Wind Ensemble

Download Program

Parking

The importance of philanthropy has never been greater. Please consider a gift to the School of Music to support our mission and ensure the future of music at UNCG.

Join Our Email List

Instagram

Facebook

X

YouTube

Jonathan Caldwell , conductor Akropolis Reed Quintet Patty Saunders , graduate conductor

Program

IDA GOTKOVSKY Poème du feu (1980)

CHARLES IVES The Alcotts from Piano Sonata No. 2, "Concord, Mass. 1840–60" (1920/1972) arranged by Richard E. Thurston

JOHANN DE MEIJ Un momento dado (2021)

MATT BROWNE Keep It Up (2026)

About the Program

The UNCG Wind Ensemble welcomes the GRAMMY® Award-winning Akropolis Reed Quinte t for a dynamic collaboration showcasing the quintet's remarkable virtuosity, expressive range, and distinctive sound. At the center of the program is Johann de Meij's Un momento dado , which brings the two ensembles together in an expansive work filled with color, energy, and vivid musical contrasts.

The concert also explores the breadth of the wind repertoire through works by three compelling American and European voices. Ida Gotkovsky's Poème du feu evokes the intensity and transformative power of fire, while Charles Ives's "The Alcotts" offers a reflective musical portrait inspired by the transcendentalist world of Concord, Massachusetts. Matt Browne's Keep It Up brings the program to an energetic close with rhythmic drive and infectious momentum.

Together, these works move from fiery brilliance and contemplative lyricism to sweeping musical storytelling, highlighting the rich colors and expressive possibilities of winds.

Back to Program

About the Guest Artists

Akropolis Reed Quintet

Founded in 2009, the Billboard-charting, 7-time national prize-winning Akropolis Reed Quintet is "a sonically daring ensemble who specializes in performing new works with charisma and integrity" (BBC Music Magazine). In 2025, the ensemble made history as the lead ensemble on the GRAMMY® Award-winning recording of Strands by Pascal Le Boeuf, which won Best Instrumental Composition at the 67th Annual GRAMMY® Awards.

Comprising five reed players and entrepreneurs unbounded by limits or categorization, Akropolis has graced the Classical Billboard Charts with each of their last three albums, including #2 in April, 2024, and has won seven national chamber music prizes including the 2014 Fischoff Gold Medal. Having premiered and commissioned more than 200 works by living artists and composers, they are pioneers and champions of a new genre of classical music—the reed quintet.

Composed of the same five members that brought about its founding over 15 years ago at the University of Michigan, they are the first ensemble to receive the University's Paul M. Boylan Alumni Award. Akropolis delivers 120 concerts and educational events worldwide each year at luminary series including Tanglewood, Bravo! Vail…