The New York City woodwind quintet Imani Winds was featured on the UMKC Conservatory's Signature Series this past Saturday night. With a variety of styles of music all from living composers, the program was a veritable contemporary delight. The musicians were personable and lighthearted, relaying humorous anecdotes and introductions to the works which eased the common stuffy atmosphere of "serious" concerts. It was also enjoyable to watch how much genuine fun they were having on stage playing together and presenting this music.

The very definition of "short and sweet," Red Clay and Mississippi Delta, composed by flutist Valerie Coleman, was rooted in southern soul and an excellent opening piece for the evening. The work was tailored perfectly to the ensemble: exhibiting the nimble playing of all the players through sprightly, flowing passages and featuring jazzy solos for clarinetist Mariam Adam and bassoonist Monica Ellis. It even introduced the easy-going attitude of the group, with a section where they engaged the whole audience in snapping their fingers in time with the music.

Another short and pleasant work, Danza de Mediodia by Arturo Marquez included lively syncopated dance rhythms and lyrical, seductive melodies for all the instruments, with particularly expressive solos played by substitute oboist James Roe and French horn player Jeff Scott. The tempo shifts were superbly controlled and the players were well-balanced with spotless intonation.

The programmatic Five Poems by Karel Husa was one of the stronger pieces on the program. Each part was idiomatic and executed well. The first movement's strong accents and active upward-sweeping lines suggested images of birds pecking and scattering around and displayed the group's skillful rhythmic control. Lively cawing was clearly depicted in the clarinet part of the second movement, and the horn's focused, melancholy solo over dissonant sustained chords aptly represented the third movement's title, "...With a Dead Bird". The flute had a small solo in the fourth movement, "Fighting Birds", but it was overshadowed by the action in the other parts such as fast runs and tremolos. Despite a few ever so slightly iffy entrances in the final movement, "Bird Flying High Above", the group moved from one rich complex harmony to another, reaching the high register together at the end.

Easily the best composition of the night, Imani Winds performed the contemporary woodwind quintet standard Woodwind Quintet (1948) by living master Elliot Carter with accuracy and emotion. Both movements contain interconnected contrasting musical elements, making each instrument's part and the piece as a whole harmonically and melodically compelling, playful, and complicated all at once. It is utterly complete: removing one instrument would diminish the work's effectiveness and depth as each part enhances all the others. This work showcased the rapport and impeccable communication among the musicians.

The first movement of Miguel del Aguila's Wind Quintet No. 2, "Back in Time," began with an andante folk-like melody played by the flute and hummed in unison by the rest of the musicians. The movement's basic yet lovely tune, serene mood, and major tonal center evoked nostalgic feelings for simpler times: a similar effect Norman Rockwell paintings perhaps achieve. The rest of the movements did not live up to the expectations set by the first movement. Including some interesting techniques in theory, such as playing without mouthpieces, percussive use of the instruments, playing from off-stage, and dimming the lights, the results were less effective and felt gimmicky. Musically the movements were unrelated and some were a bit too blatantly programmatic. This is no fault of the ensemble however: they played the work with the same expertise, enthusiasm and sensitivity shown during the entire concert.

Imani Winds' perfect blend of their individual personalities, accomplishments, and sheer talent make them a very solid and charming group. It was wonderful to see a traditional chamber ensemble express such encouragement and exuberance for new music. I look forward to hearing the results of their commissioning projects in the future, which no doubt will be masterfully played.