Press Release

March 29, 2024

For Immediate Release

Sylvan Winds celebrates 45th anniversary season on May 31 at Merkin Hall

"Mighty Winds" program features music by Richard Strauss, Mozart, and Elizabeth Brown

On May 31, 2024 at 7 pm the Sylvan Winds, hailed by the New York Times for their "adventuresome programming and stylishness of performance," celebrates their 45th anniversary season at Kaufman Music Center's Merkin Hall (129 W 67th St., Manhattan). A ticketed reception will follow the concert. Details here.

The program features larger works for winds, including Mozart's Serenade in C minor for 8 players, and Richard Strauss's Suite in Bb Major for 13 players, alongside a contemporary work by Elizabeth Brown. The current members of the ensemble (Svjetlana Kabalin, flute; Kathy Halvorson, oboe; Nuno Antunes, clarinet; Gina Cuffari, bassoon; and Zohar Schondorf, horn) will be joined by former members and guest artists for this special performance.

Sylvan Winds performs Elizabeth Brown's "Petalogue" (2021)

Brown's "Pentalogue" was written for the quintet in 2021 in the shadow of the Black Lives Matter protests and COVID-19 pandemic. "I was trying to write something with beauty and hope, but the five movements contain all my anxiety about breath. Maybe that’s why three dark musical quotes insinuated themselves into my subconscious so many times that I gave up trying to get rid of them," says Brown. The work quotes from a Bach cantata, a Mahler symphony, and "Three Blind Mice."

Over 45 years ago, flutist Svjetlana Kabalin joined forces with her colleagues to form what would become one of the most long-lived wind quintets in the country. Since then, the Sylvan Winds have performed under the auspices of Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, Caramoor International Music Festival, and venues across the globe. They have recorded for Koch Classics, CRI/New World, North/South, and Albany record labels, enjoyed collaborations with such distinguished artists as Gerard Schwarz, Ransom Wilson and the Guarneri String Quartet, and commissioned dozens of works.

Friday, May 31 at 7 pm

Mighty Winds

Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Music Center

129 W 67 St, New York, NY

Tickets are $30 general admission

(Premium seating: $45; Seniors/Students: $25; Children $15)

Sylvan Winds

Svjetlana Kabalin, flute; Kathy Halvorson, oboe;

Nuno Antunes, clarinet; Gina Cuffari, bassoon;

Zohar Schondorf, horn

Program to include:

Elizabeth Brown: Pentalogue

W.A. Mozart: Serenade in C minor, K.388

Richard Strauss: Suite Bb Major, Op. 4

Program subject to change, additional works TBA

These concerts are made possible, in part, with funding from the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council