On Sunday, the Geneseo Wind Quintet performed at the Presbyterian Church on Center Street to a packed crowd of eager students, supportive friends and musical enthusiasts.
The Wind Quintet is composed of Glennda Dove Pellito on flute, Allison Franco on oboe, Ernest Lascell on clarinet, Martha Sholl on bassoon, and Mary Hunt on the horn. Joining the usual line up at this concert was guest artist Barbara Dechario, who gave a stunning performance on the harp in a duo piece with Pellito.
The concert began with the piece featuring Dechario, "Sonata for Flute and Harp" by J.B. Krumpholtz. Dechario described the second movement as sounding like "…a music box." She and Pellito showcased the dynamics that can be created between their respective instruments through a powerful performance of the three-movement piece, which met with great approval from the audience.
Another duo played next, this time pitting Lascell against Sholl in Francis Poulenc's "Sonata for Clarinet and Bassoon." The piece was lively with a quick tempo, and provided a challenging test for these seasoned musicians. However, both managed to complete it with skill, to the great satisfaction of the audience, whose applause only further confirmed their success with the sonata.
The next performance, Gioacchino Rossini's "Quartet No. 4," involved four members of the quintet, excluding Hunt. This choice of music provided a nice change of pace in the concert, featuring longer notes and a slower tempo, as opposed to the more lively natures of the preceding musical selections.
Finally, the entire Quintet performed an intense and exciting piece called "Roaring Fork" composed by Eric Ewazen. This piece included movements named "Whitewater Rapids," "Columbines," and "At the Summit," and the performance of each brought forth images of such locations to the minds of the listeners. The quintet did an excellent job of evoking the sensation of nature and the thrill of the outdoors with their playing, and was met with a rousing round of applause at the close of this final number.
The Geneseo Wind Quintet performs several free concerts throughout the academic year, which are a wonderful activity for students seeking a bit of musical culture in their free time. Their schedule for the remainder of the spring semester can be found on the SUNY Geneseo homepage.