Dec 11, 2017 By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 3 min read

As the Aeolian Winds of Pittsburgh’s holiday concert at Upper St. Clair Township Library approaches, some patrons might have the question:

What does the ensemble’s name mean?

“The Aeolian Islands were named after Aeolus, who was the Greek god of the wind, so that has kind of a connotation for our group,” clarinetist Alex Jones explained. “But all the Greek islands had different musical moods. ‘Aeolian’ has actually been retained in modern music as minor mode or minor key. So it has kind of a musical connotation as well as a wind connotation.”

Woodwinds, to be proper: joining Jones in the quintet, which has been active for 14 years are Peggy Greb, flute; Amelia Van Howe, oboe; Deb McDowell, French horn; and Steven Ehrin, bassoon. Their Upper St. Clair performance is at 7 p.m. Dec. 18.

The ensemble actually has played at the library about a dozen times over the years, but newcomers might be curious about the group’s makeup.

“It is a little bit less well-known to the general public,” Jones acknowledged. “People think of chamber music, and they immediately think of string quartet. If they know a little bit more, they might think of brass quintet. Typically, they don’t know so much about wind quintet.

“But when they hear us,” he continued, “they’re very impressed, because we don’t have that ‘samey’ kind of quality that a string quartet does, or a brass quintet does. We can sound like a lot of different things and produce a very full sound, produce a very soft sound. And people are very surprised by the versatility.”

The repertoire of classical music varies, from the likes of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven to contemporary composers such as György Ligeti, Eric Ewazen – he was born in Cleveland – and Robert Muczynski, who wrote a piece called “Quintet for Winds.

“Because our ensemble is so varied in terms of its tone color and timbre, we can reduce orchestral pieces pretty effectively,” Jones said. “We do that for film music a lot. We have an arrangement for ‘Star Wars,’ even as recent as the movie that came out last year. ‘Harry Potter,’ ‘Jurassic Park’ and all these kinds of things, we like to do those for our pops concert. We try to keep the programs varied but also very accessible.”

At the Upper St. Clair library, they’ll be concentrating on seasonal favorites such as are found on the CD the ensemble released last year, ”Holiday Classics.” Meanwhile, those in attendance can partake of complimentary cookies and cider while listening and enjoying.

For more information, visit www.aeolianwinds.com.