WindSync
In partnership with Lee University and the Hunter Museum of American Art, String Theory will welcome the prizewinning Houston-based wind quintet WindSync for the next concert of its season on Tuesday, Jan. 23, at 6:30 p.m.
WindSync’s visit is part of the annual String Theory Residency Program which will feature other performances including a concert in Lee University’s Pangle Hall for Cleveland schoolchildren on Monday, as well as various Chattanooga schools, a master class at Lee on Friday, and a concert at Alexian Brothers on Sunday, in addition to the Family Concert on Saturday.
This event, sponsored by Chambliss, Bahner, & Stophel, P.C., is funded in part by grants from South Arts and the Tennessee Arts Commission in partnership with the National Endowment of the Arts.
Founded in 2009 by pianist and Artistic Director Gloria Chien, String Theory brings acclaimed chamber musicians from around the world to perform in the intimate setting of the Hunter Museum in Chattanooga. Dr. Chien is a Steinway artist and an artist in residence at Lee.
The Tuesday String Theory concert will feature works by Offenbach, Buxtehude, Del Aguila, Stravinsky, and WindSync.
Prior to the concert, “Art Connections” will take place at 5:30 p.m. inside the Hunter Gallery. Former Hunter Museum Chief Curator Ellen Simak and Maestro Robert Bernhardt, conductor emeritus of the Chattanooga Symphony and artist-in-residence at Lee University, will explore works from the Hunter Museum collection that relate to the music featured in the evening’s performance.
Review for WindSync:
Hailed by the Houston Chronicle as “revolutionary chamber musicians,” WindSync is internationally recognized for dramatic and engaging interpretations of classical music. The group builds highly thematic programs that feature landmark quintets, new works by American composers, and premiere arrangements of standard repertoire with the goal of increasing accessibility and cultural significance of wind chamber music.
Advocates of 21st century musicianship models and community-oriented programming, the members of WindSync have led master classes at New World Symphony, Texas Music Festival, and the University of Maryland Renegade Series, among others.
WindSync tours nationally and internationally, appearing at venues including the Schubert Club (in Minnesota), Met Museum, Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Its most recent large-scale project is “The Cosmos,” a concerto for wind quintet and orchestra by Michael Gilbertson that received two performances in 2016. Other premieres include works by Paul English, Garrett Schumann, and Mark Buller.
WindSync’s master class at Lee University will take place in Pangle Hall on Friday, Jan. 19, at 3 p.m.
On Saturday, Jan. 20, at 1 p.m., WindSync will be featured in the Hunter Museum’s String Theory Annual Family Concert. The group’s performance, complete with costumes and choreography, is an interactive retelling of “Peter and the Wolf” by Sergei Prokofiev using the five wind instruments of WindSync.
Tickets for the Jan. 23 concert are $35 for Hunter members, $45 for non-members, $10 for students with a valid student ID, and $25 for groups of 20 or more people.
For more information on the master class at Lee University, call 614-8240.
For more information on String Theory at the Hunter, the Residency Program, or to purchase tickets, call 414-2525 or visit http://stringtheorymusic.org/.