CMS Wind Tour Brings the Colors of Wind Chamber Music Across the United States

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center embarks on a multi-city US tour in March with a program centered on the unique sound of wind chamber music. The ensemble brings together pianist Michael Stephen Brown, flutist Tara Helen O’Connor, oboist Juri Vallentin, clarinetist David Shifrin, bassoonist Peter Kolkay, and hornist David Byrd Marrow.

The program centers on two large-scale wind works that anchor the evening. August Klughardt, a German composer, wrote his Quintet in C major as one of the relatively few Romantic-era works created specifically for the wind quintet, giving each instrument substantial material while maintaining a balanced ensemble. Louise Farrenc, a French composer, expands the ensemble in her Sextet by adding piano, significantly broadening the sound and creating a work of symphonic scale within a chamber setting. The piano part is especially demanding, while the winds function both as soloists and as a unified group. The program is rounded out by shorter works in smaller combinations, including music for horn and piano by German composer Richard Strauss and Austrian composer Carl Czerny, as well as a rhythmically driven sonatine for oboe and bassoon by French composer André Jolivet.

Bassoonist Peter Kolkay spoke about what drew him to the repertoire. “This particular program is exciting to me because of the range of music,” he said. “There’s a lot of Romantic-era repertoire for winds on this program, and we don’t often get the chance to play that kind of music in a chamber setting. Being able to explore these works outside of the orchestra is a real thrill.”

Kolkay also described the touring experience with his chamber music colleagues and the audiences they meet along the way. “What I always love about touring is the bonding that happens, both among the musicians and with the audience,” he said. “Despite the travel schedule, I always come back from tours feeling really invigorated about playing chamber music and connecting with communities across the country.”

The tour opens on March 1 at Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Virginia, followed by a March 2 performance in Sarasota, Florida, with longtime partner LaMusica Chamber Music. On March 3, the ensemble travels to the University of Miami, pairing its performance there with a series of master classes that offer university students direct engagement with the artists. The tour continues on March 5 at Clemson University’s Utsey Chamber Music Series and on March 6 at North Greenville University in Tigerville, South Carolina. On March 10, the ensemble performs in Troy, New York, at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall presented by Troy Chromatic Concerts. The tour concludes with a home performance in New York City on March 13 at Alice Tully Hall.