Grammy-nominated Imani Winds to premiere new works by Pacific Northwest composers co-commissioned by Anima Mundi Productions, Chamber Music Northwest, & Oregon Bach Festival
Sunday, May 1 at 3pm at the SOU Music Hall in Ashland
Ashland, Oregon—Ashland-based nonprofit Anima Mundi Productions has partnered with Portland-based Chamber Music Northwest and the Eugene-based Oregon Bach Festival to present Grammy-nominated Imani Winds to premiere co-commissioned compositions by three Pacific Northwest composers of color that offer new perspectives into our region’s history and new hope for the region’s future.
We Cannot Walk Alone
We Cannot Walk Alone is both the name of the concert and also the name of an ambitious project initiated and led by Anima Mundi Productions to commission and premiere seven new works by Black, Indigenous, Asian, and Latino composers. Learn more on the organization’s website.
Imani Winds
Hailed as “dazzling” and “exhilarating” by The Washington Post, Imani Winds have led both a revolution and evolution of the wind quintet through their dynamic playing, adventurous programming, and imaginative collaborations over their two decades of music making. In 2016, Imani Winds received their greatest accolade in their 20 years of music-making: a permanent presence in the classical music section of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC.
Youth and family outreach
Anima Mundi Productions has partnered with Portland Public Schools and southern Oregon-based AfroScouts, Unite Oregon, and Southern Oregon ESD to create opportunities for young people to attend Imani Winds performance and engage with the performers.
Part of a larger movement
Co-directors Ethan Gans-Morse and Tiziana DellaRovere have stated that “with We Cannot Walk Alone, Anima Mundi Productions is taking part in a growing movement to open up long-barricaded spaces and inviting collaboration with performing artists and composers of color. We have missed so much by ignoring the tremendous contributions of our fellow artists. And while we can never reclaim all the beauty and bounty that have been lost over the centuries, we can restore a missing puzzle piece that never should have been excluded in the first place.”
Program
While the ensemble embraces traditional chamber music repertoire, as a 21st-century group Imani Winds is devoutly committed to expanding the wind quintet repertoire by premiering music from new voices that reflect historical events and the times in which we currently live.
For this program, Anima Mundi Productions, Chamber Music Northwest, and Oregon Bach Festival have co-commissioned new works by Washington-based Miguel del Águila and Oregon-based Yuan-Chen Li (Oregon), and Damien Geter (Oregon). The concert will also include works selected by Imani Winds: Sontonga’s Nkosi si ke Leli (South African National Anthem) arranged by Valerie Coleman, Nathalie Joachim’s Seen (2021), and Jason Moran’s Cane (2008).
Imani Winds: We Cannot Walk Alone
DATE: Sunday, May 1, 2022 @ 3:00pm
VENUE: SOU Music Recital Hall
450 S Mountain Ave, Ashland, OR 97520
TICKETS: www.HumanityTickets.com
(541) 833-3066
tickets@animamundiproductions.com
Special reduced ticket pricing is available at the door for students under 25 and Oregon Trail cardholders. Please arrive 30 minutes early to purchase discounted tickets.
For further inquiries: Please contact executive director Ethan Gans-Morse at 541-778-1211.
Click the button below to read about the Imani Winds premiering Northwest composers at Alberta Rose Theatre in Portland.
.
