Imani Winds Celebrates Its Tenth Anniversary with World Premiere of Cane,
October 10, 2008
"Imani Winds will not just rock the house, but blow the roof off!"
Imani Winds celebrates its 10th anniversary with the world premiere of Cane, a Kimmel Center co-commissioned work composed by jazz pianist Jason Moran, on Friday, October 24, 2008 at 7:30pm in Perelman Theater. The Grammy®- nominated wind quintet brings color, vivacity and intimacy to every concert with a vastly expanding classical repertoire. African, Asian and Middle Eastern cultures all take shape, as the quintet pushes the boundaries of classical music to fuse jazz with mixed media. As part of its 10th anniversary celebration, Imani Winds will introduce 10 new works written by established and emerging composers over a period of five years, known as the Legacy Commissioning Project. Also on the program will be works by Astor Piazzolla, György Ligeti and Wayne Shorter.
"Imani Winds represents nothing less than the future of the once-quaint notion of the wind quintet"
An Artist Chat with members of Imani Winds and Kimmel Center Director of Programming Tom Warner will take place on Perelman Theater stage following the ticketed performance.
This is the first performance in the Fresh Ink Series scheduled for the Kimmel Center Presents 2008-09 season. The next concert in the series will be Bang on a Can All-Stars with Special Guest Glenn Kotche of Wilco on Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 7:30pm.
Tickets for Imani Winds are $19 and $32 and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply.) For group sales call 215-790-5883.
A limited number of $10 tickets are available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance at the Kimmel Center. Tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office beginning 2.5 hours prior to evening curtain time and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one ticket per person.
Since its inception in 1997, Imani Winds has continued to fulfill its mission to expand the wind quintet repertoire and diversify sources of new music. Through commissions and performance, the quintet regularly collaborates with other artists, such as vocalist René Marie and choreographer Christopher Huggins in the highly-acclaimed work Josephine Baker: A Life of Le Jazz Hot! (2007). In 2006, Imani Winds performed the world premiere of Terra Incognita, the first-ever commission for classical artists by legendary saxophonist-composer Wayne Shorter, and has shared the stage with cellist Yo-Yo Ma to perform Jeff Scott's arrangement of Piazzolla's Libertango. The ensemble has also worked with luminaries such as renowned clarinetist/saxophonist/composer Paquito D'Rivera, bandoneonist Daniel Binelli, saxophonist Steve Coleman, clarinetist David Shifrin, and pianists Gilbert Kalish and Shai Wosner. Future collaborations include jazz vibraphonist Stefon Harris and clarinetist David Krakauer.
In 2007-08, Imani Winds performed extensively with Wayne Shorter, culminating in a summer European tour of jazz festivals. In 2008-09, the group will play several engagements with the Wayne Shorter Quartet, including dates at Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and Is Sanat Art and Culture Centre in Istanbul. Imani Winds’ major label debut, The Classical Underground on Koch Entertainment, was released in January 2005 and nominated for a Grammy® in 2006. The quintet was also a 2007 ASCAP Concert Awards Honoree for innovative programming and successful career in concert music.
The quintet’s first holiday album, This Christmas, is scheduled for release in November 2008.
Houston-native Jason Moran has distinguished himself as a trailblazing pianist and composer, blending stride piano, avant-garde jazz, classical, hip hop and spoken word. He has received the 2005 Pianist of the Year award by the Jazz Journalist's Association and was honored as a United States Artist Fellow in 2007. His trio, Jason Moran and The Bandwagon, with bassist Tarus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits was awarded the 2005 Small Ensemble of the Year award by the Jazz Journalist's Association. Moran has appeared as a sideman on several critically acclaimed new releases, including Rabo De Nube (2008) with Charles Lloyd and Loverly (2008) with Cassandra Wilson. His trio will also be featured as the rhythm section for trance blues musician Otis Taylor’s upcoming release. In addition, Moran will premiere a new work commissioned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in response to traveling exhibit, Gee's Bend Quilts, in December 2008. Moran has previously appeared at the Kimmel Center with Dianne Reeves in 2007 and with Terence Blanchard in 2002
Kimmel Center Presents’ 2008/2009 Season is sponsored by Citi. The Great Orchestras On Tour Series is supported by ARCWheeler. Additional support is provided by the University of Pennsylvania Health System, American Express, and Interpark. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. In-kind support is generously provided by Deloitte. NBC-10 is a media partner for Kimmel Center Presents.
The Fresh Ink Series has been funded by The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, through the Philadelphia Music Project.
Free in the Plaza programming and subsidized tickets offered to the community and social service groups for $10 are made possible through the Wachovia Gateway to the Arts Community Access Program, supported by a generous grant from the Wachovia Foundation.
The Kimmel Center is the recipient of partnership funding through the nationally recognized PNC "Grow Up Great" initiative, a ten-year, $100 million investment in preparing children for success in school and life. Funding gives support to the Kimmel Center’s early childhood program “Bop and Swing,” an arts program for children 1-5 years old, designed to promote an appreciation for American culture.
KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS SPONSORED BY CITI
Friday, October 24, 2008 | 7:30pm
Perelman Theater
Fresh Ink Series
Imani Winds
Valerie Coleman, flute
Toyin Spellman-Diaz, oboe
Mariam Adam, clarinet
Jeff Scott, French horn
Monica Ellis, bassoon
TOYIN SPELLMAN-DIAZ: Call and Response
GYÖRGY LIGETI: Ten pieces for wind quintet
VALERIE COLEMAN: Speech and Canzone
JASON MORAN: Cane*
WAYNE SHORTER: Terra Incognita**
ASTOR PIAZZOLLA: (Arr. Jeff Scott): Contrabajissimo
*WORLD PREMIERE. Written for Imani Winds, made possible through the generous support of The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and The Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust.
**Written for Imani Winds. Commissioned by the La Jolla Music Society, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Da Camera of Houston, and the Library of Congress. Premiered in La Jolla, CA in August 2006.
Friday, October 24, 2008 | Post-show
Perelman Theater Stage | Artist Chat
The ticketed performance by Imani Winds in Perelman Theater will be followed by an Artist Chat with members of the group and the Kimmel Center’s Director of Programming Tom Warner.
> index of news releases
> For more information, and to request high resolution images for press use, please
send us a message online.