Imani Winds: We Cannot Walk Alone

This unforgettable evening will include the world premieres of three works that offer new perspectives into our region’s history and new hope for our region’s future. Hailed as “dazzling” and “exhilarating” by The Washington Post, the CMNW favorites and Grammy-nominated Imani Winds return to Chamber Music Northwest after their 2017/18 residency. Known for their dynamic playing, adventurous programming, and imaginative collaborations, the Imani Winds will premiere We Cannot Walk Alone — a groundbreaking collaboration between Chamber Music Northwest, Ashland’s Anima Mundi Productions, and Eugene’s Oregon Bach Festival exploring the lived experiences of diverse composers of the Pacific Northwest.

This concert includes world premiere compositions from Northwest composers Miguel del Águila, Yuan-Chen Li and Damien Geter, and Imani Winds selected works.

Co-Commissioned and premiered in collaboration with Ashland’s Anima Mundi Productions and the Oregon Bach Festival

“The signature contribution of this group [is] at technical ease with extravagant gestures, intense production of sound, and the daring expressive liberties that come only after musicians have developed a sixth sense of ensemble-bonding. Imani’s got it all.”

— The Philadelphia Inquirer

Learn more about Imani Winds

Thank you to co-sponsors Howard Pifer III & Ellen Macke and Marilyn Crilley & George Rowbottom for their generous sponsorship of this concert! Learn about how you can help make the music happen as a sponsor HERE.

Alberta Rose Theatre
Thursday, 4/28 • 7:30 pm PT

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Program

Click on any piece of music below to learn more about it.

SONTONGA Nkosi si ke Leli (South African National Anthem) Arr. Valerie Coleman

Sung originally as a hymn, Enoch Mankayi Sontonga’s 1897 melody Nkosi si ke lel ‘i Afrika focused on text to stir the
heart and give strength to millions during struggles in South African history. Adopted as the African
National Congress anthem, and later as the national anthem of South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia, this
rendition for woodwinds by flutist/composer Valerie Coleman is upbeat and celebratory.
—© Imani Winds

NATHALIE JOACHIM Seen (2021)

i.  Mysterious Flowers
ii. This Old House
iii. Sleeping Baby
iv. Tiny Golden Bells
v. Empty Space

Commissioned by The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC. & premiered March 15, 2021.

JASON MORAN Cane (2008)

(b. 1975)

i. Togo to Natchitoches
ii. Coin Coin’s narrative
iii. Gens libre de couleur
iv. Natchitoches to New York

Commissioned by the Mary Flager Cary Charitable Trust and the Kimmel Center. Premiered at the Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, PA - October 2008.

MIGUEL DEL AGUILA Blindfold Music (Música a ojos vendados) for Wind Quintet (World Premiere)

Written in 2021, Blindfold Music portrays an imaginary meeting of two friends:  Justice (the blind lady holding scales in one hand and a sword in the other); and Law (a man carrying a book and a gavel).

After a distant trumpet is heard, Law arrives to meet Justice who’s awaiting him. As Law’s conversation becomes a dry and preachy monologue, Justice challenges his pronouncements, accusing him of being rigid, subjective, and often misused by those in power and those who win the wars. Law in term accuses Justice of being just a concept, subjective, emotional, abstract and unattainable as he affirms that there wouldn’t be Justice without Law.

The dialogue becomes increasingly agitated as both try to impose their views. They challenge, accuse, mock and finally scream at each other. Then, as they see through the window two mobs violently attacking each other, Law and Justice sadly realize that they are both imperfect and powerless as enduring justice and law comes from within each person and humans have not reached yet the altruistic state where the well-being of others is more important than that of the self. Thus, neither Law nor Justice can be solely imposed from above.  It’s up to each person to fight injustice and pursue a more fair society.

“Blindfold Music conveys my reflection and feelings over recent political events triggered by social injustice. Its concept is also inspired by the 16th century morality plays or allegorical dramas, in which characters personify qualities or abstractions often delivering a moral positive message.”
– Miguel del Aguila

Commissioned by Anima Mundi Productions, Chamber Music Northwest and Oregon Bach Festival for Imani Winds

YUAN-CHEN LI A Railroad to Dreams for Woodwind Quintet (World Premiere)

The new work A Railroad to Dreams for Imani Winds pays tribute to the Asian railroad workers in the Northwest who perished or were expelled in the 19th century. The momentum of the music depicts the intense labor, the dangerous nature of the construction, the sense of teamwork, the horror of political exclusion, and the yearning for building new lives for themselves and their family.

DAMIEN GETER I Said What I Said for Woodwind Quintet (World Premiere)

“I said what I said,” is a phrase that was coined by TV personality NeNe Leakes and has since become a colloquialism in the Black community to emphasize a point – usually one that was mentioned (often repeatedly) a time before. I Said What I Said for Woodwind Quintet will use musical phrases in repetition to symbolize the continuous conversations Black people have about their (our) experiences living in the world, and how we must constantly defend ourselves against those whose equity lens is tainted.

Program Notes

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