MIDNIGHT w i n d s
woodwind quintet
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PRESS
POLAND TOUR April 16th - 27th 2008
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      POSTERS:
   The City of Lodz Office
Homepage - Culture - Current Events 2008-04-18 The Wind From California "Midnight Winds", a woodwind quintet from California, will give concerts in Poland from 16 to 27 April. In Lodz, the musicians will perform on 18 April (in the Museum of Lodz History, Poznanski Palace), and on 22 April in the Mirror Hall of the Technical University of Lodz (266 Piotrkowska Street). An additional, closed concert will be held in the Henryk Wieniawski Music School on 17 April, and 2 days later the ensemble will perform in Konstantynow Lodzki. "The Midnight Winds" draws on different cultures. They perform pieces of music that feature elements of fusion, mixed media, performance art and present innovative interpretations of classical music. The ensemble participated in numerous music festivals and took part in education projects. The group consists of Polish and American artists living in Los Angeles, the graduates of the University of Southern California. The concert of this international ensemble appears to be a harbinger to the cultural collaboration between Los Angeles and Lodz, the two cities plan to establish as sister cities. (kz) PASADENA STAR-NEWS
Article Launched: April 6th 2008
Young musicians to show talent at event offered by Shumei council
Consistent with its mission to foster music opportunities for young people, the Shumei Arts Council will present its second annual Clyde Montgomery Concert on April 13 at 2 p.m. in the Shumei Arts Center. Named in honor of a long-time board member who died in 2006, the free concert focuses on young musicians who are pursuing concert-music careers. "We were really pleased with the first concert last year," said Shumei's executive director Jane Imai, who has been with the organization for 22 years. "We followed the same pattern in building the program this year." That included consultations with Peter Marsh, director of string chamber music at the USC Thornton School of Music; Ronald Leonard, conductor of The Colburn School's Chamber Orchestra and former principal cellist of the Los Angeles; and officials of the Junior Chamber Music Society. "I'm not a musician," said Imai (her background is in visual art, specifically textiles). "These people are invaluable in finding the right musicians for this program." Marsh remembers their first conversation. "Janie wanted to start something up in music," he recalled, "so she came to one of our school's `marathons' and asked, `Who should I listen to?' I and others helped in the planning but she's really the driving force." Among the pieces on Sunday's program will be the world premiere of "Metaphors and Contrasts for Woodwind Quintet," composed by four-time Emmy Award winner Stephen Cohn for "Midnight Winds," an ensemble of students and graduates from the USC Thornton School of Music (the group's name was a natural because the players - Amy Tatum, flute; Alison Lowell, oboe; Andrew Leonard, clarinet; Maciej Flis, bassoon, and Kristina Orcutt, horn - came together in late-night gatherings beginning in 2000).
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"This concert honors the spirit of Clyde in ways that I believe would have thrilled him," said Imai. And all of this in a 308-seat hall of which guitarist Isamu Nakashio once said, "The sound of this hall reminds me of playing at Carnegie Hall." Polish Music Newsletter, Vol. 13, No. 10. October 2007.
Los Angeles, CA
PADEREWSKI BACK IN LOS ANGELES!
After an absence of eighty-four years, Paderewski’s towering figure once again graces the campus of the University of Southern California. On 22 February 1923, Paderewski was recognized at a special ceremony with the honorary doctorate by this prestigious university. At 5 p.m. on 4 October 2007, the official unveiling of the Paderewski monument took place at USC, in front of a crowd of 200 patrons of the monument project, university officials, and other guests. The Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Janusz Reiter, and the Consul General of Los Angeles, Hon. Paulina Kapuścińska, represented Poland’s government on this distinguished occasion. The First Lady of Poland, Maria Kaczyńska, the project’s honorary patron, was unable to attend the unveiling due to a commitment to the Paralympic athletes competing in Shanghai, China. USC officials, including the Dean of Music, Robert A. Cutietta, and the University Provost, C.L. Max Nikias, also attended the ceremony and gave touching tributes to Paderewski’s legacy at the University and in the world. Musical accompaniment for this festive occasion was provided by the Midnight Winds, including a performance of Paderewski’s most famous composition, the Menuet Op. 14.
Polish Music Newsletter, Vol. 12, No. 11. November 2006.
Los Angeles, CA
CELEBRATING THE POLISH-AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH Irena Glowacka-Lawyer and the Polish Club of Laguna Woods presented a special concert on October 29 in the Clubhouse 3 Auditorium of Laguna Woods Village. It featured works by Grazyna Bacewicz, Frederic Chopin, Mieczyslaw Karlowicz, and Tadeusz Szeligowski. The performers included soprano Krysta Close, the Midnight Quintet, and pianist Marek Zebrowski. The afternoon concert began with a selection of charming songs for voice and piano by Karlowicz. This late-romantic and intimate music set to fin-de-siecle Polish poets was presented by Ms. Close and Mr. Zebrowski. The Midnight Quintet—a group of Thornton School of Music graduates—is a young and already widely recognized ensemble. Heard in the Sedona Chamber Music Festival last May, the Midnight Quintet has since performed throughout Southern California and are scheduled to appear in concert on the East Coast and in Mexico. For this concert, the group gave a lively and musically engaging interpretation of wind quintets by Bacewicz and Szeligowski. Dating from the mid 1930s and the early 1950s respectively, these compositions represent the Polish neo-classical school with its mordant harmonies, sparse musical gestures, and witty woodwind writing. Requiring considerable virtuosity and great ensemble playing, these two quintets are rarely heard, even in Poland. The Midnight Quintet's excellent understanding of this music and their technical prowess came to the fore in both the Bacewicz and Szeligowski, giving the audience a chance to admire the virtuosity of Amy Tatum, flute, Kate Green, oboe, Andrew Leonard, clarinet, Kristina Orcutt, French horn, and Maciej Flis, bassoon. The concert concluded with Marek Zebrowski's performance of Andante spianato et Grand Polonaise Brillante, Op. 22 by Frederic Chopin. Polish Music Newsletter, Vol. 12, No. 9. September 2006
Los Angeles, CA "Last March, the Polish Music Center in cooperation with the Park La Brea events featured the Midnight Quintet at a concert for the local community of residents. The choice of music for this group of USC students included—among other works—the Quintet for Winds by Tadeusz Szeligowski. This performance was certainly an American premiere, and the audience was not necessarily composed of the usual group of devoted concert-goers. Yet, this unfamiliar work received a tumultuous applause, earning the Midnight Quintet an invitation to return to Park La Brea later this year. Aside from the fact that not many Poles can recognize the name of Tadeusz Szeligowski (1896-1963), he is a completely unknown composer to an American audience. Yet Szeligowski was a fairly popular neo-classical composer who wrote numerous chamber works, concertos, and operas. In fact, when Szeligowski's distant cousin in Poland was telephoned on the day of the concert and told about the performance in Los Angeles, California, he was overcome with emotion and gratitude for bringing back his relative's name to the concert stage."
May 14th, 2006
"Their youthful exuberance and inspiring artistry make excellent role models to encourage appreciation of fine music for our community youth."
The Sedona Review
May 3 2006
KuDos, Arizona
  May 2006
Red Rock Review
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