“Winds and Harp: Ravel and His World” is the finale of the quintet’s 2024-25 season. The program is book-ended by Ravel’s Menuet Antique and Le Tombeau de Couperin, and features music by his contemporaries Gabriel Faure, Claude Debussy, Henry Tomasi, and Jean Françaix plus a work by François Couperin. The program takes place at Eglise St. Jean Baptiste, which is considered to be one of the country’s most beautiful churches and is included in the National Registry of Historic Buildings.
Over 45 years ago, artistic director Svjetlana Kabalin joined forces with her colleagues to form what has become one of the most long-lived wind quintets in the country. The Sylvan Winds have performed under the auspices of Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, Caramoor International Music Festival, and venues across the globe. They have recorded for Koch Classics, CRI/New World, North/South, and Albany record labels, enjoyed collaborations with such distinguished artists as Gerard Schwarz, Ransom Wilson and the Guarneri String Quartet, and commissioned dozens of works.
The Sylvan Winds perform in important historic and cultural New York City buildings. Each of the group’s imaginative and informative programs reflects the environs of each unique performance space.
Harpist Kristi Shade is one of the preeminent emerging harpists in the industry. She is the Principal Harpist with The Chamber Orchestra of New York, and a member of the flute-viola-harp trio, Hat Trick, and the harp duo, Duo Scorpio. She is a frequent performer with The Knights, On Site Opera, Talea Ensemble and American Modern Ensemble.