A Book of Forgotten Creatures, Concerto for Wind Quintet & Orchestra

David Serkin Ludwig’s first memory was singing Beatles songs with his sister; his second was hearing his grandfather perform at Carnegie Hall; foreshadowing a diverse career collaborating with many of today’s leading musicians, filmmakers, and writers. His choral work “The New Colossus,” opened the private prayer service for President Obama’s second inauguration. The next year NPR Music named him in the world’s “Top 100 Composers Under Forty.” He holds positions and residencies with nearly two dozen orchestras and music festivals in the US and abroad.

Ludwig has received commissions and notable performances from many of the most recognized artists and ensembles of our time, including the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, and National Symphony Orchestras, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Dresden Music Festival, as well as Jonathan Biss, Jeremy Denk, Jennifer Koh, Jaime Laredo, David Shifrin, eighth blackbird, the Dover and Borromeo Quartets, Imani Winds, and the PRISM Saxophone Quartet and conductors Yannick Nezet Sequin, Manfred Honeck, Juanjo Mena, and JoAnn Falletta.

This year Ludwig was honored by the American Academy of Arts and Letters as recipient of their annual award in music. In 2022 Ludwig was awarded the Stoeger Prize from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the largest of its kind for chamber music. He received the prestigious 2018 Pew Center for the Arts and Heritage Fellowship, as well as the First Music Award, and is a two-time recipient of the Independence Foundation Fellowship, a Theodore Presser Foundation Career Grant, and awards from New Music USA, the American Composers Forum, American Music Center, Detroit Chamber Winds, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

In 2021 Ludwig was named a Steinway Artist by Steinway and Sons. He served on the composition faculty of The Curtis Institute of Music for nearly two decades before being appointed Dean and Director of Music of The Juilliard School in June 2021. He lives in New York City with his wife, acclaimed violinist Bella Hristova, and their four beloved cats.

Imani Winds is the 2024 Grammy winner in the Classical Compendium category for Jeff Scott’s “Passion for Bach and Coltrane” released on their recently formed record label, Imani Winds Media.

Celebrating over a quarter century of music making, the three time Grammy nominated group has led both a revolution and evolution of the wind quintet through their dynamic playing, adventurous programming, imaginative collaborations and outreach endeavors that have inspired audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Lean more

A leading soloist and chamber musician, Brandon Patrick George is the flutist of the GRAMMY-nominated Imani Winds. He has appeared as a soloist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Albany Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble; and as a guest with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), among other notable ensembles.

Mr. George made his New York recital debut at 92nd Street Y and has performed at Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Elbphilharmonie, the Kennedy Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Dresden Music Festival, and the Prague Spring International Music Festival. His debut album, featuring works by Aho, Bach, Boulez, and Prokofiev, was released by Haenssler Classics in September 2020.

In addition to his performances with Imani Winds, Mr. George has collaborated with members of the Gryphon Trio, the New York Philharmonic, and the Jasper String Quartet; and has performed live on New York’s WQXR with harpist Bridget Kibbey.

With the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mr. George has performed at Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, under conductors Gustavo Dudamel, Karina Canellakis, Ludovic Morlot, and John Williams. He has toured the U.S. and Europe with ICE, appearing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Park Avenue Armory in New York, and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in England. Through these collaborations, Mr. George has worked closely with composers John Adams, Louis Andriessen, Steve Reich, and George Lewis, among others.

Mr. George is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He received his Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music, where he won the school’s concerto competition. At the invitation of Sophie Cherrier, he continued his studies in France at Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris.

Mr. George joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 2021.

Mekhi Gladden is an oboist and changemaker whose work bridges the worlds of music and medicine. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia and based in Philadelphia, they began studying oboe at 15 through the Talent Development Program, later earning degrees at the Curtis Institute of Music and Thomas Jefferson University.

Mekhi has performed with leading orchestras across the U.S., including the Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Memphis Symphony, Princeton Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, and Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra. Committed to using music as a tool for connection and transformation, they have collaborated with Times Square Arts, Astral Artists, the People’s Music Supply, Sugar Hill Salon, and the Composers Conference at Avaloch.

A champion of new music and inclusive classical spaces, Mekhi actively commissions and premieres new works and is dedicated to mentorship and outreach. They were recently named winner of the Jan and Beattie Wood Concerto Competition, performing as soloist with the Brevard Music Center Orchestra.

Beyond the stage, Mekhi is a nationally certified pharmacy technician and vaccinator, working to expand access to medications, vaccines, and health literacy. Their dual commitment to care and creativity fuels a unique and deeply human artistic voice.

Mekhi now brings that voice to the Grammy winning Imani Winds as the ensemble’s newest member, carrying forward the legacy of their mentor, Toyin Spellman-Diaz.

Mekhi joined the chamber music faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 2025.

Mr. Dover maintains a busy touring schedule throughout the United States and abroad with the Imani Winds. He is a member of the Manhattan Chamber Players and has performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra with Leonard Slatkin, the Cleveland Orchestra with David Zinman, the New World Symphony, and many other ensembles.

Mr. Dover has an extensive background in improvised music. He is a frequent collaborator with Vulfpeck, an American funk band formed in his hometown of Ann Arbor, Mich. His duo Port Mande, with pianist/producer Jeremy Jordan, performs original music frequently throughout New York. The duo’s EP Is This Loss? was released in July 2020.

Mr. Dover joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 2021 and also serves on the clarinet faculty at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, City University of New York. He is an active clinician and has conducted master classes at many institutions including the University of Michigan, Manhattan School of Music, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of South Carolina.

A graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy, Mr. Dover received his Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music and his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Michigan. His most influential teachers include David Krakauer, Deborah Chodacki, and Jay DeVries.  He lives in New York City with his wife, soprano Faylotte Crayton, and his daughter Lulu.

Kevin Newton is the newest member of the GRAMMY-nominated wind quintet, Imani Winds. A native of South Boston, Virginia, he is a horn player and educator based in Manhattan. His first music teacher, his mother, instilled in him a love of music-making’s collaborative spirit.

As a chamber musician, he has performed with Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Metropolitan Horn Authority, Roomful of Teeth, and Tredici Bacci, among other ensembles. He has appeared professionally on the stages of Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, and National Sawdust.

An advocate for new music, Mr. Newton collaborated with composer Erin Busch to premiere a solo work as a part of the Contemporary Performance Institute at the Composers Conference in 2020. He is involved with several commissions set to premiere in the 2021–22 season. Mr. Newton formerly served as principal horn of the Waynesboro Symphony and, as an orchestral soloist, he has performed works by Gordon Jacob, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Franz Strauss.

Mr. Newton enjoys a busy recording schedule and has recently recorded with Tredici Bacci, Metropolitan Horn Authority, Tex Crick, and Sami Stevens, as well as for commercial projects. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Stony Brook University. He holds a Master of Music degree in orchestral performance from Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. He is a regular participant at Yellow Barn in Vermont.

Mr. Newton joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 2021. He is also on the horn faculty of Manhattan School of Music’s Precollege division and MSM Summer.

For nearly 30 years, she has captivated audiences through dynamic performances, bold programming, and a dedication to outreach, education, and collaboration.

A proud Pittsburgh native and “band kid,” Monica began her music journey on clarinet, saxophone and piano. After discovering the bassoon in middle school and studying with Mark Pancerev, she earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin Conservatory under George Sakakeeny. She went on to receive her Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School, and a Professional Studies Certificate from Manhattan School of Music studying with Frank Morelli at both institutions.

Monica has appeared as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, and Chineke! Orchestra in London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. Her discography spans genres and includes collaborations with jazz icons Wayne Shorter and Chick Corea, as well as 10 albums with Imani Winds.

She serves as co-artistic and executive director of Imani Winds and their Chamber Music Festival, treasurer for their Foundation, and teaches at Curtis Institute of Music and Manhattan School of Music. She is also a board member of Concert Artists Guild and the International Double Reed Society.

Based in the historic village of Harlem in New York City, with her son, Oden, Monica is a passionate educator, advocate for equity in classical music, and is honored to have Imani Winds featured in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Monica Ellis joined the chamber music faculty of Curtis in 2021.

Performances of Mahler’s Symphony No.8 with Minnesota Orchestra in June 2022 provided a fitting culmination for Vänskä’s tenure as Music Director. Together they undertook five major European tours, as well as an historic trip to Cuba in 2015 – the first visit by an American orchestra since the two countries re-established diplomatic relations. They also made a ground-breaking tour to South Africa in 2018 as part of worldwide celebrations of Nelson Mandela’s Centenary – furthermore the first visit by an American orchestra — drawing together South African and American performers in musical expressions of peace, freedom, and reconciliation on a five-city tour. Vanska and Minnesota Orchestra also made an acclaimed return to the BBC Proms in Summer 2018.

This season he will conduct the symphony orchestras of Montreal, Gurzenich, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Philharmonia, Tokyo, Antwerp and Bergen Philharmonic. Vänskä will also return to his long-time partners- Minnesota Orchestra, Iceland and Lahti Symphony Orchestra.

Vänskä continues to develop a visiting and touring relationship with Curtis Symphony Orchestra, leading conducting seminars as well as tours in Europe, the US and Asia.

A distinguished recording artist for the BIS label, Vänskä has recorded all of Mahler’s symphonies with Minnesota Orchestra. The Fifth Symphony received a Grammy nomination in 2017 for Best Orchestral Performance. Vänskä and Minnesota Orchestra have also recorded the complete symphonies of Beethoven and Sibelius to critical acclaim, winning a Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance in 2014 as well as being nominated on several occasions. In 2021 they were voted Gramophone’s Orchestra of the Year.

Vänskä studied conducting at Finland’s Sibelius Academy and was awarded first prize in the 1982 Besançon Competition. He began his career as a clarinetist, occupying the co-principal chair of Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. He regularly performs chamber music, having been invited to La Jolla Summerfest, Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Naantali Summer Festival, Sysmä Summer Sounds and Music in Ruovesi, amoungst many others. He has recorded Bernhard Henrik Crusell’s three Clarinet Quartets and Kalevi Aho’s Clarinet Quintet for the BIS label and is in the process of recording several duos for clarinet and violin which he has commissioned with his wife, violinist Erin Keefe.

Vänskä is the recipient of a Royal Philharmonic Society Award, the Finlandia Foundation’s Arts and Letters award, and the 2010 Ditson Award from Columbia University and the Pro Finlandia medal awarded to him by the State of Finland. He holds honorary doctorates from the Curtis Institute of Music, and the universities of Glasgow and Minnesota, and was named Musical America’s 2005 Conductor of the Year. In 2013 he received the Annual Award from the German Record Critics’ Award Association for his involvement in BIS’s recordings of the complete works by Sibelius.

John de Lancie has had an eclectic career as an actor, director, producer, writer, educator, and comedian. In addition to the iconic role of Q on the Star Trek series The Next Generation, Voyager, Deep Space 9, and Picard, he has appeared in numerous television shows including Breaking Bad, CSI, The West Wing, Sports Night, Judging Amy, and Legend.

His film credits include The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Taking Care of Business, Fearless, Multiplicity, Woman on Top, Good Advice, Pathology, and The Last Session. He has performed in many stage productions, and has been a member of the American Shakespeare Center, the Seattle Repertory Theatre, and the Old Globe.

The son of renowned Philadelphia Orchestra oboist John de Lancie, Mr. de Lancie grew up in a musical household. Over his career, Mr. de Lancie has performed as narrator with a number of major orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. His repertoire includes Peer Gynt, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, and Peter and the Wolf, among many others.

He has written and directed ten symphonic plays produced with the Milwaukee Symphony and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the LA Philharmonic, and Pasadena Symphony. Mr. de Lancie wrote, directed, and hosted “First Nights,” a concert series at Walt Disney Concert Hall with the LA Philharmonic that explored the lives and music of Stravinsky, Beethoven, Mahler, Schumann, and Prokofiev. Mr. de Lancie has also directed the operas Tosca and Cold Sassy Treein Atlanta, Madame Butterfly in San Antonio, and Cinderella in Sacramento.

Mr. de Lancie is a graduate of Kent State University and The Juilliard School. When time permits, he is also an avid sailor.

Comprised of outstanding talent and unmatched enthusiasm for musical collaboration, Curtis Symphony Orchestra stands as a cornerstone of the Curtis Institute of Music experience and a vital component of Philadelphia’s vibrant cultural scene. For 100 years, our exceptional students have sharpened their skills and broadened their musical horizons, as they prepare for professional careers with the world’s foremost orchestras and chamber ensembles.