For more than two decades, New York City-based and GRAMMY Award-nominated wind quintet Imani Winds has brought diversity, virtuosity, and vision to classical music. Founded by flutist Valerie Coleman in 1997, Imani Winds is a groundbreaking ensemble that plays traditional chamber music and premieres new compositions that reflect both historical events and the socio-political issues of our present moment.

Six contemporary masterworks by women composers will comprise the evening’s program, A Woman’s Perspective, which includes Colman’s Afro-Cuban Concerto, Ruth Crawford Seeger’s Suite for Wind Quintet, and Nathalie Joachim’s Seen, which premiered in March 2021 and was commissioned by The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC.

The Philadelphia Inquirer praises the quintet’s “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.” Remaining true to their name — Imani means “faith” in Swahili — the musicians have faith in each other and the worlds of sound they create.

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Current Duke Performances COVID-19 regulations

A Woman’s Perspective

Valerie Coleman: Umoja
Nathalie Joachim: Seen*
i. Mysterious Flowers
ii. This Old House
iii. Sleeping Baby
iv. Tiny Golden Bells
v. Empty Space
Ruth Crawford Seeger: Suite for Wind Quintet
i. Allegretto
ii. Lento rubato
iii. Allegro possible
Intermission
Tania Leon: De Memories
Reena Esmail: The Light is the Same**
Valerie Coleman: Afro-Cuban Concerto
i. Afro
ii. Vocalise
iii. Danza

* Commissioned by The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC & premiered March 15, 2021
** Commissioned by The Lied Center of Kansas & premiered March 15, 2017 at the University of Kansas, Lawrence