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The Calefax Reed Quintet will perform Sunday in Los Alamos.
The Amsterdam-based ensemble Calefax Reed Quintet will present a concert in Los Alamos on Sunday, April 7. It is hosted by the Los Alamos Concert Association.
Established 25 years ago, Calefax is now in great demand worldwide, not least because of the members’ unique instrumentation: oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bass clarinet and bassoon. The five musicians arrange, recompose and interpret music from eight centuries to suit their unique instrumentation.
From early music to classical and jazz to world premieres, in the hands of Calefax it all sounds fresh and new. The ensemble has won a number of prestigious prizes, and can be heard frequently throughout Europe, as well as in Russia, China, India, Turkey, Japan and the United States.
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The Calefax Reed Quintet WHEN: 4 p.m. Sunday, April 7 WHERE: Duane Smith Auditorium, Los Alamos High School, Los Alamos HOW MUCH: $30 in advance at CB Fox and Smith’s grocery stores in Los Alamos, at Nicholas Potter Bookstore and the Lensic Performing Arts Center box office in Santa Fe or online at losalamosconcert.org |
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Calefax has released 16 recordings for the renowned German label MDG, as well as for its own label, Rioja Records, each garnering rave reviews from the international press. Two recent recordings featured CalefaXL (Calefax Extra Large), for which Calefax was expanded to 12 reed players.
In 2004, Calefax started publishing (for online sale) its most successful arrangements in the Calefax Edition. As a result, several reed quintets have been formed all over the world. Through master classes and workshops, the Calefax musicians pass on specific ways of working to new generations. For musicians, composers and audiences, Calefax continues to be an inspiring chamber music laboratory.
The Los Alamos concert will feature five pieces, all with a French twist: Jean-Philippe Rameau’s “Nouvelle Suite,” Maurice Ravel’s “Menuet Antique,” Kurt Weill’s “Kleine Dreigroschenmusik,” Claude Debussy’s “Suite Bergamasque” and George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris.”
The San Francisco Classical Voice notes “with a wider dynamic range than strings, and breath that can last longer than a single bow stroke, the Calefax achieved some stunning phrasing. Debussy’s ocean-like swells were prime examples of this. It was a luxury to hear them in such artistic hands in this unusual instrumentation.”
