The Borealis Wind Quintet to Perform at Mount St. Mary’s University on October 26

The Borealis Wind Quintet will perform in Mount St. Mary’s University’s Knott Auditorium on Friday, October 26. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

The Borealis Wind Quintet has received accolades for their finesse and style. Their remarkable ensemble playing is a result of a long musical collaboration focused not only on detail and precision, but also on carefully conceived musical interpretations. Their goal is to blend sparkling virtuosity with musical integrity in programs that are appealing and richly rewarding to the audience.

Borealis has won numerous awards and prizes, including grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and Chamber Music America. They have toured throughout the United States with notable performances at Carnegie Hall's Weill Concert Hall, the Frick Museums in New York City and Pittsburgh, and Wolf Trap in Virginia. They have also performed on prestigious series such as the Four Seasons in Berkeley, Strathmore in Baltimore, the Corning Glass Museum in NY and Sun City in Arizona. Princeton, Yale, Notre Dame, Brown, the Universities of Missouri, Maine, North Texas, Pennsylvania, and Virginia are just a few of the schools at which Borealis has played. Their well received performances have resulted in numerous re engagements across the country.

The quintet is dedicated to presenting educational programs in conjunction with their performances. They have been in residence at the Newport Music Festival, Bucknell and in Ellsworth, Maine and have ongoing programs for the Connecticut public school system. They have presented workshops and masterclasses at preschools through universities and have provided community educational programs in conjunction with concert performances.

Borealis has recorded four CD's. "Discoveries" (on the Helicon label) presents three new tonal works, featuring "The Roaring Fork Wind Quintet" by Eric Ewazen, commissioned by the Borealis. "Borealis:Live" is an unedited concert performance at the University of Missouri in Kansas City and has been praised by the American Record Guide as "stellar, warm, vivacious and richly vibrant". "Arias for Winds", an instrumental adaptation of opera's finest vocal arias, is called "the stuff dreams are made of" by the Musical Heritage Review. "A la Carte", is a melange of audience favorites including the little known work, "Pastorale", by Mrs. H.H.A. Beach to the dazzling "Potpourris Fantastico sul Barbieri di Siviglia" by Guilio Briccialdi,and is a 2006 Grammy nominee.

For more information please contact Michelle Venzin at 301-447-5308.