The Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet

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



The internationally renowned
Curtis
Institu
te of Music is the alma mater of
Robert Bonnevie, James Caldwell, Arthur Grossma
n, Laila Storch (the first woman oboist to graduate from Curtis) and Skowronek. While enrollment is extremely limited, once accepted to the institution
a full scholarship is provided as its students ar
e considered exceptional. Curtis Graduates occupy a large percentage of the finest orchestras across America.


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
The Touring
Quartet

1974 
Nicaragua:
                  
Managua
          

Dominican Republic:
Santo Domingo

                                               

Puerto Rico:                
Río Piedras, 

Mayaguez

                                      


1976
Spain

Portugal
Turkey
Austria
France
Italy
Hungary  -first radio performance by American musicians since 1940
Poland
Sabbatical leave

1977
Spain

Portugal


1978
Iceland

Italy
Cyprus
Greece   
Spain
  


 

 

 

 

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
South America on its first of six U.S.D.S.  international tours as a wind quartet .

Three of South and Central America, and three of Europe.


With Senhora Villa-Lobos


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.



 


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.



FINAL PERFORMANCE

Spring 2001

 

 



Some Tour Posters: Click on images to enlarge.

Milan Salonika

Ankara Puerto Rico

Naples Palermo

 

Paris Poznan

Venice