FIVE QUESTIONS
Quintet heads for New York, Norway

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Spring Wind Quintet — clockwise from left, Susan McGinn, J. Scott Janusch, James Moffitt, Martha Schweitzer and Jonathan Parrish — will be the first professional chamber music ensemble in Hawai'i to perform in New York City and Norway. The quintet also are members of the Honolulu Symphony. Floyd Honda SPRING WIND QUINTET 7:30 p.m. Monday, Paliku Theatre, Windward Community College 7:30 p.m. April 25, Doris Duke Theatre, Honolulu Academy of Arts $20 general, $15 seniors, free for students in kindergarten through grade 12 524-0815, ext. 245 If you're New York-bound: The Spring Wind Quintet performs at 8 p.m. April 28 at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Symphony Space; symphonyspace.org

"The overall mission is to bring visibility to the quintet, chamber music, and the state of the arts in Hawai'i," horn player Jonathan Parrish said.

Parrish and his colleagues — J. Scott Janusch, oboe; James Moffitt, clarinet; Susan McGinn, flute; and Martha Schweitzer, bassoon — will give two concerts in Hawai'i before their departure, including a performance Monday at Paliku Theatre and another April 25 at Doris Duke Theatre. The impending trip will mark the first time a professional Hawai'i-based chamber group will perform in The Big Apple and in Norway. Chamber Music Hawaii's Honolulu Brass Quintet, a sister combo, previously toured Japan.

We posed Five Questions to Janusch, the newest member (four years) of the Spring Wind Quintet:

So what took you so long to finally embark on a Mainland and European tour?

"Well, I think time constraints was one reason; also, the cost is daunting. Without management — Chamber Music Hawaii has no paid staff; we're all volunteers — we have to do our own administrative stuff, so yes, this tour is long overdue. We submitted requests for some grants, and the American Scandinavian Foundation and the U.S. Embassy in Norway, and ambassador John Doyle Ong, are helping out. Turns out Ong is a board member of the Cleveland Orchestra and a classical music fan; they offered to help with expenses, so we don't have to sell chili or doughnuts.

"And a couple of musicians in our group had acquaintances in Norway, in the Bergen Wind Quintet, and these musicians came over last year, and we did a concert together. So it's like an exchange. We added New York as a stopover to get over jet lag, since Norway is 12 hours' time difference from us — and we're playing in some prestigious spots. In Bergen, Norway, we play at Troldhaugen, the historic home of composer Edvard Grieg; at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo; and at Silijutol, home of Harald Saeverud, another Norwegian composer who's better known than Grieg there.

Because we're in Norway, we thought we'd do a piece by Hawai'i composer Alan Trubitt, 'Spring Wind,' which is named after us. In New York, we're at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Symphony Space, which is perfect for chamber music, since it seats 200."

Has the chamber music scene changed vastly since the Spring Wind Quintet was formed three decades ago?

"The Spring Wind Quintet was formed in the 1970s, before my time, but there's been a great deal of enthusiasm. Our audiences at least doubled in the last two years; we're doing year-round concerts at Paliku and building an audience there; we also perform at the Doris Duke Theatre. We want to expand to Kapolei in the future, in West O'ahu, and, of course, tour the Neighbor Islands."

What is the mission of this journey, in terms of Chamber Music Hawaii goals?

"I think it's important because we're still growing as artists and we want to represent Hawai'i well beyond our state. If we put ourselves on the international stage, we're making a positive statement about Hawai'i as a place to live, with a lively arts scene."

What else do you do?

"All members of the quintet are also members of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra; we also teach. We'll have to miss the Diana Krall concert at the Waikiki Shell. We're a little disappointed about that, but we're excited about touring. We'll be back in time for the MasterWorks concerts in May."

Are you taking along Island omiyage?

"We're bringing silk lei that travel well; and coffee and macadamias, too. We're still deciding on a nice gift for the embassy. And we'll connect with Hawai'i folks in New York, who do a big lu'au in Central Park every May."

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, 525-8067 or fax 525-8055.