Some art is tied indelibly to the era and environment in which it was created. This richly diverse program of music for clarinet and strings travels to Eastern Europe with works by Karel Husa and Krystof Penderecki that reflect a deep love of homeland, then to the “majestic skies of Western Massachusetts” with living American composer Paul Wiancko’s Clouds of Gill. Eternity and memory are the vehicles for the journey to Schubert’s succinct String Trio, frozen in time when it was abandoned by the composer after only a single movement, and Rebecca Clarke’s doleful duo for clarinet and viola, a reminiscence of love for the pastoral and romantic.

Rebecca Clarke, Prelude & Pastorale | Schubert, String Trio in B-flat, D. 471 | Paul Wiancko, Clouds of Gill | Husa, Evocations of Slovakia | Penderecki, Quartet for Clarinet & String

Nick Davies, clarinet | Emelyn Bashour, violin | Margaret Dyer, viola | Bree Ahern, cello

More information & ticketing available soon.

Some art is tied indelibly to the era and environment in which it was created. This richly diverse program of music for clarinet and strings travels to Eastern Europe with works by Karel Husa and Krystof Penderecki that reflect a deep love of homeland, then to the “majestic skies of Western Massachusetts” with living American composer Paul Wiancko’s Clouds of Gill. Eternity and memory are the vehicles for the journey to Schubert’s succinct String Trio, frozen in time when it was abandoned by the composer after only a single movement, and Rebecca Clarke’s doleful duo for clarinet and viola, a reminiscence of love for the pastoral and romantic.

Rebecca Clarke, Prelude & Pastorale | Schubert, String Trio in B-flat, D. 471 | Paul Wiancko, Clouds of Gill | Husa, Evocations of Slovakia | Penderecki, Quartet for Clarinet & String

Nick Davies, clarinet | Emelyn Bashour, violin | Margaret Dyer, viola | Bree Ahern, cello

More information & ticketing available soon.

Back by popular demand! This team of faculty musicians from the University of Denver made its debut last spring with Mozart’s brilliant Quintet K. 452. This year, we present Beethoven’s early Quintet and a new arrangement of Mozart’s majestic Magic Flute Overture by artistic director Nick Davies. Rounding out the program, playful works by Jewish and Israeli composers Erwin Schulhoff and Avner Dorman explore popular themes and pay homage to the dapper, elegant style of Mozart and Beethoven.

Mozart/arr. Davies, Overture to Die Zauberflöte | Schulhoff, Hot-Sonate | Avner Dorman, Jerusalem Mix | Beethoven, Quintet for Piano & Winds, Op. 16

Ian Wisekal, oboe | Nick Davies, clarinet | Carolyn Kunicki, horn | Martin Kuuskmann, bassoon | Damien Krzyzek, piano

More information & ticketing available soon.

Back by popular demand! This team of faculty musicians from the University of Denver made its debut last spring with Mozart’s brilliant Quintet K. 452. This year, we present Beethoven’s early Quintet and a new arrangement of Mozart’s majestic Magic Flute Overture by artistic director Nick Davies. Rounding out the program, playful works by Jewish and Israeli composers Erwin Schulhoff and Avner Dorman explore popular themes and pay homage to the dapper, elegant style of Mozart and Beethoven.

Mozart/arr. Davies, Overture to Die Zauberflöte | Schulhoff, Hot-Sonate | Avner Dorman, Jerusalem Mix | Beethoven, Quintet for Piano & Winds, Op. 16

Ian Wisekal, oboe | Nick Davies, clarinet | Carolyn Kunicki, horn | Martin Kuuskmann, bassoon | Damien Krzyzek, piano

More information & ticketing available soon.

This eclectic program of music for low winds explores the deep-seated passions of the artists: music of the baroque, music of today, and the conversations they continue to have together. The imaginative solo works of Unsuk Chin and Oliver Knussen push the boundaries of the monologue, while a new version of Isang Yun’s Monolog — composed originally for bass clarinet and later adapted by the composer for bassoon — forms the centerpiece of the program. The baroque voices of C.P.E. Bach and Couperin dance together in intimate dialogue and subtle counterpoint, and Hungarian composer György Kurtág’s pithy and terse music serves as further commentary, connecting the past with the present.

C.P.E. Bach, Duo for Two Clarinets, Wq. 142 | Couperin, Concerts Nos. 12 & 13 from Les goûts-réunis | Isang Yun, Monolog | György Kurtág, Selections from Signs, Games & Messages | Unsuk Chin, Advice from a Caterpillar | Oliver Knussen, Study for “Metamorphosis”

Ben Roidl-Ward, bassoon | Nick Davies, bass clarinet

More information & ticketing available soon.

This eclectic program of music for low winds explores the deep-seated passions of the artists: music of the baroque, music of today, and the conversations they continue to have together. The imaginative solo works of Unsuk Chin and Oliver Knussen push the boundaries of the monologue, while a new version of Isang Yun’s Monolog — composed originally for bass clarinet and later adapted by the composer for bassoon — forms the centerpiece of the program. The baroque voices of C.P.E. Bach and Couperin dance together in intimate dialogue and subtle counterpoint, and Hungarian composer György Kurtág’s pithy and terse music serves as further commentary, connecting the past with the present.

C.P.E. Bach, Duo for Two Clarinets, Wq. 142 | Couperin, Concerts Nos. 12 & 13 from Les goûts-réunis | Isang Yun, Monolog | György Kurtág, Selections from Signs, Games & Messages | Unsuk Chin, Advice from a Caterpillar | Oliver Knussen, Study for “Metamorphosis”

Ben Roidl-Ward, bassoon | Nick Davies, bass clarinet

More information & ticketing available soon.

Paris, 1920’s: fresh off the victory of the First World War but still reeling from the calamity, the cultural scene is ripe for the taking. Wholesale rejection of German cultural aesthetic and embrace of the absurd set the stage for an entirely new form of modernism. Works by Heitor Villa-Lobos and Darius Milhaud showcase the folk music of Brazil through primordial rhythmic drive and striking new harmonies. In contrast, works by Pierre-Octave Ferroud and Francis Poulenc shine with cosmopolitan glitter, juxtaposing popular cabaret tunes with hypnotic moments of pathos and Mozartian lyricism.

Villa-Lobos, Chôros No. 2 | Milhaud, Sonata for Piano & Winds, Op. 47 | Pierre-Octave Ferroud, Trio en Mi | Poulenc, Sextet for Piano & Winds

Brook Ferguson, flute | Ian Wisekal, oboe | Nick Davies, clarinet | Carolyn Kunicki, horn | Martin Kuuskmann, bassoon | Damien Krzyzek, piano

Paris, 1920’s: fresh off the victory of the First World War but still reeling from the calamity, the cultural scene is ripe for the taking. Wholesale rejection of German cultural aesthetic and embrace of the absurd set the stage for an entirely new form of modernism. Works by Heitor Villa-Lobos and Darius Milhaud showcase the folk music of Brazil through primordial rhythmic drive and striking new harmonies. In contrast, works by Pierre-Octave Ferroud and Francis Poulenc shine with cosmopolitan glitter, juxtaposing popular cabaret tunes with hypnotic moments of pathos and Mozartian lyricism.

Villa-Lobos, Chôros No. 2 | Milhaud, Sonata for Piano & Winds, Op. 47 | Pierre-Octave Ferroud, Trio en Mi | Poulenc, Sextet for Piano & Winds

Brook Ferguson, flute | Ian Wisekal, oboe | Nick Davies, clarinet | Carolyn Kunicki, horn | Martin Kuuskmann, bassoon | Damien Krzyzek, piano

This Spring, The Rossini Club returns to one of its most popular productions: Schubert’s late masterpiece Winterreise, or Winter’s Journey, featuring tenor Benjamin Boskoff. Originally composed for piano and solo voice, this new orchestration by Québécois oboist Normand Forget reimagines Schubert’s work with both orchestral grandeur and beguiling intimacy. Poignant and dramatic, Schubert’s settings of Müller’s poems track the obsession of a brokenhearted wanderer, contrasting inner turmoil with the stark beauty of nature in hibernation.

Schubert, Winterreise, D. 911 arr. Normand Forget for tenor, woodwind quintet & accordion

Benjamin Boskoff, tenor | Norman Menzales, flute | Amy Kolb, oboe | Nick Davies, clarinet | Carolyn Kunicki, horn | Ryan Yamashiro, bassoon | Ronnie Kuller-Murray, accordion

More information & ticketing available soon.

This Spring, The Rossini Club returns to one of its most popular productions: Schubert’s late masterpiece Winterreise, or Winter’s Journey, featuring tenor Benjamin Boskoff. Originally composed for piano and solo voice, this new orchestration by Québécois oboist Normand Forget reimagines Schubert’s work with both orchestral grandeur and beguiling intimacy. Poignant and dramatic, Schubert’s settings of Müller’s poems track the obsession of a brokenhearted wanderer, contrasting inner turmoil with the stark beauty of nature in hibernation.

Schubert, Winterreise, D. 911 arr. Normand Forget for tenor, woodwind quintet & accordion

Benjamin Boskoff, tenor | Norman Menzales, flute | Amy Kolb, oboe | Nick Davies, clarinet | Carolyn Kunicki, horn | Ryan Yamashiro, bassoon | Ronnie Kuller-Murray, accordion

More information & ticketing available soon.

Shades of light and dark form the basis of our final concert for the Spring ‘27 Season. The mercurial music of Franz Schubert never allows the listener to be sure of the tone: at once it is blissfully enlightened, then despairingly melancholy. The otherworldly music of Kaija Saariaho and Eric Wubbels adds new dimension to the idea of chiaroscuro, melding together the natural timbre and resonance of the instruments into something entirely new, sometimes supernatural in sound, at other times mesmerizing and psychedelic.

Schubert, Moment musical in A-flat, D. 780 | Saariaho, Oi kuu for bass clarinet & cello | Eric Wubbels, Tautology & Translation | Schubert, Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat, D. 929

Nick Davies, clarinet | Zachary Ragent, violin | Kevin McFarland, cello | Reed Puleo, percussion | Forrest Howell, piano

More information & ticketing available soon.

Shades of light and dark form the basis of our final concert for the Spring ‘27 Season. The mercurial music of Franz Schubert never allows the listener to be sure of the tone: at once it is blissfully enlightened, then despairingly melancholy. The otherworldly music of Kaija Saariaho and Eric Wubbels adds new dimension to the idea of chiaroscuro, melding together the natural timbre and resonance of the instruments into something entirely new, sometimes supernatural in sound, at other times mesmerizing and psychedelic.

Schubert, Moment musical in A-flat, D. 780 | Saariaho, Oi kuu for bass clarinet & cello | Eric Wubbels, Tautology & Translation | Schubert, Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat, D. 929

Nick Davies, clarinet | Zachary Ragent, violin | Kevin McFarland, cello | Reed Puleo, percussion | Forrest Howell, piano

More information & ticketing available soon.