History
c1949 Prehistory |
A young Felix Skowronek and Robert Bonnevie organize their first wind quintet in high school, Skowronek gives it the name Soni Ventorum from the Latin phrase 'sounds of the winds'. |
1951-53 The Curtis Institute, Philadelphia |
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1956-1958 The U.S. 7th Army |
Due to induction during the cold war, Grossman and Skowronek reunite in the 7th Army Symphony. website There they meet William McColl, Henry Shuman and Howard Hillyer. |
While stationed in Germany, they form a Wind Quintet and tour the countryside under a program of cultural ambassadorship to the German people. |
1961-67 Puerto Rico, official formation of the Soni Ventorum |
With the creation of the Conservatory of Music, due to the success of the Casals Festivals, McColl, after joining the Conservatory, informs his former colleagues about the opportunities in Puerto Rico. |
Soon Bonnevie, Caldwell, Grossman, and Skowronek also take teaching positions at the Conservatory and the official Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet is formed. Recording began in 1963 and continued with great success throughout the group's long career. discography. In the summer of 1965, Laila Storch is invited to join the quintet. |
1968 The University of Washington |
After leaving Puerto Rico in 1966 and two seasons with the St. Louis Symphony, Skowronek returns to his hometown of Seattle where the University is looking to bolster its music program. Knowing that Christopher Leuba is applying for a french horn position, Skowronek sells the idea of a Wind Quintet to William Bergsma, the University of Washington's Director of the School of Music, who arranges a Rockefeller grant for their transition. Grossman, McColl, Storch, Leuba and Skowronek join the faculty and the Soni Ventorum becomes the resident quintet for the next 30 years. The individual members, in addition to their teaching and quintet duties, participate in the University's Contemporary Group and delve into many different areas of research and performance, pushing the envelope from classical to the avant-garde. |
1972-1978 1974 |
Following the 1972 International Instrumental
Ensembles Competition (Festival Villa-Lobos) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and winning the Silver Medal, the Soni Ventorum, through the auspices of the U.S. Department of State tours
During sabbatical leave, the Paris Conservatory of Music welcomed Grossman in a study of their long history of virtuoso
bassoonists, Skowronek interviewed wood flute players across England and
Scotland, and Storch gathered material for her definitive article on the famed oboist and teacher Georges Gillet.
During the 1977-78 season, Grossman took leave from the University of Washington to perform as guest principal bassoonist with the Israel Philharmonic. Substituting for Grossman with the quintet was Sidney Rosenberg.
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1979-90 The Touring Quintet |
With the resignation of Leuba, David Kappy, an experienced and enthusiastic wind quintet hornist who was teaching at the University of Montana was recommended by respected musical colleagues (including Bonnevie) and was invited to join the quintet and the University of Washington faculty. Senior Members receive full professorships at University of Washington, continue to perform with the Contemporary Group and pursue additional interests. McColl and Skowronek begin building instruments, Grossman opens several local businesses specializing in gourmet cuisine, Storch tours China and writes an article about her experiences during Beijing's Tiananmen Square demonstrations of 1989. |
Tours: 1981 Alaska: Ketchikan Anchorage Juneau 1982 Alaskan Wilderness: Gildersleeve Valdez Cordova Yakutat Koffman Cove Labouchere Bay Port Alice Bethel Port Alexander 1982 Hawaiian Islands: Hawaiian Islands: Oahu Maui Hawaii Kauai |
1991 Laila Storch Retires |
On, May 31, 1991. Storch concludes 30 years with the Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet. Retirement did not slow Laila down very much, she continued her writing by publishing what is now considered the definitive biography of Marcel Tabuteau, her teacher from The Curtis Institute of Music and regarded as the direct American link to the traditions, techniques, and spirit of the great European oboe masters. |
1992 Triumph of the Wind Quintet Since the late 70's the Wind Quintet as a whole was returning from obscurity. Soni Ventorum, along with a few contemporaries scattered across the country at mid-century have, over the last 30 years, inspired new generations of artists to form their own wind quintets and quartets to the point where the musical genre is no longer overlooked, but in fact an important part of most music communities across the United States and the world today. |
After an extensive search, Alex Klein, was invited to join the quintet at the University of Washington. Klein was an accomplished soloist in his own right and student assistant of James Caldwell at the Oberlin Conservatory. While the match was exceptional in terms of quality, Klein Joined the Chicago Symphony in 1996 as principal oboist and pursued his career as a soloist. Dan Williams of the Satori Wind Quintet agreed to fill temporarily the oboe position. Then, after an extensive yearlong search, Rebecca Henderson, professor of oboe at the University of Alabama joined the group. Henderson was also a former student of Caldwell's and was the daughter of Richard Henderson, oboist in the El Paso Symphony Orchestra and teacher at the University of Texas, El Paso. Additionally, Ms. Henderson had been the oboist of the Capstone Wind Quintet. |
Tours: 1993 American Academic: Oberlin Conservatory of Music, North Carolina School of Arts, Davidson College, Juilliard School of Music |
1996-2001 |
After five years, Henderson accepts a teaching position at the University of Texas in Austin and after 40 years the remaining members agree to perform no longer under the name Soni Ventorum but continue their association as colleagues, performing in various lineups and as soloists. Grossman retires from the University in 2004, McColl retires in 2006. James Caldwell and Felix Skowronek pass away in 2006. |
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Spring 2001 |
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