About

Washington Square Winds, a New York-based woodwind quintet, was formed in 2009 by five classically trained musicians passionate about chamber music. Its mission is to seek out, perform, and commission new works, expanding the wind quintet repertoire. The ensemble strives to collaborate with composers of the present generation and cultivate appreciation for contemporary classical music in our communities.

In addition to focusing on compositions and composers from their generation, Washington Square Winds takes an active role in working with the next generation of musicians. In the 2011/2012 academic year, the ensemble volunteered as the Woodwind Quintet in Residence at the Third Street Music School Settlement, where they attended weekly Orchestra rehearsals, dress rehearsals, and performances, acting as mentors and role models for the students. The quintet also co-created an interactive children’s show based on Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, which includes a puppeteer, narrator, and costumes for the musicians.

After a competitive audition process in 2012, Washington Square Winds was chosen to become part of “Music Under New York (MUNY),” a select group of ensembles given the privilege to perform in the city’s subway systems. They play in stations such as Grand Central, Times Square, Columbus Circle, and Penn Station, hoping to reach as many people as possible with their love of chamber music. In 2015, they were interviewed by WQXR and Dan Dunford’s Divergent Paths, and love collaborating with other musicians, such as Oracle Hysterical, Musical Amoeba, and the Balliett Brothers. The quintet has performed at various venues in New York City, such as Spectrum, Caffé Vivaldi, Cornelia Street Café, The New Museum, Lenox Hill Settlement House, LIC Bar, and Googie’s Lounge above The Living Room, as well as in New Jersey and Long Island, and of course their namesake, Washington Square Park.

Music

Traditional Repertoire:
Quintet, Op. 88 in Eb Major, Anton Reicha (1818)
Quintet, Op. 56 in Bb Major, Franz Danzi (1821)
Quintette in G minor, Paul Taffanel (1876)
Eight Russian Folksongs, Anatoly Liadov (1906)
Quintet, Op 41, Edvard Moritz (1907)
La Cheminée Du Roi René, Darius Milhaud (1939)
Three Shanties, Malcom Arnold (1943)

We also have a wide variety of pop arrangements:
The Entertainer, Scott Joplin
Poker Face, Lady Gaga
Teenage Dream, Katy Perry
If I Only Had A Brain, Beauty and the Beast, and other movie tune
Carmen Fantasia, Georges Bizet
Flight of the Bumblebee, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
George M. Cohan Medley
Puttin’ On the Ritz, Irving Berlin
Selections from Fiddler on the Roof, Jerry Block
Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Paul Dukas
Eleanor Rigby and other Beatles Tunes

Finally, we have dozens of new, exciting works that we commissioned ourselves!

Videos

Audio