CHEBOYGAN — The Chamberfest Cheboygan series continues at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 23, with the Houston-based ensemble WindSync.
They will perform at the historic Opera House with a program that includes music by Beethoven, Debussy and Rameau, as well as contemporary American composers. The concert on Thursday will mark the first time that this noted quintet has performed in Northern Michigan.
WindSync has established itself as a vibrant chamber ensemble performing wind quintet masterworks, adapting beloved music to their instrumentation, and championing new works by today’s composers. The quintet eliminates the "fourth wall" between musicians and audience by often performing from memory, creating an intimate connection.
This personal performance style, combined with the ensemble’s three-pronged mission of artistry, education, and community-building, lends WindSync its reputation as “a group of virtuosos who are also wonderful people, too," according to Alison Young of Classical MPR.
WindSync launched an international touring career after winning the 2012 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition and the 2016 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. In 2018, they were medalists at the M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition.
WindSync has appeared in recital at the Met Museum, Ravinia, Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. In 2015, the quintet was invited by the Library of Congress to perform the world premiere of Paul Lansky’s “The Long and the Short of it,” commissioned by the Carolyn Royall Just Fund and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
Other premieres include “The Cosmos,” a concerto for wind quintet and orchestra by Pulitzer finalist Michael Gilbertson, and works by Ivan Trevino, John Steinmetz, Marc Mellits, Erberk Eryilmaz, and Akshaya Avril Tucker.
In April 2022 the group released a new album, “All Worlds, All Times” on the label Bright Shiny Things, featuring music by living composers.
A reception with light food and drink will follow the performance on the Opera House stage, providing an opportunity for the public to meet the visiting performers. This concert will be recorded by Interlochen Public Radio for re-broadcast on their stations.
Tickets to the performance are free for students and $25 for Adults. They are available online at theoperahouse.org/tickets, by phone 231-627-5841, or at the box office, which is open 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, as well as three hours prior to show time.