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Since
1969, the internationally acclaimed vocal sextet, The Western Wind, has devoted
itself to the special beauty and variety of a
cappella music. The ensemble’s repertoire reflects
the vast range of possibilities within the genre: from Renaissance motets
to Fifties rock’n’roll, from medieval carols to jazz standards and from
complex works by avant-garde composers to the simplest folk melodies.
In
the United States, The Western Wind has appeared in many distinguished
venues, including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Meyerhoff
Symphony Hall, ArtPark, Ordway Theater, the Metropolitan Museum, the Frick
Museum, the Jewish Museum, Folger Shakespeare Library, Library of Congress, and
Cleveland Museum of Art.
The
ensemble has been a favorite of the American Choral Directors Association.
During 2000, the group was featured in two ACDA regional division conventions
(Eastern Division in Maryland and Midwestern Division in Nebraska), and through
the years has performed for four ACDA state conventions (Iowa, Illinois,
Wisconsin, and Indiana) as well as at the national
ACDA convention. The sextet also sang for the 1996 New York State School
Music Association convention.
In
Europe, The Western Wind has appeared
at several distinguished venues.
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Geneva
Opera (1999), performing Batéy by Tania León and Michel Camilo, and De Orishas by Tania León.
(both works are Western Wind commissions)
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Rome
Opera, in concert with the RAI Orchestra and Chorus of Rome.
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Teatro
La Fenice (Venice) premiering Cesar Franck’s opera, Stradella.
From
1980-1985, The Western Wind recorded early and contemporary American vocal music
for the West German National Radio (WDR), and made several triumphant tours of
northern Italy, performing Italian Renaissance as well as American music.
At the request of the State Department (USIA), The Western Wind has also
performed American and Latin American music throughout East Asia.
During
its 1987-88 season, The Western Wind won the ASCAP-Chamber Music America Award for Adventurous Programming of
Contemporary Music. In May 2004, The Western Wind premiered A
More Perfect Union, an opera-ballet based on the constitutional convention
of 1789 on the City Opera Vox & Friends series.
In
addition to their many live performances, the unique sound of The Western Wind
may be heard on radio, television, film, and CD.
The Western Wind’s award-winning recordings present a rich repertoire
ranging from Early American music and contemporary works written for the
ensemble, to diverse holiday specials originally created for National Public
Radio and National Public Radio International.
Broadcast nationwide since 1989, these programs feature guest artists A
series of public radio holiday specials by The Western Wind has been broadcast nationwide
since 1989, these programs feature guest artists such as Leanard Nimoy, Roma
Downey, Tovah Feldshuh, and Theodore Bikel and are aired annually at holiday
time throughout the United States. The
group has appeared on television on The Today Show (NBC) and sings on the
soundtrack by Philip Glass for movies; Koyaanisqatsi
(Nonesuch Records) and Candyman (Orange
Mountain Music).
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My
Funny Valentine
Love! Silly to Sexy, Sacred to Profane
My
Funny Valentine is a joyous tapestry of love songs.
Weaving together music from the Renaissance, early and contemporary
American, pop and jazz (including the title song, My
Funny Valentine), The Western Wind explores the many facets of love.
The group touches on everything from courtship and romance to the
“stormy weather” of relationships, as well as the sacred love between the
created and the creator as expressed in the biblical Song of Songs.
The program is
organized around themes such as LIFE COULD BE A DREAM, STORMY WEATHER, ALL
ALONE, and THE VOICE OF MY BELOVED. It
features music by Benjamin Britten; Renaissance madrigals by Monteverdi,
Gesualdo and Marenzio; Song of Songs settings by the early American composer,
William Billings; pop and jazz songs by Brian Wilson (In My Room), Lennon and
McCartney (Eleanor Rigby), Harold Arlen (Stormy Weather), Rogers and Hart (My
Funny Valentine); and Sephardic and eastern European folk-song settings.
The program also includes music written for the Western Wind by Robert
Dennis, Gayla Morgan and Elliot Z. Levine. The pop and jazz songs are featured
on The Western Wind’s award winning CD, My
Funny Valentine.
The
Chanukkah Story
With
Guest Narrator
 The
Western Wind, along with a guest narrator, present 25 eclectic selections
celebrating the Jewish Winter Festival of Light, Chanukkah. Weaving together ancient Ladino songs of the Spanish Jews,
Yiddish melodies of Eastern Europe and modern Israeli and American tunes with an
insightful and informed commentary, The
Chanukkah Story explores Chanukkah’s
origins, spiritual significance and the rituals and customs that have evolved to
celebrate it.
The
Chanukkah Story dips into the rich diversity of Jewish culture,
presenting songs and melodies spanning the centuries and the globe.
The opening piece, Chanukkah, Oy
Chanukkah, sets a festive and playful mood. Other selections depict the
historical events and the heroism commemorated by the holiday. The program
concludes with songs about parties and holiday festivities, even giving recipes
for making special holiday foods. There are Classical settings by Lewandowski
and contemporary settings by Helfman, Samuel Adler and Elliot Z. Levine. Of
course, no Chanukkah program would be complete without the beloved Maoz Tzur (Rock of Ages)
performed in two versions and an original arrangement of I Have a Little Dreydle. The six vocalists of The Western Wind are
assisted by musicians on a variety of instruments, including violin, accordion,
bass, recorder, and guitar.
The
Chanukkah Story was created for
public radio in 1990 and is aired around the country during the holiday season.
New
York Time's Critics' Choice: Favorite Holiday Recordings
"This
is a rich tapestry of sacred and secular fare, sung with subtlety and fervor,
accompanied by an ensemble of old and new instruments..."
~
The Pittsburgh Press
The
Passover Story
With
Guest Narrator
The
Western Wind Vocal Ensemble and guest narrator team up to tell and sing The
Passover Story, creating a seamless, thoroughly entertaining presentation
which illuminates the Passover themes of freedom and redemption.
Following
the structure provided by the Haggadah (the compendium of prayers and lore that guides the
Passover ritual meal), the music is an eclectic compilation of songs and
compositions from many sources reflecting the tremendous diversity of Jewish
cultures. The program includes
music from the Babylonian and Spanish traditions, unique arrangements of Yiddish
and Hebrew folk melodies and music from the 19th century by
Lewandowski. The group also
performs contemporary Israeli and American music by Braun, Hajdu, Helfman and
Levine, ancient Sephardic chants, Klezmer-style improvisations, and traditional
songs from the Seder, including the 'adopted' song of slavery, the Negro
spiritual ‘Go Down Moses.’ The
singers are joined by guest instrumentalists on violin, clarinet, kaval,
ocarina, bass, guitar and percussion.
…all
sung with the superb musicianship and zest that are hallmarks of Western Wind
performances"
~
Miami Jewish Journal
“O
Beautiful”
American Music
“O Beautiful” is
a joyous and wonderfully diverse program of American music featuring works by
some of the most important living American composers of our time including
Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, William Bolcom, Bobby McFerrin, Tania León, Eric
Salzman, and Robert Dennis. Also
featured are arrangements created for the Western Wind of songs by Duke
Ellington, Billy Joel and Rogers and Hart.
Rounding out the program is a group of early American pieces by William
Billings, Jeremiah Ingalls and Miss M. Durham, a repertoire for which The
Western Wind was nominated for a Grammy in 1974.
Western
Wind in-house singer-composers baritone Elliot Z. Levine and soprano Gayla
Morgan have also provided “O Beautiful” with brilliant settings and
arrangements. In fact, the program
takes it name from “America/Route 66”, created especially for this program
by Gayla Morgan. It brilliantly incorporates "American the Beautiful"
and "Route 66" with a witty reference or two to Bernstein’s
“I Like to be in America.”
We
Are
Still
Here!: Mir Zaynen Do!
“Mir
Zaynen Do -- We Are Still Here!” is an exploration of the Holocaust
through music and readings.
In
the darkest days of World War II, in the midst of cataclysmic terror and
dislocation, music was a life raft, a platform for grief and rage, giving
succor, consolation, comfort and fleeting moments of normality.
The
Lost World: Includes songs
from Jewish life in Yiddish and Hebrew, from Eastern and Western Europe.
Embraces songs from small towns (“shtetls”) and cities, homes and synagogues
depicting the vibrancy of Jewish life in pre-war Europe.
On
Fire!
Gives premonitions of tragic events to come; descriptions of the
brutality of the pogroms, sadly, a common event in the lives of European Jews.
How
Long Will It Be? Careers
were shattered by the racial laws of the Nazi’s as illustrated by the
Comedian Harmonists, a German vocal ensemble popular in Germany and all of
Europe in the 1930’s. Their
career was destroyed when their Jewish members were forbidden to perform.
However, other careers were made. Music
was created by composers who were forced into exile--many to the United
States--such as Kurt Weill, Paul Hindemith, and Tzipora Jochsberger.
At the same time, concerts were organized in the extermination camps.
This program includes music by composers such as Gideon Klein and Viktor Ullman
that were written and performed in Terezin, the “show concentration camp” in
Czechoslovakia.
My
Words Are Tears: Songs
that emerged from the horrors of genocide.
Ghetto and concentration camp musicians sang of their experiences of separation,
hunger, homelessness, mass deportation and murder.
These songs range from deep sorrow and anger to determined resistance
while some even adopt wry tango rhythms to mock their torturers.
Never
Say That You Are Walking On Your Last Road…
Defiant
songs of the resistance fighters determined to live; songs of hope and
redemption for all of humanity.
HOLIDAY
LIGHT
Joyous Music of Chanukkah and
Christmas
THE WESTERN WIND VOCAL ENSEMBLE presents HOLIDAY
LIGHT, a unique program of holiday music for Chanukkah and Christmas.
This program weaves together music for Chanukkah and
Christmas into a joyous tapestry of holiday songs. Organized around holiday
themes such as People and Miracles, Holiday
Messages, Stars and Lights, Angels and Shepherds, and
Food and Festivities, the program
embraces the interfaith blessings of these two inspiring winter holidays.
The music includes
anonymous Medieval carols, Sephardic Songs, Renaissance polyphony, festive folk
songs from Yiddish, Hebrew and Appalachian folk traditions as well as
contemporary holiday music by Matthew Harris, Robert Dennis, Elliot Z. Levine
and John Rutter. The singers play medieval harp, bells, guitar, banjo, recorder
and percussion adding special colors to the unique a cappella sound of the
ensemble.
Many of the selections
from this program are heard annually on The Western Wind’s holiday specials
created for Public Radio International and aired by radio stations all around
the country.
Holiday Light
, Singing Angels, Silver Bells
Originally
created for public radio, "Holiday Light, Singing Angels, Silver
Bells" is a wonderful collection of Christmas music from the Middle Ages
and Renaissance to the present woven together with reflections on holiday
themes.
The
renowned vocal sextet and guest narrator take you on a joyous and profound
musical journey starting with chants from the 13th century and
Renaissance English, Spanish and Latin American carols, to Early American and
Appalachian holiday songs, contemporary works by John Rutter, Robert Dennis,
Elliot Levine and Gayla Morgan, and stunning new arrangements of the popular
Christmas songs "Silver Bells" and "Christmas Time is Here".
The musical selections are woven together with a narration of astonishing
freshness that breathes new life into the Holiday themes. The singers are joined
by Patricia Davis on violin and also contribute on guitar, medieval harp, banjo
and bells.
“This
is the golden age of small vocal ensembles… and none is better than the
Western Wind… A superbly performed Christmas album … with a narrative
between selections that is informative, extremely well-written and spontaneously
delivered without a shred of cloying seasonal sentimentality. It is all sung
with impeccable intonation, flawless balance and a supple sense of rhythmic
flexibility that keeps the ear in a constant state of anticipation.” Buffalo
News
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Recital
Contemporary
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The
Man in the Moon -The Western Wind sing music of Robert Dennis (Western Wind
Records, WW2003)
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Blessings
and Batéy (Western Wind Records, WW2001)
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Birth
of the WarGod (Laurel, CD LR-840)
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Koyaanisqatsi
(Nonesuch Records)
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Satires,
Ballads and Bop (Newport Classic, NPD 85507 – Out of Print)
Jazz
and Popular
Judaica
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The
Chanukkah Story (Western Wind Records, WW1818)
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The
Passover Story (Western Wind Records, WW1800)
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Mazal
Bueno: A Portrait in Song of the Spanish Jews
(Western Wind Records, WW1836)
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The
Birthday of The World: Music and Traditions of The High Holy Days
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Part I: Rosh Hashanah, (Western Wind Records, WW1854)
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Part II: Yom Kippur (Western Wind Records , WW 1872)
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Taste
of Eternity: A Musical Shabbat
Early
American
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I
Am The Rose of Sharon: Early American Vocal Music (Western Wind Records, WW
1776)
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The
Happy Journey (Western Wind Records, WW1790)
Christmas
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Christmas
in the New World (Musical Heritage Society MHS-4077)
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An
Old Fashioned Christmas (Nonesuch Records)
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A
Christmas Celebration (Musical Heritage)
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Holiday
Light, Singing Angels, Silver Bells (WW 1225)
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Please
contact Baylin Artists for technical information.
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