Ayorama Wind Quintet/Quintette à vent Ayorama

Ayorama Wind Quintet/Quintette à vent Ayorama

Ayorama Wind Quintet/Quintette à vent Ayorama. Formed in 1969 by five members of the newly established NACO, who selected the Inuit word 'Ayorama' ('So be it') as the name of their quintet: Jean-Guy Brault, flute; Lawrence Cherney, oboe (later replaced by Stewart Grant, and Grant by Francine Schutzman); Peter Smith, clarinet; Evan Philpotts, french horn (later replaced by Felix Acevedo); and Michael Namer, bassoon. The ensemble is distinguished by the nature of its programs, which feature the works of many contemporary composers. It has been coached by Samuel Baron of the New York Wind Quintet and by the Australian french horn player Barry Tuckwell.

The quintet has appeared at the NAC, at the Kawartha Lakes Music Camp near Peterborough, Ont, in Kingston, Ont, at the Cons de Hull in Quebec, and at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH. It has participated in the 1971 Orford Festival and the 1975 University of New Brunswick Chamber and Jazz Festival, and has performed on CBC radio and TV. In April 1976 it premiered Bruce Mather's Eine Kleine Bläsermusik at the NAC. It has recorded works by Jacques Hétu, André Souris, Brian Cherney, and Darius Milhaud (1972, RCI 364; Hétu's Quintet reissued on the CD 4-ACM 31) and by Barber, Hodgson, Villa-Lobos, and Ibert (1977, CBC SM-261). In 1983 it recorded music by Grant for the children's record A Band of Storytellers (Marc Productions MP-1102). The quintet also has conducted workshops for winds in Ontario high schools. In 1991 the quintet was giving tenor to twelve children's concerts annually in schools in the Ottawa valley. It has appeared frequently in the Music for a Sunday Afternoon chamber music series, held at the NAC and at the National Gallery.