Program Notes
Uncommon Voices: Music for Wind Quintet

Musicians

Jennifer Nelson, clarinet; Wendy Wilhelmi, flute; Shannon Spicciati, oboe; Mona Butler, bassoon; Rodger Burnett, horn

Recorded at Soos Creek Botanical Garden, September 2020

Program

4:50 - Folk Suite No. 4 - Composed by William Grant Still
11:17 - Summer Evening at Ile-Ife - Composed by Godwin Sadoh
15:32 - Autumn Music - Composed by Jennifer Higdon
29:36 - Woodland Wind Quintet - Composed by Gwyneth Walker

Program Notes

Folk Suite No. 4 is made up of three Latin folk songs originally arranged for flute, clarinet, piano, and cello. The first is El Monigote, a traditional children's song from Venezuela about a grotesque puppet. The second is called Anda Buscando de Rosa en Rosa and is still sung in Mexico. The words are, "I am a worthless butterfly that goes flitting from rose to rose seeking the soft breath of passion." Tayeras, the third song in the series, refers to Brazil's negro folk singers much like negro spirituals of North America. This song is a traditional call and response. William Grant Still has many many firsts to his credit. He was the first American composer, American composer to have an opera produced by New York City Opera. He was also the first African American to conduct a professional orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Summer Evening at Ile-Ife by Nigerian composer Godwin Sadoh. Sadoh is an ethnomusicologist, composer, organist, and choir director. He immigrated to the United States early in his career and is the first Nigerian to receive a terminal degree on an instrument. He got a PhD in organ performance from LSU. Summer Evening at Ile-Ife describes a city in the ancient Yoruba kingdom that was a place of an early origin myth where mankind emerged as clay figures from the soil. The peace itself is full of joy. It's ebullient with folk elements and we love playing it.

Autumn Music by Jennifer Higdon. Jennifer Higdon is an award-winning American composer who is currently on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She wrote this piece as an homage to a very well-known woodwind quintet called Summer Music by Samuel Barber. Higdon wrote about the piece, "Autumn comes to us in many guises, incredible explosions of color, air that suddenly snaps with christmas and clarity, a tinge of melancholy on the eve of change in all of our lives. This piece is a musical portrait of the essence and images of autumn."

Woodland Wind Quintet by American composer Gwyneth Walker. Gwyneth Walker was born in New York City in 1947 and was on the faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music for many years. Dr. Walker moved to Vermont in 1982 where she still lives on a dairy farm. This piece was commissioned by the family of a young woman who passed away and also by the director of the Woodland Wind Quintet, thus the title of the piece. 

Musician Bio’s

Rodger Burnett, Principal French horn of the Auburn Symphony, has been principal horn and personnel manager of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra since its founding. A graduate of Illinois State University and the University of Washington, he studied with Christopher Leuba, David Krehbiel and Julie Landsman. Mr. Burnett participated in the Aspen, Claremont, and New College Festivals and was a finalist in the Heldenleben International Horn Competition. He was a member of the Hong Kong Philharmonic from 1980-81. Mr. Burnett was Principal horn of the Northwest Chamber Orchestra and performs frequently with the Seattle Symphony, 5th Avenue and Paramount Theaters, and Seattle Opera, with which he has performed all four Wagner tuba parts in the Ring Cycle. He has appeared as soloist with Northwest Chamber Orchestra and the Auburn Symphony. Mr. Burnett currently serves on the faculties at the University of Puget Sound and Seattle Pacific University and teaches privately on Mercer Island and in Seattle. 

Mona S. Butler is a founding member of both Pacific Northwest Ballet and Auburn Symphony Orchestras where she holds dual positions of Principal Bassoon and Music Librarian. Born in Washington DC, Mona has lived and performed in Decorah, Iowa, Los Angeles, California, Chicago, Illinois and Tel Aviv, Israel where she played bassoon for the Israel Philharmonic, Israel Chamber and Jerusalem Symphony Orchestras. Mona earned bassoon performance degrees from University of Southern California and Northwestern University. She then settled in Seattle where she raised her family and performed with Northwest Chamber, Seattle Opera and Seattle Symphony Orchestras. As bassoonist with the renown Northwoods Wind Quintet she has entertained and enlightened young audiences throughout the state for the Washington State Cultural Enrichment Program. Today’s program is the third time Mona has played for the Auburn Symphony Orchestra Chamber Music Series.

Jennifer Nelson received her undergraduate degree in Music Performance from USC as a student of Mitchell Lurie, and continued her clarinet studies at Temple University where she was a student of Anthony Gigliotti. Jennifer plays Principal Clarinet with Pacific Northwest Ballet and Auburn Symphony Orchestras. She also has a very active freelance career, including playing Broadway-style shows at the Fifth Avenue and Paramount Theaters, occasional extra with Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera orchestras, and records for various television and motion picture scores. Jennifer is an Affiliate Artist in Clarinet at the University of Puget Sound, and maintains a very busy private teaching studio in her home in north Seattle. Ms. Nelson has also traveled throughout the United States with the national touring companies of Phantom of the Opera and New York City Opera. In addition to her stateside concerts, orchestral and recital performances have taken her to Mexico, Japan, Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria, Honduras, Sweden, and India.

Shannon Spicciati is principal oboist with the Northwest Sinfonietta and Auburn Symphony, and is a faculty member and Affiliate Artist at Pacific Lutheran University. Ms. Spicciati enjoys an active performance and teaching career in the Seattle metropolitan area. She has played extensively with the Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera on oboe and English horn, and has been featured as soloist with SSO on two occasions, performing Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #2 and William Bergsma’s “In Campo Aperto”. She has performed with the Oregon Symphony, Pacific Northwest Ballet orchestra, Tacoma Symphony and numerous other ensembles.  She has participated in many festivals, including the Oregon Coast Music Festival, Icicle Creek Music Festival in Leavenworth, WA, the Marrowstone Music Festival and the Schlossfestspiele in Heidelberg, Germany. Ms. Spicciati holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Washington.

Wendy Wilhelmi is active as a teacher and performer throughout the Pacific Northwest, frequently playing with some of the region’s finest ensembles, including Auburn Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera, Northwest Sinfonietta and Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra.  For two seasons Wendy served as assistant principal flute and piccolo of the Vancouver (BC) Symphony and prior to that engagement was a regular member of the Spokane Symphony for ten years. Ms. Wilhelmi received her Bachelor of Music in music history magna cum laude from the University of Washington, and her Masters of Music in flute performance from Northwestern University where she studied with Walfrid Kujala. She was principal flute of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and co-principal flute of the Philarmonica de Queretaro (Mexico) prior to returning to her native Northwest. In 1998 Ms. Wilhelmi won first place in the National Flute Association’s Piccolo Artist Competition.  When not playing or teaching the flute, Wendy can be found studying romance languages, running, hiking, biking or helping out in her family’s winery and tasting room in Seattle.