Artistry coupled with chemistry eminently qualify Quantum Winds, a local chamber ensemble, to play a varied program of modern pieces with ties to the bay area.
By ROBERT HICKS
Published June 19, 2003
[Times photo: Toni L. Sandys]
Mark Sforzini, principal bassoonist with the Florida Orchestra, is a member of the chamber ensemble Quantum Winds, which tonight presents a concert that features composers in the Tampa Bay Composer’s Forum.
Quantum Winds, a chamber ensemble comprised of current and former principals of the Florida Orchestra, reveals a lot about itself in its name.
"Quantum refers to a basic unit of radiant energy in physics. Radiant energy is a great phrase to associate with a chamber ensemble," says bassoonist Mark Sforzini. "Quantum also means a sum or an amount. A chamber group must have a great chemistry and play off of each other," he adds. "Then the players' strengths are magnified. It becomes more than just the individuals. It becomes a sum of its parts."
Tonight, Quantum Winds is performing at the Palladium Theater in St. Petersburg in a concert featuring composers from the Tampa Bay Composer's Forum. The program includes Tom Catell's Piano Sextet in B Minor, The Wood Thrush; J.C. Kilbourne's Two for Wind Quintet; Vernon Taranto Jr.'s Head Game for Wind Trio; Peter Blauvelt's Myth for Wind Quintet and Piano, and Joan O. Epstein's Arborvitae for woodwind quintet.
The ensemble consists of Sforzini, flutist Catherine Landmeyer, oboist Martin Hebert, clarinetist Brian Moorehead and horn player Richard Sparrow. Blauvelt is the featured pianist on his piece, and Cory Hall is the pianist for Catell's composition.
During the ensemble's rehearsals for tonight's performance, Epstein's piece particularly fascinated the musicians. They will play the second and third movements, titled Tender Structures and Dendro Dance, from her large 23-minute work.
"We decided to end the concert with this because the final movement is so exciting," says Sforzini. "There's a repeating section of mixed meter that lays down a very catchy, dancelike ostinato. It's really intriguing to the ear what Joan does once she establishes this pattern and different instruments enter the dance, so to speak. For instance, the bassoon in one place plays opposite the rest of the group in these fast mixed meters. After we finished playing that section in rehearsal, someone said, "Hey, quit throwing punches at us.' "
Sforzini describes Blauvelt's composition as a simple, formally structured piece with sophisticated variations in tonal colors and recurring themes. Blauvelt, who founded the Tampa Bay Composers' Forum in 1989, calls his piece a "narrative from another time."
"The piano part struck all of us," says Sforzini. "The piano often functions as a color along with the other instruments as opposed to dominating the textures thematically like it might in a Mozart piano quintet or a Beethoven piano quintet."
In contrast, Taranto's Head Game is jazzy with recurrent themes. Its slower middle section, Sforzini says, explores the lyrical qualities of the flute, clarinet and bassoon.
There's a certain playfulness to Kilbourne's Two. Sforzini observes that the oboe and bassoon attempt to find one another in an ever-changing musical landscape, while the other instruments try to keep them apart.
Catell, 70, describes his Wood Thrush as a neo-Baroque piece employing old forms with a spirit of youthful rebellion. He began composing the suite in Garrison, N.Y., during the 1940s. When he moved to Florida in 1972, he lost the score, but two decades later, his brother found it in an attic in the family's house in Garrison. Working closely with Taranto, he has transformed its fugue section into a birdlike song.
Sforzini, Landmeyer and horn player Gene Berger formed Quantum Winds in March 1996 with the idea of performing chamber music that ranges from Beethoven, Bizet, Hayden and Mahler to August Klughardt, Gunther Schuller, Carl Nielsen, Scott Joplin, George Gershwin and the Beatles.
"It feels like we're gathering momentum to do more concerts again," says Sforzini. "We were very active in '96 and '97, then we didn't do very much. Now we're excited about new projects. We hope to record and perform outside Florida."
PREVIEW: Quantum Winds, 7:30 tonight, Palladium Theater, 253 Fifth Ave. N, St. Petersburg. $10 general, $8 seniors, $5 youth. 727 822-3590; or www.palladiumtheater.com
