"There's nothing more meaningful as an artist to have a team around you," says flutist Martha Councell-Vargas of the Western Wind Quintet, who joins colleagues Carlos Lopez and Jeremiah Quarles on WMUK's Let's Hear It to preview a concert at Western Michigan University's Dalton Center Recital Hall on Wednesday, Apr 1 at 7:30 pm.
The Bullock Series concert features two substantial works for wind quintet: Paul Taffanel's Wind Quintet and Samuel Zyman's Wind Quintet. The Western Wind Quintet, which has been in residence at WMU since 1966, presents both pieces in a single program — a pairing the musicians describe as contrasting yet complementary.
Taffanel, a 19th-century Parisian flutist and professor at the Paris Conservatory, is perhaps best known among flutists for his technical exercises. His quintet, however, is something grander. "It feels symphonic," Councell-Vargas says. "On our faces, it feels symphonic," they laugh. The three-movement work unfolds with drama, thick textures, and a spotlight in the second movement for the quintet's horn player.
Zyman, a Mexican-born composer who now teaches at the Juilliard School, wrote his quintet in 1989. Lopez, who is originally from Mexico City, notes that the piece is rarely performed. "The music will speak by itself," he says, "and it's such a contrasting program that we are wanting to share with everybody." Quarles describes the second movement as "dripping with grief," while the finale drives relentlessly forward.
The conversation also ventures into the craft of reed-making, with both Lopez and Quarles discussing how they shape reeds differently depending on repertoire and venue. Quarles notes that for the Taffanel, he favors a slightly brighter, more French-styled reed to bring out the music's vivid colors.
Tickets are available at the door or at wmich.edu/music/events.
The interview was summarized by Claude AI and edited by the author.
