About Imani Winds
Imani Winds (L-R): Brandon Patrick George, Toyin Spellman-Diaz, Mark Dover, Kevin Newton, Monica Ellis
Celebrating over a quarter century of music making, the twice Grammy-nominated Imani Winds has led both a revolution and evolution of the wind quintet through their dynamic playing, adventurous programming, imaginative collaborations and outreach endeavors that have inspired audiences of all ages and backgrounds.
The ensemble’s playlist embraces traditional chamber music repertoire, and newly commissioned works from voices that reflect historical events and the times in which we currently live.
Recent projects include a Jessie Montgomery composition inspired by her great-grandfather’s migration from the American south to the north, socially conscious music by Andy Akiho, reflecting on mass incarceration, and a work by Carlos Simon celebrating iconic figures of the African American community. These works and more have been commissioned as a part of the Legacy Commissioning Project.
Twenty-six seasons of full-time touring has brought Imani Winds to virtually every major chamber music series, performing arts center, and summer festival in the U.S. They regularly perform in prominent venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center and have a presence at festivals such as Chamber Music Northwest, Chautauqua Institution and Banff Centre.
Imani Winds thoughtfully curates unique residencies that include performances, workshops, and masterclasses to thousands of students each year at institutions such as the University of Chicago, Eastman School of Music and Duke University. Their international presence includes concerts throughout Asia, Brazil, Australia, England, New Zealand and Europe.
Appointed in 2021 as Curtis Institute of Music’s first ever Faculty Wind Quintet, Imani Winds commitment to education runs deep. The highly successful Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival launched in 2010, is an annual summer program devoted to musical excellence and career development for pre-professional instrumentalists and composers. The curriculum includes mentorship, masterclasses, entrepreneurial workshops, community engagement activities and performances, with the goal of fostering the complete musician and global citizen.
In 2019, the group extended their mission even further by creating the non-profit organization, Imani Winds Foundation, which exists to support, connect and uplift their initiatives and more.
Imani Winds’ travels through the jazz world are highlighted by their multi-faceted association with luminary musicians and composers Wayne Shorter, Paquito D’Rivera and Jason Moran. Their ambitious project, Josephine Baker: A Life of Le Jazz Hot! featured jazz songstress René Marie in performances that brought the house down in New York, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Los Angeles and St. Louis.
In 2021, Imani Winds released their 9th studio album, Bruits on Bright Shiny Things Records, which received a 2022 Grammy nomination for “Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance.” Gramophone states, “the ensemble’s hot rapport churns with conviction throughout.”
Imani Winds has recordings on Koch International Classics and E1 Music, including their 2006 Grammy nominated recording, “The Classical Underground”. They have also recorded for Naxos and Blue Note and released an acclaimed arrangement of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring on Warner Classics. They are regularly heard on all media platforms including NPR, American Public Media, the BBC, SiriusXM, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. To date, one of Imani Winds’ most humbling recognitions is a permanent presence in the classical music section of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.
About Boston Brass
For over 30 years, Boston Brass has set out to establish a one-of-a-kind musical experience. From exciting classical arrangements to burning jazz standards and the best of original brass repertoire, Boston Brass treats audiences to a unique brand of entertainment that captivates all ages. The ensemble’s lively repartee, touched with humor and personality, bridges the ocean of classical formality to delight audiences with great music and boisterous fun. The philosophy of Boston Brass is to provide audiences with a wide selection of musical styles in unique arrangements while maintaining a friendly and fun atmosphere. The quintet plays to audiences at concert halls, educational institutions and music festivals, and regularly collaborates with orchestras, concert and marching bands, organists, jazz bands and a variety of other ensembles.
The Boston Brass have been featured as educators and performers at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, Music Educators National Conference events, American Bandmaster Association Conference, The American Band College, Western International Band Clinic and at the Texas Bandmasters Association Convention. They have performed in all 50 US states and 30 countries and have conducted masterclasses around the world including sessions and residencies at the Eastman School of Music, The Juilliard School, Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, Peabody Conservatory of Music, University of North Texas, Royal Academy of Music in London, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory at the National University of Singapore and Mahidol University in Bangkok.
Their newest recording Simple Gifts features new and exciting classical and jazz arrangements. Latin Nights, features a collection of some of the greatest classical and jazz works by Latin composers and performers and features the legendary drummer Steve Gadd, the beautiful voice of Talita Real, plus percussion and guitar. Other albums include Ya Gotta Try, featuring music from Horace Silver, Chick Corea and Dizzy Gillespie, produced by legendary jazz recording genius Rudy van Gelder and Within Earshot, featuring classical works by Shostakovich, Ginastera, Dvorak, Liszt and others. Boston Brass has two holiday recordings, Christmas Bells are Swingin’, and The Stan Kenton Christmas Carols, featuring the Boston Brass All-Stars Big Band playing the truly phenomenal charts made popular by the Stan Kenton Orchestra. Boston Brass tours a vibrant holiday show each year featuring many of the charts from these two albums, combined with a variety of quintet and combo selections which has established the show as a perennial audience favorite.
2011 marked the 25th Anniversary of Boston Brass and was celebrated with the 25 Fanfares Project, wherein 25 fanfares were premiered by composers from all over the country. Boston Brass also premiered a new major commission by noted wind ensemble composer Brian Balmages and new arrangements by former member and tuba player Sam Pilafian. Additionally, Boston Brass was very excited to have the opportunity to collaborate in the 2010-2011 season with the fabulous Imani Winds in a program entitled Sketches of Spain, featuring the music of Miles Davis and Gil Evans. In the 2012-2013 season, the quintet began touring their Notes from the Balcony program with the Enso String Quartet featuring a program of music based on Romeo and Juliet.
Boston Brass is a Yamaha Performing Group and performs exclusively on Yamaha instruments. With shared goals of musical excellence and educational outreach, Boston Brass and Yamaha endeavor to present concerts and masterclasses around the world, including a 2018 tour of major music conservatories in China.