2VS Brings Chinook Winds to the Valleys

SWAN VALLEY - Everyone is ready for a breath of fresh air! Sunday, Sept. 17 Chinook Winds will blow through the Seeley Swan Valleys. The resident wind quintet of the Great Falls Symphony will perform at 3 p.m. in the Swan Valley School. The group will be in our schools September 14-15 working with students in Seeley Lake, Condon and Potomac.

Founded in 1992 by the Great Falls Symphony, the Chinook Winds have followed their mission to bring the highest quality chamber music to a wide variety of audiences in the northwest. The group started as a flute, oboe and bassoon trio. Its first seasons consisted of concerts for the Great Falls community and outreach activities for schools in Cascade County. The trio became a standard wind quintet with the addition of horn and clarinet and broadened its geographical reach to more than 50 communities across Montana and surrounding states.

The repertoire reflects the diverse tastes and backgrounds of their listeners while broadening musical horizons with works that are new, sometimes challenging but always relevant. From playing an overture to a Rossini opera, to exploring the textures and colors of Ravel or bringing down the house with Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, the Chinook Winds deliver their art with energy and precision that astounds the ear and captures the heart.

The members of Chinook Winds are committed and talented educators and strive to inspire the next generation of musicians and music-lovers.

Norman Gonzales (flute) joined Montana's Great Falls Symphony in September 2012 and Colorado's Fort Collins Symphony in May 2013 as Principal Flute.

Lauren Blackerby (oboe, English horn) drove from Denver to Montana (with her cat Sputnik) this past summer to become a part of the Great Falls Symphony and Chinook Winds Quintet.

Christopher Mothersole (clarinet) joined the Great Falls Symphony in the summer of 2015.

Dorian Antipa (bassoon), originally from northern California, has been slowly working his way back west after having lived in Hartford and Chicago and is living in Great Falls.

Madeleine Folkerts (French horn) is from Port Orchard, Washington. She graduated from St. Olaf College in 2017, majoring in horn performance and psychology/neuroscience.

The group will provide a much-needed night of entertainment and fabulous chamber music at the Swan Valley School on Sunday. Hope to see you there!