2007-2008 Season

Accent on Rhythm
   with Tim Adams, percussion

Sunday, September 16, 2007 at 3pm
   Carlow University’s Antonian Theater, Oakland
Saturday, September 22, 2007 at 8pm

   Parlor Concert in Aspinwall

The Winds’ 33rd season began with a bang as then-Principal Timpanist Tim Adams of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra joined the ensemble for a dynamic collaboration of percussion and winds.  Literature included a striking contemporary work from Seattle, a modern classic of the wind quintet repertoire by American composer Vincent Persichetti, and a premiere from the Pittsburgh New Residency of MEET THE COMPOSER.

  • EFRAÍN AMAYA: Kaleidoscope
    WORLD PREMIERE, written through the Pgh New Residency
  • KARL AHRENDT: Seven Modal Miniatures for Flute and Percussion (1978)
  • TIM ADAMS: Night Music, for solo percussion
  • VINCENT PERSICHETTI: Pastorale, Op. 21 (1943)
  • KAREN P. THOMAS: Sopravvento (“Against the Wind,” 1994)
    PITTBURGH PREMIERE

Holidays with Harp
with Anne-Marguerite Michaud, harp

Saturday, December 8, 2007 at 8pm
   Parlor Concert in Sewickley
Saturday, December 9, 2007 at 3pm

   Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, Oakland

Holidays have inspired composers for hundreds of years.  The sonic delight of angelic Christmas music and the spirited Hanukkah tunes were heard in special settings, most created especially for the Renaissance City Winds.  Complementing the holiday selections was a colorful neoclassical quintet by the Russian-American composer Nicolai Berezowsky.  The featured guest artist was Anne-Marguerite Michaud, whose first recording was hailed as “the best harp CD ever!”

  • HECTOR BERLIOZ: Trio of the Young Ishmaelites, Op. 25
  • NICOLAI BEREZOWSKY: Suite No. 2, Op. 22  (1941)
  • ROLAND LEICH: A Rose Breaks into Bloom; traditional melody and seven variations
    – commissioned by RCW, 1980
  • KEITH DOM POWELL: Two Songs of Hanukkah
  • ANDRÉ JOLIVET: Pastorales de Noël  (1943)
  • DENNIS RITZ, MARCEL GRANDJANY, R.J.WHIPPLE, WILLIAM J. LEWIS:  Carol Settings

Women of Note(s)
   with Luz Manriquez, piano

Saturday March 8, 2008 at 8pm
   Parlor Concert in O’Hara Township
Sunday, March 9, 2008 at 7pm
   Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts

Discover wonderful music written by women composers both past and present!  French Romantic music by Chaminade complemented lively contemporary pieces by western Pennsylvania composers Nancy Galbraith and Mildred Gardner, and Philadelphia composer Andrea Clearfield.  A lively turn-of-the-twentieth-century ragtime from Indiana closed the concert in toe-tapping style.  Pianist Luz Manríquez, one of Chile’s most accomplished musicians, can be heard on many CDs and teaches at Carnegie Mellon University where she co-directs the chamber music program.

  • NANCY GALBRAITH: Rhythms and Rituals (1995)
    – commissioned by RCW
  • CECILE CHAMINADE:  Concertino, Op. 107  (1902)
  • MILDRED GARDNER:  Three Pieces for Woodwind Quartet
  • ANDREA CLEARFIELD: Songs of the Wolf, for horn and piano (1994)
  • MRS. H.H.A. BEACH: Scottish Legend and Waltz, for solo piano
  • BLYTHE OWEN:  Trio for Woodwinds (1950)
  • JULIA LEE NEIBERGALL (arr. WHIPPLE):  Hoosier Rag (1907)

Season Finale
   with the Cuarteto Latinoamericano

Thursday, April 24, 2008
    Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts

 The season finale was a one-time collaboration with the Cuarteto Latinoamericano, and this was their farewell to Pittsburgh at the end of a twenty-year residency at Carnegie-Mellon University’s School of Music.  Renowned as exponents of contemporary music, the Cuarteto performed two world premieres of Pittsburgh composers, one by a Carnegie-Mellon student and the other by David Stock.  Renaissance Winds performed the Woodwind Quintet of Elliott Carter in honor of the composer’s 100th birthday, and the Woodwind Quartet of Arthur Berger, David Stock’s teacher.  The two ensembles combined forces for the magnificent Nonet of Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu, joined by bassist Robert Skavronski.

  • ARTHUR BERGER: Quartet in C Major for Woodwinds (1941)
  • DAVID STOCK:  String Quartet No. 7 (2006) – WORLD PREMIERE
  • ELLIOTT CARTER:  Woodwind Quintet (1948)
  • CHAO-JUNG WU:  String Quartet No. 2 (2007) – WORLD PREMIERE
  • BOHUSLAV MARTINU:  Nonet