Imani Winds and Michelle Cann
Brandon Patrick George, flute | Toyin Spellman-Diaz, clarinet | Kevin Newton, horns | Mark Dover, clarinet | Monica Ellis, bassoon | Michelle Cann, piano
Sunday, January 11, 2026 – 3PM
Sedona Performing Arts Center – 995 Upper Red Rock Loop Rd, Sedona, AZ 86336
Program
Paquito D’Rivera: A Little Cuban Waltz
Viet Cuong: Circadian Rhythms
Francis Poulenc: Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano
Valerie Coleman: Portraits of Langston
Francis Poulenc: Sextet for Piano and Winds
The 2024 GRAMMY®-winning ensemble Imani Winds has been a pioneer in the woodwind quintet genre for over a quarter century, inspiring audiences of all ages and backgrounds through dynamic playing, adventurous programming, imaginative collaborations, and impactful outreach. Teaming up with 2022 Sphinx Medal of Excellence recipient Michelle Caan—one of the most sought-after pianists of her generation—they present a scintillating program that journeys from France to North and South America.
Imani Winds
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 four 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.
The ensemble’s playlist embraces traditional chamber music repertoire, and newly commissioned works from icons to new voices reflectly the times in which we live.
Recent and upcoming projects include a new double quintet by Arturo Sandoval, featuring Boston Brass; a Jessie Montgomery composition inspired by her great-grandfather’s migration from the American south to the north; and a work by Carlos Simon celebrating iconic figures of the African American community. These commissioned works and more are a part of the long-standing Legacy Commissioning Project. Reflecting on the issues of mass incarceration, Imani Winds 11th studio recording, “BeLonging” by and with Andy Akiho, was released in June 2024 and is nominated for a 2025 GRAMMY® award.
Twenty-seven seasons of full-time touring has brought Imani Winds to virtually every major chamber music series, performing arts center, and summer festival in the U.S. They regularly perform in prominent venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center and have a presence at festivals such as Chamber Music Northwest, Chautauqua Institution and Banff Centre.
Imani Winds thoughtfully curates unique residencies that include performances, workshops, and masterclasses to thousands of students each year at institutions such as the University of Chicago, Eastman School of Music and Duke University.
Their international presence includes concerts throughout Asia, Brazil, Australia, England, New Zealand and Europe.
Appointed in 2021 as Curtis Institute of Music’s first ever Faculty Wind Quintet, Imani Winds commitment to education runs deep. The highly successful Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival launched in 2010, is an annual summer program devoted to musical excellence and career development for pre-professional instrumentalists and composers. The curriculum includes mentorship, masterclasses, entrepreneurial workshops, community engagement activities and performances, with the goal of fostering the complete musician and global citizen.
In 2019, the group extended their mission even further by creating the non-profit organization, Imani Winds Foundation, which exists to support, connect and uplift their initiatives and more.
Imani Winds’ travels through the jazz world are highlighted by their multi-faceted association with luminary musicians and composers Wayne Shorter, Paquito D’Rivera and Jason Moran. Their ambitious project, “Josephine Baker: A Life of Le Jazz Hot!” featured jazz songstress René Marie in performances that brought the house down in New York, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Los Angeles and St. Louis.
In 2021, Imani Winds released their 9th studio album, “Bruits” on Bright Shiny Things Records, which received a 2022 GRAMMY® nomination for “Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance.” Gramophone states, “the ensemble’s hot rapport churns with conviction throughout.”
Imani Winds has recordings on Koch International Classics and E1 Music, including their 2006 GRAMMY® nominated recording, “The Classical Underground”. They have also recorded for Naxos and Blue Note and released an acclaimed arrangement of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” on Warner Classics. They are regularly heard on all media platforms including NPR, American Public Media, the BBC, SiriusXM, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
To date, one of Imani Winds’ most humbling recognitions is a permanent presence in the classical music section of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC.
Lauded as “exquisite” by The Philadelphia Inquirer and “a pianist of sterling artistry” by Gramophone, GRAMMY Award winning pianist Michelle Cann is one of the most sought-after artists of her generation. Recent engagements include appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de São Paulo. Her honors include the Sphinx Medal of Excellence and the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award. In 2024, she was named the inaugural Christel DeHaan Artistic Partner of the American Piano Awards, responsible for artistic oversight of the competition.
Highlights of Cann’s 2024-25 season include appearances with the San Francisco Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, and London’s Philharmonia Orchestra. She performs collaboratively with the Dover Quartet, the Imani Winds, and cellist Tommy Mesa. Her solo and collaborative recital appearances include the 92nd Street Y, New York; University of Chicago Presents; Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music; Duke Arts at Duke University; the Royal Conservatory of Music; Shriver Hall Concert Series; and Spivey Hall. She also performs a recital as the headline artist at the National Conference of the Music Teachers National Association.
Recognized as a leading interpreter of the piano music of Florence Price, Cann performed the New York City premiere of Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement with The Dream Unfinished Orchestra in July 2016 and the Philadelphia premiere with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin in February 2021. Her recording of the concerto with the New York Youth Symphony won a GRAMMY Award in 2023 for Best Orchestral Performance. She won a GRAMMY Award in 2025 for Beyond the Years: Unpublished Songs of Florence Price, recorded with soprano Karen Slack, which features 19 unpublished songs composed by Price. Her acclaimed debut solo album Revival, featuring music by Price and Margaret Bonds, was released in May 2023 on the Curtis Studio label. She has also recorded two Price piano quintets with the Catalyst Quartet as a part of the quartet’s UNCOVERED series. A champion of emerging talent, Cann and cellist Tommy Mesa recorded Our Stories, an album of new works by five living composers of color, which was released in November 2023.
A celebrated chamber musician, Cann has collaborated with leading artists including the Catalyst, Dover, and Juilliard string quartets, violinists Timothy and Nikki Chooi, soprano Karen Slack, and mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges. She regularly performs duo piano repertoire with her sister, pianist Kimberly Cann, as the Cann Duo. She has appeared as co-host and collaborative pianist with NPR’s From The Top, collaborating with actor/conductor Damon Gupton, violinist Leila Josefowicz, and violinist and MacArthur Fellow Vijay Gupta. Cann’s numerous media appearances include PBS Great Performances’ Now Hear This hosted by Scott Yoo and Living the Classical Life with host Zsolt Bognár.
Embracing a dual role as performer and pedagogue, Cann is frequently invited to teach master classes, give lecture-demonstrations, and lead teaching residencies. Recent residencies include the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival and the National Conference of the Music Teachers National Association. She has recorded lessons for tonebase, the popular piano lesson platform. She has also served on the juries of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, the Kauffman Music Center International Youth Piano Competition, and the piano competition of the Music Academy of the West.
Cann holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Paul Schenly and Dr. Daniel Shapiro, and an Artist’s Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Robert McDonald. She joined the Curtis piano faculty in 2020 as the inaugural Eleanor Sokoloff Chair in Piano Studies. She is also on the piano faculty of the Manhattan School of Music.
