In terms of an ensemble profoundly shaking up a repertoire, the string quartet has the Kronos Quartet, and contemporary chamber music has had Speculum Musicae. The woodwind quintet right now is lucky to have Imani Winds, which played Sunday afternoon for what the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society said was the society's final concert in the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Van Pelt Auditorium before the 400-seat hall is demolished for the next phase of museum renovations. (A museum spokesperson could not confirm plans for demolition.)
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It’s inevitable that, after 18 years, the spiky edges of the exuberance and artistic risk-taking that have characterized Imani Winds’ performances are being smoothed into a cool professional veneer. A quintet of skilled and spirited musicians, they were at the University of Maryland’s Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center on Thursday, playing expertly but more carefully than in the past.
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"[The] ensemble is strikingly virtuosic, immaculately tight, stylistically agile, and they know how to engage the audience with sincere, succinct and thoughtful comments about the music they perform."
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“We have a distinct advantage when working with someone who’s not used to composing classical music: We have two composers who can powwow with him.” — oboist Toyin Spellman, Imani Winds
— Brett Campbell, San Francisco Classical Voice
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Great credit must be given to the Imani Winds (Valerie Coleman, flute, Toyin Spellman Diaz, oboe, Marian Adam, clarinet, Jeff Scott, French horn, and Monica Ellis, bassoon) and the superb pianist Cory Smythe for a daring performance.
— Richard Storm, Sarasota Herald Tribune
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“I definitely think that we have created a new version of what the wind quintet is,” said Mariam Adam, clarinetist with the globetrotting, New York City-based Imani Winds, in a recent phone interview.
— Jennifer Hambrick, WOSU
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Imani Winds, which says it is the only full-time touring American wind quintet, will visit Columbus for a concert on Sunday in the King Arts Complex.
— Bill Mayr, The Columbus Dispatch
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For a woodwind quintet with classical music at its foundation, the Grammy-nominated Imani Winds is very restless, always working to cross borders in music.
— Mark Wedel, Kalamazoo Gazette
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If anybody deserves a lavish three-hour “composer portrait” concert, it’s Valerie Coleman. The esteemed Imani Winds flutist and founder got just that at Symphony Space in a program featuring her bandmates along with the Da Capo Chamber Players and other musicians.
— Lucid Culture
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Their goal is simple: “to bring new people out to our concerts and pull people away from the string quartet with their ears.”
— Phil Drew, Troy Record
Formed in 1997, the Grammy-nominated quintet still boasts the same personnel and has a following on at least two continents.
— Geraldine Freedman, Schenectady Daily Gazette
Formed in 1997, the Grammy-nominated quintet still boasts the same personnel and has a following on at least two continents.
— Geraldine Freedman, Schenectady Daily Gazette
Arizona Friends of Chamber Music is hosting a wind quintet in concert on Wednesday, something it hasn’t done in more than 25 years.
— Cathalena Burch, Arizona Daily Star
Come Monday night inside Ashurst Hall on the NAU campus, those lucky enough to procure tickets will get to hear one of the most successful chamber music ensembles in the United States — the Imani Winds.
— Betsey Bruner, Arizona Daily Sun
"Imani Winds isn’t your typical wind quintet. Although it plays the standard classical repertoire, it also sinks its teeth into jazz, Latino, African, Middle Eastern and any other style of music that strikes its fancy."
— George Bulanda, Detroit News
"Imani Winds, a woodwind sextet that has earned a reputation as one of the most important and versatile young chamber ensembles on the scene, makes two enticing appearances courtesy of the Chamber Music Society of Detroit."
— Mark Stryker, Detroit Free Press