Gabriel Weber
Staff writer
Under the theme of “Grooves and Meditations,” Grammy Award-winning Imani Winds celebrates compositions from around the world as a group that embodies “lightning in a bottle.”
For a curated program with some works arranged specifically for and by the members of Imani Winds — with one even composed by its founder, Valerie Coleman — the group returns to Chautauqua to take the stage at 4 p.m. today in Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall.
The group currently includes flutist Brandon Patrick George, oboist Toyin Spellman-Diaz, clarinetist Mark Dover, French horn player Kevin Newton and bassoonist Monica Ellis. They will be performing Coleman’s “Red Clay & Mississippi Delta;” Fazil Say’s “Alevi Dedeler raki masasinda;” Stevie Wonder’s “Overjoyed,” arranged by clarinetist Mark Dover; Andy Akiho’s “BeLoud,” “BeLoved” and “BeLonging;” and Simon Shaheen’s “Dance Mediterranea,” arranged by Jeff Scott.
The question the quintet asks in programming is: “Where else can we find different and interesting stories to be told?” None of the pieces can be fenced in by genre, as Imani Winds uses the “wind quintet as a catalyst for an opportunity to encompass a myriad of styles,” Ellis said.
Due to the challenging nature of “Red Clay & Mississippi Delta,” it has ended up on audition materials and is “particularly exciting to play,” Ellis said. Turkish composer and pianist Say’s piece, “Alevi Fathers at the Raki Table” in English, is “wonderful, interesting and challenging” music, she said.
“Overjoyed,” by Stevie Wonder, was arranged by Dover with each member’s specific musical technique in mind. Akiho’s piece has been in the group’s repertoire for around four years, and it speaks to an entirely different kind of representation — people who are incarcerated.
The group visited different prisons to workshop with incarcerated individuals, which was a “really powerful experience” in showing “the humanity behind their stories,” Ellis said.
They close out their program with a piece by Palestinian-American composer and musician Shaheen, arranged by founding French horn member Jeff Scott, that Ellis said “represents diversity and hearing the voices of people from around the world writing all kinds of interesting, different music.”
Having founded Imani Winds on “the desire to play music that was not something that you may have heard before,” Ellis said, flutist and creator Coleman also aimed to bring musicians of color together.
“(Our chemistry) was lightning in a bottle,” Ellis said. “In many ways, it’s like any other relationship. You start off with it, you have a spark and you hope it lasts — sometimes it doesn’t, and sometimes it does. In our case, it really did.”
Ellis is a native of Pittsburgh and an alumni of Chautauqua’s Music School Festival Orchestra, which left “an indelible mark” and “kick-started (her) love of the bassoon.” Though her interest in the bassoon grew as she did, Ellis began with clarinet, saxophone and piano then switched in part due to a “great teacher in middle school” who thought she could use a challenge, but mainly, the appeal of playing as a large group in an orchestra was attractive.
“As a kid, you’re exploring and trying new things,” Ellis said about playing classical music, gospel and musicals at her high school. “Fast forward years and years later, when I’ve now created my entire career as chamber music musician, I can think back on those early experiences with different styles and different configurations and say, ‘Well, yeah, it made sense that I chose chamber music.’ ”
For 17 years, the group remained unchanged, but starting nine years ago, three members left the group at separate times. However, Imani Winds has maintained their “chemistry and connection with each other,” according to Ellis.
“You have to make sure that you’re choosing people who view the world in the same way and who have the same goals of what you want to do with artistic expression,” Ellis said. “You certainly don’t want people that agree with you all the time — you want to be challenged and have interesting conversations about what music you’ll play and people you’d collaborate with.”
Ellis is often sought-after as a commentator on critical issues like race, gender, equity and representation. Since the concept of a quintet has only been around since the late 1800s, Imani Winds is able to better “represent themselves through music” with the influx of compositions in the early 20th century.
Along with a devotion to intentionality in programming, the group founded the Imani Winds Foundation to commit to supporting pre-professional students in an 11-day event in New York for 50 to 60 students. There are master classes, coaching performances, entrepreneurial workshops and seminars, in addition to recitals.
“It’s been very exciting to connect with our supporters in a new way and humbling to see who wants to support in an even more powerful way,” Ellis said.
The main goal in providing resources for pre-professional music students is the creation of meaningful connections through music.
“We feel compelled to converge with people and share, so we can continue this circle of information being transpired — knowledge should not be kept within oneself — for the betterment of our entire society, not to mention musicians,” Ellis said. “We have to share and communicate with one another. That inspires us to do all of these things that we’re doing, and to hopefully inspire someone else to do great things.”
