Quintet of the Americas to Play JASA

By Dan Guarino

They have been around the world, and now they are coming to play at the JASA Older Adult Center at Rockaway Park.

This Friday, November 21, at 12:30 p.m., JASA’s center at 106-20 Shore Front Parkway, first floor suite 300, will host the Quintet of the Americas. The well-traveled woodwind group will be joined by special guest artists in a free concert open to all older adults.

In honor of Latin American Culture Week, the vibrant, swaying sounds of tango will take center stage in the Quintet’s interactive program as they play for the first time at JASA.

With several locations across the peninsula, JASA (Jewish Association for Services for the Aged) provides a variety of non-denominational based services, meals, activities for any and all residents 60 years of age and older.

This spring, the Quintet of the Americas visited and/or revisited Rockaway audiences at places like Catholic Charities Neighborhood Service (CCNS) Seaside Older Adult Center at the First Congregational Church hall on Beach 94th Street and Beacon Rehabilitation Center at Beach 113th Street.

They have also given well-received concert programs this fall at senior centers in Sunnyside and St. Albans, at the Langston Hughes Library in Corona, Queens Botanical Garden and Manhattan’s National Opera Center. Close to their JASA visit they will be playing Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Gardens and the Loisaida Center on the Lower East Side.

“This will be the first time we visit JASA,” Quintet director Barbara Oldham said. “We hope we will be back every year!”

Their afternoon set will highlight both the swinging and sensual sides of tango, with pieces like “La Cara De La Luna” (The Face of the Moon), “New York Tango,” “Anhelo y Misterio” (Longing and Mystery) and “Images of Buenos Aires.” “Libertango” might be familiar to some as the theme from television’s “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.”

Oldham notes their program will also feature two very special guest stars, Uruguayan pianist Polly Ferman and Argentinian bandoneon player Daniel Binelli.

The lively bandoneon is a concertina-type instrument, popular in South America, and a smaller ‘cousin’ to the accordion.

“These wonderful musicians are world class, frequently touring all over the world,” Oldham said of Ferman and Binelli, who will be specially “flying in from Valencia, Spain” for this program.

The Quintet itself will consist of musicians Andrés Ayola on oboe,

David Valbuena playing clarinet, Alexander Davis on bassoon and Oldham leading the group on French horn.

She explains their regular flutist, Kim O’Hare Bonacorsa, is currently playing in the Broadway orchestra of the hit revival of the musical “Chess.” “So we have the wonderful flutist Xue Su playing with us for Latin American Culture Week,” Oldham said.

Throughout their musical programs, each Quintet member introduces themselves and their instruments, and talks a little bit about each of the pieces they are about to perform. They also encourage their audiences clap, tap and otherwise be a part of the program, promoting that music, in whatever form, is for all.

Oldham describes their music as “everything from brand new to very familiar. We like to bring new experiences to the audiences and also make them feel comfortable with pieces or styles they know.”

Their mission, she explains, “is to broaden appreciation of music from the Western Hemisphere, through the performance, commissioning, and recording of wind quintets and related chamber music.”

“We encourage inter-cultural appreciation and understanding by performing contemporary, classical and folk-derived music from the diverse cultural traditions of the all the Americas. With community partnerships (such as with JASA and other organizations) we bring new concert music and living composers to underserved audiences in Queens.”

Running from folk to popular to classical, not only does the Quintet’s expansive concert repertoire encompass music from around the globe, their own origin spans continents and cultures. As Oldham explains, the ensemble was first “started in 1976 in Bogotà, Colombia, by the principal wind players of the Colombian National Orchestra, who all happened to be from the United States. The players wanted to play chamber music as well as orchestral music.”

Along with re-forming again in NYC in 1979, she noted earlier, “we have a very long history which includes a Carnegie Hall debut-in the big hall, nationwide tours for Colombia Artists, participation at International Festivals, plus awards from Chamber Music America and yearly funding awards from NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts.”

As far back as 2014, ahead of a concert at the Rockaway Artists Alliance, the group reported they had already toured over 300 cities, and internationally played as far away as Ukraine.

Closer to home, Barbara Oldham says, they’ve had tremendous responses when playing the peninsula. “One thing people noted was they thought the music was inspiring, often saying they felt transported to another place.”

Rockaway audiences have also loved when the Quintet has brought together musicians blending in other instruments and cultures, as they will be doing at JASA.

“When we did a program with a guest from Africa, one concert attendee said, ‘I could feel the Zimbabwe rhythms in my bones.’  I’m sure people will be feeling these tango rhythms on Friday!!”

If asked to pick a favorite thing about Rockaway, Oldham says, “For me personally – that’s hard to answer just one thing. I love the variety of people and their creativity, the food and the nature.”

Adding to that list, the Quintet of the Americas will be enjoying playing for a Rockaway audience once again. Just as all who attend will enjoy being swept up in an afternoon of rhythms, music and tango at JASA.

For more information about JASA Rockaway Park Older Adult Center, call 718-634-3044.

Photos courtesy of the Quintet of the America.