Two of the most indispensable units in chamber music – the string quartet and the wind quintet – anchor this concert with major works. The RSCP strings continue their cycle of Beethoven string quartets with Op. 59 No. 2, a quintet commissioned by the Russian ambassador in Vienna and making use of the same folk song theme as was treated by composers such as Mussorgsky, Rachmaninoff, and Stravinsky. David Maslanka’s Wind Quintet No. 3 was inspired by the composer’s interest in Bach chorales, and is both familiar and forward-looking.

Valerie Hall returns to join the Regina Symphony Chamber players, demonstrating the versatility of the harpsichord as both continuo instrument and as soloist. Concertmaster Christian Robinson and principal oboist Tamsin Johnston take the stage for Bach’s Concerto for Oboe and Violin.

Erwin Schulhoff was obsessed with jazz, political revolution, and nightclub dancing during the period in which he wrote his Concertino for bass, viola and flute – to be performed in Regina for the first time. RSO Principal Clarinetist Hyonsuk Kim joins the string principals as first among equals in Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet; Mozart considered the clarinet to be the instrument closest in tone to the human voice and often gave the instrument a starring role, helping it to become a standard fixture in the symphony orchestra.