds. “We have always had an incredible time working with them to make meaningful, impactful visits to the Baltimore area. The lynchpin of our performance will be the premiere of Carlos Simon’s new work, Giants. The work celebrates the lives of some of the most celebrated African-American performers and thinkers of the 20th and 21st century. It will be such an honor to share it with Shriver’s audience.”

Imani Winds has been making music for over two decades and their accomplishments include two Grammy nominations, one being for their latest album released in 2021. The group has led both a “revolution and evolution” of the idea of what a wind quintet is through their playing, programming, collaborations, and outreach endeavors. Imani Winds frequently performs in prominent international concert venues, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Hall, and the Kimmel Center. Touring has allowed them to travel throughout the Asian continent, Brazil, Australia, England, New Zealand, and across Europe. By breaking down musical barriers, the group continues to inspire audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

Before SHCS presents Imani Winds in May, the penultimate concert of its 2022-23 season features pianist Piotr Anderszewski on Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 5:30pm.

Concert Information
Imani Winds
Sunday, May 14, 2023 at 5:30pm
Shriver Hall | 3400 N. Charles Street | Baltimore, MD 21218
Tickets: $44 Regular Admission; $10 Students
Link: https://www.shriverconcerts.org/imani

MONGO SANTAMARÍA: Afro Blue (arr. Valerie Coleman)
JASON MORAN: Cane
HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS: Trio for Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon
CARLOS SIMON: Giants for Wind Quintet (World Premiere, SHCS co-commission)
MIGUEL DEL AGUILA: Quintet No. 2

Imani Winds
     Brandon Patrick George, flute
     Toyin Spellman-Diaz, oboe
     Mark Dover, clarinet
     Kevin Newton, French horn
     Monica Ellis, bassoon

About Shriver Hall Concert Series
For more than 50 years, Shriver Hall Concert Series (SHCS) has been “Baltimore’s finest importer of classical music talent” (The Baltimore Sun) and the area’s premier presenter of chamber music ensembles and solo recitalists with a mission to craft performances and educational programs at the highest level of excellence. A 5-time recipient of Baltimore Magazine’s distinction “Best Classical Music” in its annual “Best of Baltimore” issue, the coveted subscription series features many of the world’s most renowned soloists and ensembles, presented in The Johns Hopkins University’s Shriver Hall.

Founded in 1966 by Dr. Ernest Bueding, a pharmacologist at The Johns Hopkins University, and a group of similarly dedicated music enthusiasts, SHCS set out to make an important contribution to the vitality of an already vibrant city. When flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal walked onto the stage of Shriver Hall for the first concert, more than 1,100 people witnessed the launch of what is now recognized as a remarkable success story: Shriver Hall Concert Series. In the succeeding years SHCS has presented hundreds of acclaimed and emerging international artists in classical chamber music and recitals and a legacy of important debuts and premieres. In addition, SHCS collaborates with local schools and subsidizes hundreds of student tickets each season.

The list of artists presented by SHCS is remarkable—Radu Lupu, Murray Perahia, Ewa Podlés, Maurizio Pollini, Jacqueline du Pré, Mstislav Rostropovich, Jordi Savall, András Schiff, Rudolf Serkin, Janos Starker, Daniil Trifonov, Lynn Harrell, Emmanuel Ax, Alban Berg Quartet, Guarneri Quartet, Kronos Quartet, Cleveland Quartet, and Quartetto Italiano, among many others. SHCS also has a history of championing important musicians early in their careers, including Richard Goode, Hilary Hahn, Hélène Grimaud, Dawn Upshaw, Lang Lang, and the Emerson String Quartet. Commissioned composers include Timo Andres, Sebastian Currier, Jonathan Leshnoff, James Lee III, Hannah Lash, Caroline Shaw, and Nina C. Young.

Designed specifically for the community, SHCS offers the Discovery Series, a series of free concerts presented in venues throughout the region focused on artists emerging on the national and international scene. Artists featured include Narek Hakhnazaryan, Colin Currie, Xavier Foley, Eric Lu, and the Dover Quartet. SHCS also offers the annual Spring Lecture Series, a series of free talks focused on annual topics related to the intersection of music and society, and a variety of student programs.

For more information, visit www.shriverconcerts.org.

About Imani Winds
Celebrating over two decades of music making, the twice Grammy nominated Imani Winds has led both a revolution and evolution of the wind quintet through their dynamic playing, adventurous programming, imaginative collaborations and outreach endeavors that have inspired audiences of all ages and backgrounds. 

The ensemble’s playlist embraces traditional chamber music repertoire, and as a 21st century group, Imani Winds is devoutly committed to expanding the wind quintet repertoire by commissioning music from new voices that reflect historical events and the times in which we currently live. 

Present and future season performances include a Jessie Montgomery composition inspired by her great-grandfather’s migration from the American south to the north, as well as socially conscious music by Andy Akiho, designed to be performed both on the concert stage and in front of immigrant detention centers throughout the country.

Imani Winds regularly performs in prominent international concert venues, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Hall, and the Kimmel Center. Their touring schedule has taken them throughout the Asian continent, Brazil, Australia, England, New Zealand, and across Europe. Their national and international presence include performances at chamber music series in Boston, New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Houston. Festival performances include Chamber Music Northwest, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Ravinia Festival, Chautauqua, Banff Centre, and Angel Fire.

Imani Winds’ travels through the jazz world are highlighted by their association with saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter, woodwind artist and composer Paquito D’Rivera and pianist and composer Jason Moran. Their ambitious project, “Josephine Baker: A Life of Le Jazz Hot!” featured chanteuse René Marie in performances that brought the house down in New York, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and St. Louis.

Imani Winds’ commitment to education runs deep. In 2021, Imani Winds joined the Faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music, where they serve as the school’s first ever Faculty Wind Quintet. Imani Winds has also served as Resident Artists at Mannes School of Music, and as Ensemble-in-Residence at University of Chicago. The group participates in other residencies throughout the U.S., giving performances and master classes to thousands of students each year. Academic and institutional residencies include the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Duke University, the University of Michigan, The University of Texas at Austin, Da Camera of Houston, and numerous others across the country. The ensemble launched its annual Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival in 2010, bringing together young instrumentalists and composers from across North America and abroad for exploration and performance of the standard repertoire and newly composed chamber music. Festival participants also take part in workshops devoted to entrepreneurial and outreach opportunities, with the goal of creating the complete musician and global citizen.

In 2021, Imani Winds released their latest album, Bruits, on Bright Shiny Things Records, which received a 2022 Grammy nomination for “Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance.” Gramophone states, “the ensemble’s hot rapport churns with conviction throughout.”

Imani Winds has six albums on Koch International Classics and E1 Music, including their 2006 Grammy Award nominated recording, The Classical Underground. They have also recorded for Naxos and Blue Note and released Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring on Warner Classics. Imani Winds is regularly heard on all media platforms including NPR, American Public Media, the BBC, SiriusXM, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.

In 2016, Imani Winds received one of their greatest accolades to date: making a permanent presence in the classical music section of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC.

Image at top of release by Shervin Lainez

# # #