Saratoga Springs, NY
Enchanting WindsSun, July 21, 2024, 3:00 pm
Spa Little Theatre, Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Two hours, including intermission
Program
Gioachino Rossini
(1792–1868)Quartet No. 4 for Flute, Clarinet, Horn and Bassoon in B-flat major
Camille Saint-Saëns
(1835–1921)Sonata for Oboe and Piano, Op. 166
(1921)Quick Note
This sonata was one of the last chamber works written by Saint-Saëns, dedicated to the memory of his friend and fellow composer, Henri Woollett.
Listen for the seamless interaction between the oboe and piano, as Saint-Saëns explores a wide range of emotions and textures.
Paul Taffanel
(1844–1908)Quintet in G minor for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, and Horn
(1876)Quick Note
Francis Poulenc
(1899–1963)Sonata for Flute and Piano
(1956–57)Quick Note
This sonata stands out in the chamber music repertoire for its fusion of neoclassical elements with jazz influences, offering a unique and vibrant listening experience.
Listen for Poulenc's characteristic juxtaposition of playful melodies and poignant moments, as well as his exploration of the flute's agility and expressive capabilities.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756–1791)Quintet in E-flat major for Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, and Piano, K. 452
(1784)Quick Note
Evren Ozel
Demarre McGill
Juri Vallentin
Peter Kolkay
American pianist Evren Ozel, praised for his compelling artistry and technical mastery, is the Bronze Medalist of the 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, where he also received the Mozart Concerto Prize. He has appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and Fort Worth Symphony under conductors including Marin Alsop and Carlos Miguel Prieto. A recipient of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Ozel released his debut album of Mozart concertos with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and Howard Griffiths on Alpha Classics in 2025. Ozel is a 2024–27 Bowers Program Artist at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and performs widely in recital, chamber music, and international festivals. A graduate of the New England Conservatory, he studied with Wha Kyung Byun and has worked with Mitsuko Uchida, Sir András Schiff, and others. He is managed by Concert Artists Guild and makes his home in Boston.
Demarre McGill is a leading soloist, recitalist, and chamber and orchestral musician. Winner of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and Sphinx Medal of Excellence, he has appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas, San Diego, and Baltimore symphony orchestras, among others. Now principal flute of the Seattle Symphony, he previously served as principal flute of the Dallas Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Florida Orchestra, and Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. He has also served as acting principal flute of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. A founding member of The Myriad Trio and former member of Chamber Music Society Two (now The Bowers Program), he has participated in the Moab, Santa Fe, La Jolla, Marlboro, Seattle, and Music@Menlo chamber music festivals, to name a few. He is the co-founder of Art of Élan, a chamber music organization in San Diego and, along with clarinetist Anthony McGill and pianist Michael McHale, founded the McGill/McHale Trio in 2014. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School, McGill is currently the Associate Professor of Flute at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) and an artist-faculty member of the Aspen Music Festival and School.
German oboist Juri Vallentin has gained international attention as a prize winner of major competitions such as the International Tchaikovsky Competition as first oboist, the German Music Competition, and the International Oboe Competition of Japan. He has performed as soloist with the MDR Symphony Orchestra; the Mariinsky Orchestra, St. Petersburg; the Beethoven Orchestra, Bonn; the Lower Saxony State Orchestra, Hanover; Musikkollegium Winterthur; the Brandenburg State Orchestra, Frankfurt; and the Munich Chamber Orchestra, among others. In 2021 he won the Berlin Prize for Young Artists curated by VAN magazine with his solo performance Inner Voices developed together with stage director Neil Barry Moss. His albums Bridges, with music from five centuries, and Ebenbild, which combines music and literature, as well as numerous radio productions for BR, SWR, and Deutschlandfunk document his artistic work. Together with four other distinguished woodwind players, he founded the wind quintet BREEZE in 2021 as a playing field for new approaches to wind music. Born in Mainz, he studied in Nuremberg and at the renowned Conservatoire de Paris, where he graduated with highest honors. In 2021, Vallentin was appointed professor of oboe at the Karlsruhe University of Music. He joins CMS’s Bowers Program in 2024.
Called “superb” by the Washington Post and “stunningly virtuosic” by the New York Times, Peter Kolkay is the only bassoonist to receive an Avery Fisher Career Grant. In addition to performing with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, he regularly appears at the Music@Menlo and Bridgehampton summer festivals, and has performed on the Emerald City, Tertulia, and String Theory series. He actively engages with composers in the creation of new music for the bassoon and has premiered solo works by Joan Tower, Mark-Anthony Turnage, and Tania León, among others. His 2022–23 season included the premiere of a new work for bassoon and piano by Reinaldo Moya, and the release of two recordings: an album of contemporary works performed with the Calidore Quartet, and the Christopher Rouse Bassoon Concerto with the Albany Symphony. He is a member of the IRIS Collective in Germantown, Tennessee, and has also served as guest principal bassoon of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. A dedicated teacher, he is Associate Professor at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University and has given master classes throughout the United States and Mexico. Kolkay is an alumnus of CMS’s Bowers Program, and holds degrees from Lawrence University, the Eastman School of Music, and Yale University. A native of Naperville, Illinois, he currently calls the Melrose neighborhood of Nashville home, and is the recipient of a 2022–23 Individual Artist Fellowship in music performance from the Tennessee Arts Commission.