Quintet to celebrate Ludwig van Beethoven and that other guy

Stanwood native Jeff Eldridge will be joined by four other members of the Spiritus Winds quintet Sunday for a performance that will celebrate music by two composers who were born 250 years ago: Ludwig van Beethoven, whom you’ve heard of, and Anton Reicha, whom you probably haven’t.

Reicha (1770-1836) was a contemporary of Beethoven. “They were friends when they were younger,” Eldridge said.

The quintet decided to perform one of his compositions, the “Quintet in C minor.”

“We want to make sure he will be remembered along with Beethoven,” Eldridge said.

Reicha is considered one of the leaders in establishing wind quintets as a form of chamber music, eventually writing 24 of the compositions in the early 1800s.

All this is not to say that Beethoven won’t get his place to shine on the program.

The group will perform Beethoven’s “Quintet for Piano and Winds,” joined by pianist and University of Washington graduate Jason Suchan.

Hungarian composer György Ligeti’s “Six Bagatelles” is one of the more famous wind quintet pieces written in the 20th century, Eldridge said.

This is the fifth time that Spiritus Winds has performed at Stanwood’s Floyd Norgaard Cultural Center.

Performing in Stanwood is a bit of a homecoming for Eldridge, a Stanwood High School graduate.

“It’s a nice place to play and it’s fun to see folks I don’t get to see too often,” he said.

Most of the five performers are UW graduates. Here is some more information about each of them:

Danijela McElwee studied flute in Serbia and received a bachelor’s degree in flute performance from the University of Novi Sad Academy of Arts. She moved to the United States in 2001 and was awarded a Mortar Board Scholarship from the UW’s School of Music, where she earned her master’s degree in flute performance. She is principal flutist with Burien’s Northwest Symphony Orchestra.

Yuh-Pey Lin, who was born in Taiwan, earned her bachelor’s degree in oboe performance with distinction from the Eastman School of Music, a master’s degree from Rice University, and a doctorate in oboe performance from the UW. She has performed with the Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Tacoma Symphony, Bellevue Philharmonic and Chamber Music San Juans.

Jenny Ziefel is a classically trained clarinet and saxophone player who pursues many different styles of music, including orchestral playing, chamber music, jazz, free improvisation, new music and musical theater. She has played with the Bellevue Philharmonic, Lake Washington Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra and the Cascade Symphony.

Paulette Altman, a longtime member of the Pacific Brass Quintet, will play French horn. She has taught with Seattle Youth Symphony’s Endangered Instruments Program. Her music degrees are from Carnegie Mellon University and University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Jeff Eldridge is principal bassoonist of Orchestra Seattle. He has played bassoon and contrabassoon with a number of ensembles, including the Tacoma Symphony, Philharmonia Northwest, Rainier Symphony and the Everett Philharmonic. The UW graduate teaches mathematics at Edmonds Community College.

Jason Suchan, who will accompany the group on piano, has a master’s degree in music performance from the UW and is administrator of the Bellevue Girl Choir.

Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.

If you go

The concert by Spiritus Winds quintet begins at 2 p.m. Jan. 26 at the Floyd Norgaard Cultural Center, 27130 102nd Ave. NW in Stanwood. The suggested donation is $15. Students and youth are admitted free. More at tinyurl.com/SpiritusWindsStanwood.