Oboist

No other quintet has forged such a unique and revolutionary path through the chamber music landscape as the Imani Winds. The ensemble embraces traditional chamber music repertoire while remaining devoutly committed to promoting diversity in the arts. Celebrating over two decades of music making, Imani Winds is recognized for its dynamic playing, adventurous programming, outreach endeavors, and efforts to commission works from new voices that reflect historical events and today’s world. The program features the diversity of American composers and includes a Kennedy Center co-commission by Shawn Okpebholo.

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Imani Winds

Kennedy Center

For over two decades, 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. We are thrilled to officially welcome them to Tippet Rise for their concert debut, having had the privilege of collaborating with them on recording and performance film projects over the past few years. In this special outdoor performance at the Domo by Ensamble Studio, members Brandon Patrick George (flute), Toyin Spellman-Diaz (oboe), Kevin Newton (horn), Mark Dover (clarinet), and Monica Ellis (bassoon) will perform their program titled Black and Brown, which celebrates composers of color including Jeff Scott, Paquito D’Rivera, and Wayne Shorter. The program also features works written for Imani Winds: Reena Esmail’s The Light is the Same, commissioned by The Lied Center of Kansas and premiered in 2017, and Julio Medaglia’s Belle Epoque en Sud-America, commissioned by the La Jolla Music Society, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Da Camera of Houston, and the Library of Congress, which premiered in 2006.

Tippet Rise Art Center

Music’s evocative storytelling powers take center stage in a program of intimate works with big impact. Stunningly gifted violinist Melissa White evokes the cuckoo’s voice, a sleeping goatherd, and the roaring and thundering of hail in “Summer” from Vivaldi’s beloved Four Seasons. Czech composer Leoš Janáček’s sextet Mládí (Youth), written late in his life, offers a nostalgic reimagining of themes from his past. Gabriela Lena Frank pays a vicarious visit to her mother’s native Peru in her picturesque Four Folk Songs. Antonín Dvořák, influenced by his encounters with Native American and Black musical traditions, poured out his affection for America in his enchanting and richly melodious Viola Quintet (American).

Scenes and Seasons

Sarasota Opera House

Experience the world premiere of this new piece by percussionist Javier Diaz, whose studio credits include Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story and Lin Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights. Commissioned by the American Symphony Orchestra, this chamber music composition incorporates stylistic elements from music across the Americas and takes us on a journey through history, spaces, and generations. It evokes the idea of ancestral sounds, and it is inspired by traditional musics from the Western Hemisphere: ancient songs from the Afro-Cuban tradition, Mexico, the African-American tradition, Venezuela, Haiti, and a “merging” between a J.S. Bach chorale and a Venezuelan Merengue.

America UNBOUND is a unique artistic experience that exalts the human condition and underlines the importance of multi-cultural influences in the shaping of the musics of the Americas. This new work is eclectic and multicultural, with a robust compositional design: the American continent unbound through a journey of musical histories and inter-generational melodies, making palpable the universality of sound, word, and song. Performed by a chamber ensemble of ASO musicians (violin, percussion, double bass, clarinet and trumpet) featuring GRAMMY-nominated Imani Winds’ oboist Toyin Spellman-Diaz.

Toyin Spellman-Diaz

Oboist

Events

Apr 3, 2024

Imani Winds · Kennedy Center

Aug 26, 2023

Imani Winds · Tippet Rise Art Center

Jun 9, 2023

Scenes and Seasons · Sarasota Orchestra

May 22 - Sep 25, 2023

America UNBOUND · American Symphony Orchestra

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