Wind Ensemble

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Jonathan Caldwell, conductorAkropolis Reed QuintetPatty Saunders, graduate conductor

Program

IDA GOTKOVSKYPoème du feu (1980)

CHARLES IVESThe Alcotts from Piano Sonata No. 2, “Concord, Mass. 1840–60” (1920/1972)arranged by Richard E. Thurston

JOHANN DE MEIJUn momento dado (2021)

MATT BROWNEKeep It Up (2026)

About the Program

The UNCG Wind Ensemble welcomes the GRAMMY® Award-winning Akropolis Reed Quintet for a dynamic collaboration showcasing the quintet’s remarkable virtuosity, expressive range, and distinctive sound. At the center of the program is Johann de Meij’s Un momento dado, which brings the two ensembles together in an expansive work filled with color, energy, and vivid musical contrasts.

The concert also explores the breadth of the wind repertoire through works by three compelling American and European voices. Ida Gotkovsky’s Poème du feu evokes the intensity and transformative power of fire, while Charles Ives’s “The Alcotts” offers a reflective musical portrait inspired by the transcendentalist world of Concord, Massachusetts. Matt Browne’s Keep It Up brings the program to an energetic close with rhythmic drive and infectious momentum.

Together, these works move from fiery brilliance and contemplative lyricism to sweeping musical storytelling, highlighting the rich colors and expressive possibilities of winds.

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About the Guest Artists

Akropolis Reed Quintet

Founded in 2009, the Billboard-charting, 7-time national prize-winning Akropolis Reed Quintet is “a sonically daring ensemble who specializes in performing new works with charisma and integrity” (BBC Music Magazine). In 2025, the ensemble made history as the lead ensemble on the GRAMMY® Award-winning recording of Strands by Pascal Le Boeuf, which won Best Instrumental Composition at the 67th Annual GRAMMY® Awards. Comprising five reed players and entrepreneurs unbounded by limits or categorization, Akropolis has graced the Classical Billboard Charts with each of their last three albums, including #2 in April, 2024, and has won seven national chamber music prizes including the 2014 Fischoff Gold Medal. Having premiered and commissioned more than 200 works by living artists and composers, they are pioneers and champions of a new genre of classical music—the reed quintet.

Composed of the same five members that brought about its founding over 15 years ago at the University of Michigan, they are the first ensemble to receive the University’s Paul M. Boylan Alumni Award. Akropolis delivers 120 concerts and educational events worldwide each year at luminary series including Tanglewood, Bravo! Vail, University Musical Society, Chamber Music Northwest, and more. Akropolis became the first reed quintet associated with a GRAMMY®-winning recording through its 2024 album, Are We Dreaming the Same Dream?, a collaboration with Pascal Le Boeuf and drummer Christian Euman. The album features “Strands,” which earned the 2025 GRAMMY® Award for Best Instrumental Composition.

Utilizing their “sheer musical imagination” (Gramophone), the quintet is also known for powerful collaborations with youth and others within its Southeast Michigan community. Certified as a 510(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Akropolis runs a Detroit-based summer festival called Together We Sound, holds an annual, school year-long music composition residencies at Cass Tech, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Detroit School of Arts high schools, and produces a 10-day Chamber Music Institute focused on artist training in partnership with Interlochen Center for the Arts.

Described as “pure gold” by the San Francisco Chronicle, Akropolis Reed Quintet performs worldwide and is represented exclusively by Ariel Artists.

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About the Wind Ensemble

The UNCG Wind Ensemble is the premier wind band of the UNCG School of Music, uniting fifty outstanding musicians from across the United States and around the world. Its members—ranging from first‑year undergraduates to master’s and doctoral students in performance and music education—are selected through a highly competitive audition process. Ensemble musicians regularly earn top solo and chamber awards, competitive scholarships and fellowships, and professional positions in orchestras, military bands, teaching, and arts leadership. Current students represent seventeen states, Slovenia, and Hong Kong.

For decades, the ensemble has built a distinguished record of artistic excellence, with acclaimed performances at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center, and leading venues throughout the eastern United States. Its catalog of more than twenty commercial…

Community event in Greensboro, Guilford County, NC 27412.