Kalliope Reed Quintet Performs Jenni Brandon’s, Wildflower Quintet at The Regent Theatre

Kalliope Reed Quintet performs Jenni Brandon’s, Wildflower Quintet  from The Regent Theatre, in Arlington, MA 7:00 PM EST, Sunday, July 25, 2021. This concert will be live-streamed from the Regent Theatre. The Kalliope Reed Quintet, founded in 2019, is the first professional reed quintet in New England and is one of the first 50 reed quintets worldwide.

This is Kalliope’s first 2021 concert back in the venue of their 2020 concert series! Kalliope performs several of their recently commissioned works, including Jenni Brandon’s Wildflower Quintet and Daniel Baldwin’s Seven Colored Earth.

The concert also features a double world premiere with Daniel Burwasser‘s False Awakening and MA-based composer Don Krishnaswami’s Quintet for Reeds. This concert will be live-streamed from the Regent Theatre in Arlington, MA.

The five movements of Jenni Brandon’s The Wildflower Quintet for Reed Quintet (Oboe/English horn, Clarinet, Soprano/Alto Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon) are based on the imagery from several poems by Bette Woolsey Castro, a friend of Lady Bird Johnson who founded the Wildflower Center in Texas. This work, as The Wildflower Trio for oboe, bassoon, and piano, was commissioned by the College of Fine Arts of the University of Texas at Austin to honor the life and environmental work of Lady Bird Johnson.

In this newly re-imagined version for Reed Quintet that was commissioned, coordinated by Natalie Zemba, recorded, and premiered by the Kalliope Quintet. The colors of the quintet add additional voices to the many wildflowers in Texas and across the United States. These instruments help to paint a broad picture of colors, shapes, and majesty of the flowers, and continue to honor the legacy and work of Mrs. Johnson.

I.  Wildflowers
II. Wild Rose and Butterfly
III. The Hummingbird
IV. Indian Paintbrush
V. Summer Garden

Watch Jenni’s interview with Natalie Zemba, Artistic Director and Bassoonist of Kalliope Reed Quintet on Jenni’s Vlog “Work in Progress” where they talk about their collaboration on The Wildflower Quintet.