The New Mexico Woodwind Quintet History! The New Mexico Woodwind Quintet, was founded as a non-for-profit organization in 1983 and began by participating in the 1984 Rome (Italy) Music Festival. Since its inception, the group has performed extensively throughout New Mexico and the Southwest in an attempt to promote classical chamber music and support local artists, organizations, and composers. The Quintet has been a recipient of several grants including funds from the New Mexico Arts Division, the National Endowment of the Arts, the Albuquerque Community Foundation, Albuquerque Chamber Music Festival, the Cibola Arts Council, "Meet the Composer," and a special arts grant for touring from Aetna Life & Casualty Insurance Company.
The New Mexico Woodwind Quintet's programming encompasses a wide variety of musical styles, with emphasis on literature of the Twentieth Century. The group is proud to have commissioned and premiered many compositions including works by Brenda Romero-Hymer, Michael Mauldin, George Willink, William Wood, Pat Rhoads, Leslie N. Shultis, Dr. Alvin Mistak, Robert C. Jones, and Lewis Miller. Statewide, the group has been praised for its "vitality, splendid ensemble and beautifully matched tones." In addition to the regular three concert season, the quintet also gives several school concerts and workshops each year, including resident sponsorship by both the Chamber Music of Albuquerque and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival.
"Woodwind Quintet concert stylish,...sensitive shaping of lines and liquid sound satisfying." - Joanne Sheehy Hoover, Albuquerque Journal
