Five Piece Combo Campaign Ends Soon!

THANK YOU to everyone who’s shown their support for our next recording project by backing our Five Piece Combo campaign to release a recording of the suites for wind quintet by Don Gillis! If you’ve been waiting to contribute, now’s the time! We are making great progress, but we are still about $1000 away from reaching our goal, with only 44 hours to go.



In case you’re new to Kickstarter, the way it works is that if we don’t reach our goal, we don’t get any of the money, and you won’t be charged. This ensures that when the campaign is over, we have enough funding to complete the project to the standards we’ve set forth, and you’ll receive your CD or other reward. Click here to become a backer and help us reach our goal!

We’d like to thank the latest round of backers who’ve helped us get this far: Rick Hardy, Ryan & Heather Hyde Wargo, Glenn Coates, Rachel Woolf, Peter Magganas, one of our favorite composers Sean Friar, K Sheeran, Sharon Thompson, Becky Emory, Aleks Karjaka, Linda Kurita, Debbie Brooks, Heather Schimp-Test, Rodolfo Martinez, Brian H, Chapman Welch, Manzar Elahi, Philip, Thomas & Lisa Leise, Mark P, the RAINZ Wind Quintet, Kate Pritchett, Chris Dickhaus, Alyssa Hedenstrom, Linda Lancaster, Christian Ortiz, Claire Choquette, Liz, David MacDonald, Ann Thiemann, Melanie Pozdol, and Helen Schenk.

Comments Off on Five Piece Combo Campaign Ends Soon!

2015 Texas Tour a Success!

Our Kickstarter campaign to release our next album Five Piece Combo is gathering momentum. Before sharing some tour pics with you, we need to thank a big round of recent backers. Our deepest appreciation goes to: Miguel Cantu, Justin Allen, George B. Kopf, Phil Schenk, Andrew Balettie, Patricia Surman (a founding member of Madera from back in the day!), Sidney Steward, Stephen Lucas, Raymond Rowell, Kellie Lignitz, Kevin Winter, Matthew Hiller, Leah Greenfield, Arne Running (whose awesome piece Aria and Quodlibet we performed on our recent tour), Scott Henkel, Rachel Sorgi, Peggy Moran, Matt Starling (who released our first album Five at Play!), Bradley Hardin, John Platt, David Summar, Randall Ray, Cheryl Glitz, Will Clifton, Barbara Dixon, Erin Lensing, Lynette Westendorf, Brandon Kelly, Tyler Mire, John Hackathorn, Drew Zaremba, Steve, Betty Winter, Alison McQueen, Richard Hart, and the one and only founding oboist of Madera, Keith Bjorklund!

With only one week left in the campaign, we appreciate your continued support in backing our project and helping to spread the word!

In the meantime, we wanted to let you know that our 2015 Texas Tour was a success! Despite challenges including muscle spasms, sick babies, and hotel coffee, we played seven great concerts and got to share our love and knowledge of chamber music with amazing students throughout the state of Texas. Oh, and audiences LOVED the Don Gillis pieces we played on tour! Here are some photos from our trek to Tyler, Denton, Nacogdoches, Corpus Christi, Kingsville and San Antonio:

Performing at Banter Bistro in Denton

Master classes at Stephen F. Austin State University

Q&A session with students at Texas A&M – Kingsville

Coaching the Pentasonic Winds student quintet at Texas A&M – Kingsville

Rehearsing in the beautiful Texas A&M – Corpus Christi Performing Arts Center

Performing to a great crowd at the Texas Music Educators Association Convention

MW on the road!

Comments Off on 2015 Texas Tour a Success!

Texas Tour in Progress!

We’ve had a great pair of concerts at UT-Tyler and at Banter Bistro in Denton, and now we’re off to Stephen F. Austin State in Nacogdoches! And, we have some more people to thank, because the Kickstarter campaign for our next recording Five Piece Combo is right on track at 20% of our goal. A very big thank-you to our newest backers: Dan Phillips, Jim Elicker, Cindi Allington, Joanna Castillo, Natalie Lorch, Sean Murphy, Tammy Lim, Jenna Yoder, Beth Yoder, Brad Haefner, Alejandro Moreno, Heather Suchodolski, Rodney Thiemann, and Joel Auringer / Daniel Rareguin.

Comments Off on Texas Tour in Progress!

Five Piece Combo Campaign Launched!

We’re excited to announce that our Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for our next album Five Piece Combo has launched! In just one day, we’ve raised 10% of our goal. Learn more about the project and become a backer!

Many thanks to our supporters who donated during the first 24 hours of the campaign: Henry “Trae” Winter III, Carlos Leal, Tyler Austin, Eric Schmitz, Tom White, Cheyenne Cruz, and our very own Madera alumna, Katrina Elsnick!

Comments Off on Five Piece Combo Campaign Launched!

Madera Wind Quintet to tour Texas Feb. 6-12

(Denton, TX) – The Madera Wind Quintet, one of the state’s premiere woodwind ensembles, is set to perform throughout Texas in February. The group will give concerts and master classes in Tyler, Denton, Nacogdoches, Kingsville and Corpus Christi before heading to San Antonio to perform at the Texas Music Educators Association Convention.

The tour coincides with a Kickstarter campaign to fund the Madera Wind Quintet’s next album. Titled Five Piece Combo, the recording features the previously unrecorded suites for wind quintet by Don Gillis (1912-1978), a delightfully quirky Texas composer best known for his Symphony No. 5 ½ (“A Symphony for Fun”), and his work as legendary producer for the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Toscanini.

The quintet’s touring program features selections from the forthcoming album of music by Gillis, as well as compositions by young composers Sean Friar and Daniel Nass from their previous album Five at Play. They will also play original arrangements of music by Aaron Copland and Beck, works by Arne Running, György Ligeti and Brazilian composer Oscar Fernandez, and a quintet by Franz Danzi, one of the earliest composers to write music in the genre.

Madera has performed frequently in the North Texas and Oklahoma regain, but this will be their first appearance in South Texas. At several schools, the quintet will work with students in master classes and Q&A sessions in addition to performing.

“Playing in a chamber group – especially a wind quintet – is unlike any other form of performance,” said Rachel Yoder, co-founder and clarinetist of the group. “We’re excited to help coach student chamber groups at these schools and share our experience as musical entrepreneurs.”

Madera oboist Jason Paschall, said, “I am thrilled at the thought of our upcoming tour! Our love for outreach, for each other and for the music itself will make every performance engaging and inspiring.”

2015 Tour Dates:

7:30 PM Friday, Feb. 6: University of Texas – Tyler (Tyler, TX)

8:00 PM Saturday, Feb. 7: Banter Bistro (Denton, TX)

4:00 PM Sunday, Feb. 8: Stephen F. Austin State University (Nacogdoches, TX)

2:00 PM Monday, Feb. 9: Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi (Corpus Christi, TX)

7:30 PM Monday, Feb. 9: Del Mar College (Corpus Christi, TX)

6:30 PM Tuesday, Feb. 10: Texas A&M University – Kingsville (Kingsville, TX)

9:30 AM Thursday, Feb. 12: TMEA Convention (San Antonio, TX)

About the Madera Wind Quintet:

The Madera Wind Quintet was formed in 2008 by students and alumni of the University of North Texas, and has quickly become known as one of today’s most exciting wind quintets.  Exploring the fringes of the quintet repertoire ­— new music, forgotten gems, original arrangements and music for children — Madera also engages audiences with the classic repertoire and beauty of the wind quintet sonority.

The musicians of the Madera Wind Quintet are Amy Thiemann (flute), Jason Paschall (oboe), Rachel Yoder (clarinet), Jorge Cruz, Jr. (bassoon) and Angela Winter (horn). Together they recently recorded the complete suites for wind quintet by Texas composer Don Gillis, for release on the upcoming album Five Piece Combo. Madera’s first recording, Five at Play (2012), featured new works for wind quintet chosen from a call for scores.

Madera premiered the International Joint Wind Quintet Commissioning Project’s winning composition at the 2012 International Double Reed Society and International Horn Society conferences, and was selected for a musical showcase at the 2015 TMEA conference. Educational outreach is also important to Madera, whose work includes workshops and clinics for students of all ages.

Comments Off on Madera Wind Quintet to tour Texas Feb. 6-12

Announcing the MWQ 2015 Texas Tour!

Comments Off on Announcing the MWQ 2015 Texas Tour!

Wind Quintets of Don Gillis

We are excited to announce our next recording project: the complete wind quintets of Don Gillis.  Previously unrecorded, Gillis’ three suites for wind quintet display his lighthearted mid-century style — inflected with jazz and a great sense of humor, and impeccably attuned to the colors and idioms of the wind quintet.

We’ll be recording in beautiful Voertman Hall at the University of North Texas this weekend with engineer Greg Dixon.  Look for some new group photos coming soon, and more details about the project and our fund-raising effort later this summer.  In the meantime, we’ll try to post photos from the session, and here are the work titles and movements:

Don Gillis – Suites for Wind Quintet

Suite No. 1 for Woodwind Quintet, “The Fable of the Tortoise and the Hare” (11:00)
I. Bre’er Rabbit Dreams
II. They’re Off
III. Mr. Tortoise Wins the Race

Suite No. 2 for Woodwind Quintet, “Three Sketches” (13:00)
I. Self Portrait
II. Sermonette
III. Shadows

Suite No. 3 for Woodwind Quintet, “Gone with the Woodwinds” (13:00)
I. Take Five Blues
II. Five Piece Combo
III. Frolic in B-Bop Major

Comments Off on Wind Quintets of Don Gillis

Welcoming Jason and Amy

We are excited to welcome our new oboist Jason Paschall and flutist Amy Thiemann!

Jason is a Fort Worth native who was previously oboist in the Graduate Woodwind Quintet at the University of Missouri – Kansas City, where he completed an Artist’s Certificate in oboe performance.

Amy comes to us from Nebraska where she taught at Concordia University and performed with the Omaha Symphony. She took the place of our longtime flutist Katrina Elsnick, who won a piccolo position with the West Point Band and is currently at basic training.

We’ve already performed together a few times and though it’s sad to see old friends go, we’re excited about this newest iteration of the Madera Wind Quintet.  Look for more news about our next recording project soon!

Comments Off on Welcoming Jason and Amy

Lansing McLoskey’s “Hardwood”

Back in summer 2012, we had the opportunity to premiere Lansing McLoskey’s Hardwood at the International Horn Society Conference in Denton, TX and the International Double Reed Society conference in Oxford, OH.

McLoskey was the winner of the International Joint Wind Quintet Project Competition, which resulted in a commission for him to write the piece. The competition was a collaboration between the International Horn Society, International Double Reed Society, International Clarinet Association and National Flute Association, and Hardwood was performed at the conferences of all of these societies in 2012. All five movements are now on YouTube, check ’em out!

Comments Off on Lansing McLoskey’s “Hardwood”

Five at Play video

Been wanting to check out the music from our album Five at Play?  Since we opted out of Spotify due to their dubious methods of musician compensation, we made this video so you can get a listen of excerpts from all of the tracks on the album:

Comments Off on Five at Play video