The Grammy-winning quintet Imani Winds with pianist Michelle Cann will kick off the 14th season of Midwestern State University’s Music Series at Akin at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, in Akin Auditorium.

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

The group is celebrating more than 25 years of making music. It has been nominated for Grammy awards three times and has led both a revolution and evolution of the wind quintet through its dynamic playing, adventurous programming, imaginative collaborations, and outreach endeavors that have inspired audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

Imani Winds holds a permanent presence in the classical music section of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C.

The ensemble’s playlist embraces traditional chamber music repertoire, and newly commissioned works from voices that reflect historical events and the current times. 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.

Members of Imani Winds are Mark Dover, clarinet; Monica Ellis, bassoon; Brandon Patrick George, flute; Kevin Newton, French horn; and Toyin Spellman-Diaz, oboe. All the musicians are award-winning performers who have played with symphonies around the world.

Cann is recognized as a leading interpreter of the piano music of Florence Price, the first African American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer and to have her music played by a major orchestra. This year, she was named the inaugural Christel DeHaan Artistic Partner of the American Pianists Association, responsible for artistic oversight of the American Pianists Awards. She has recently performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the National Symphony Orchestra. She also performs a recital as the headline artist at the National Conference of the Music Teachers National Association.

The program for the evening includes:

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 concert is sponsored by the Perkins-Prothro Foundation and Mrs. Dale Prothro with the Lamar D. Fain College of Fine Arts at MSU. The series debuted in spring 2012 and since has since hosted many notable classical musicians.

General admission tickets are $23-25 and may be purchased by contacting the music department at 940-397-4267 or visiting msufineartstickets.universitytickets.com. Cash or check payments may be mailed to Music Series at Akin, MSU Department of Music, 3410 Taft Blvd., Wichita Falls, Texas 76308.