United Pacific Quintet

• Fazil Say (b. 1970): Alevi dedeler rakı masasında, Op. 35:
• 1 Say: Alevi dedeler rakı masasında, Op. 35: I. Andantino tranquillo - Presto fantastico 03:59
• 2 Say: Alevi dedeler rakı masasında, Op. 35: II. Andante tranquillo - Moderato 03:18
• 3 Say: Alevi dedeler rakı masasında, Op. 35: III. Andantino 04:37
• 4 Say: Alevi dedeler rakı masasında, Op. 35: IV. Presto - Andantino 03:18
• Jorge Santos (1870 - 1941): Vida:
• 5 Santos: Vida: I. El despertar de los sentidos 01:27
• 6 Santos: Vida: II. La curiosidad 00:45
• 7 Santos: Vida: III. La imaginación 00:45
• 8 Santos: Vida: IV. Marionetas 00:49
• 9 Santos: Vida: V. Errante 01:35
• 10 Santos: Vida: VI. La búsqueda 02:28
• 11 Santos: Vida: VII. Plenitud 02:09
• Kyousei Yamamoto: Medley of Japanese Folk Songs:
• 12 Yamamoto: Medley of Japanese Folk Songs: I. Hanaichimonme 01:56
• 13 Yamamoto: Medley of Japanese Folk Songs: II. Hamabe-no-uta 02:09
• 14 Yamamoto: Medley of Japanese Folk Songs: III. Muramatsuri 01:29
• 15 Yamamoto: Medley of Japanese Folk Songs: IV. Furusato 02:00
• Hanns Eisler (1898 - 1962): Divertimento for Woodwind Quintet, Op. 4:
• 16 Eisler: Divertimento for Woodwind Quintet, Op. 4: I. Andante con moto 02:17
• 17 Eisler: Divertimento for Woodwind Quintet, Op. 4: II. Theme and Variations 04:59
• Soeui Lee: Three Bagatelles:
• 18 Lee: Three Bagatelles: No. 1, When Nilliri Band Comes in Marching 03:02
• 19 Lee: Three Bagatelles: No. 2, Divertimenti in Carnival Serenade 03:57
• 20 Lee: Three Bagatelles: No. 3, Mask Dance in Carnival 03:26
• Leonard Bernstein (1918 - 1990): West Side Story:
• 21 Bernstein: West Side Story: I Feel Pretty / Tonight (Arr. for Wind Quintet by Richard Price) 05:03
• 22 Bernstein: West Side Story: Maria (Arr. for Wind Quintet by Richard Price) 04:14
• 23 Bernstein: West Side Story: America (Arr. for Wind Quintet by Richard Price) 02:58
• Total Runtime 01:02:40

Info for United

The Pacific Quintet’s debut album on Fuga Libera is a reflection of the diversity of its members and core focus; it also offers a nod to the composer who inspired the ensemble: Leonard Bernstein. Going beyond the standard classical repertoire, the prize-winning quintet (clarinet, horn, flute, oboe and bassoon) presents music from their home countries of Japan, Honduras, South Korea, Germany and Ukraine/Turkey in a programme which transcends all differences of culture, language and tradition. Two pieces, one by the Honduran composer Jorge Santos and the other by the South Korean female composer Soeui Lee, were commissioned especially for this album, which also includes Fazil Say’s quintet Alevi dedeler rakı masasında and a medley of Japanese folk songs; Hanns Eisler’s Divertimento represents Germany, the Pacific Quintet’s home city. The album ends with an arrangement of music from West Side Story, an homage to its famous composer who founded the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo where the players first met. As this project shows, they are truly United in music.

Pacific Quintet

The Pacific Quintet
1st prize winners of the “Ton & Erklärung 2021” (Sound & Explanation) Competition of the Association of Arts and Culture of the German Economy, 2nd prize winners of the “Carl Nielsen International Chamber Music Competition 2019” in Copenhagen and the „Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern-Nordmetall“ Ensembleprize Winners 2023, the Pacific Quintet celebrated their debut concert in the Chamber Music Hall of the Philharmonie Berlin in 2019.

The Pacific Quintet met in 2017 at the Pacific Music Festival, founded by Leonard Bernsteinin Sapporo, Japan. Inspired by the passionate attention to music, the intercultural exchange and the respectful company with each other at the festival, the five musicians decided to carry Bernstein’s spirit to Europe and founded the Pacific Quintet in Berlin. Because its members hail from Honduras, Japan, Russia, South Korea and Germany, tolerance and inclusion is of utmost importance to the Pacific Quintet. This ensemble strives to use music as a means of communication in order to make the wealth of different cultures, origins and traditions visible to all, amidst a society in which fear of the foreign and blanket condemnation based on stereotypes are gaining more relevance again.

The members of the Pacific Quintet studied at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin, the University of the Arts Berlin and Zurich as well as in the Karajan-Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Renowned artists such as Christian Wetzel, Nick Deutsch, Christian-Friedrich Dallmann and Wenzel Fuchs have supported the Ensemble with their guidance. Since 2020, the Pacific Quintet has studied chamber music with Martin Spangenberg at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin.

In addition to their dedication to chamber music, the musicians have performed with many orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Dresdner Philharmoniker, the WDR-Sinfonieorchester, the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Mariinsky Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

Booklet for United