Sylvan Winds To Present MID-CENTURY MODERN Featuring Works By Gunther Schuller, Ruth Crawford-Seeger, a world premiere by Debra Kaye, And More
Concert will take place November 25, 2025 at St. John’s in the Village.
By: A.A. Cristi Nov. 21, 2025
Sylvan Winds will present MID-CENTURY MODERN on Tuesday, November 25, 2025 at 7 p.m. at Saint John’s in the Village. The concert will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Gunther Schuller, whose career encompassed work as a composer, conductor, author, jazz historian, and founder of Third Stream Music, as well as leadership positions at the New England Conservatory and the Tanglewood Music Institute. In addition to two Schuller quintets, the program will include the world premiere of Debra Kaye’s Out of Many, One, commissioned with support from the New York State Council on the Arts.
The program will also feature works by John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet, Ruth Crawford-Seeger, and selections from Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha, arranged by G. Bastable.
PROGRAM (Tuesday, November 25, 2025)
Debra Kaye: Out of Many, One (2025), World Premiere
Gunther Schuller: Woodwind Quintet (1958)
Gunther Schuller: Suite for Woodwind Quintet (1958)
John Lewis: Portraits
Ruth Crawford-Seeger: Suite for Wind Quintet (1952)
Scott Joplin (arr. G. Bastable): Scenes from Treemonisha
TICKETING INFORMATION
Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Time: 7 p.m.
Venue: Saint John’s in the Village, 218 West 11th Street, New York, NY
Tickets: $25 general admission; $20 seniors and students
Link: https://bit.ly/SylvanWinds1125
PROGRAM NOTE: OUT OF MANY, ONE BY DEBRA KAYE
Commissioned by the New York State Council on the Arts for Sylvan Winds, the work features Isabel Lepanto Gleicher (flute), Kathy Halvorson (oboe), Nuno Artunes (clarinet), Zohar Schondorf (horn), and Gina Cuffari (bassoon). The world premiere will take place on November 25, 2025.
Kaye describes the piece as a reflection on the motto “Out of Many, One,” using musical processes as metaphors for individuality, disagreement, unity, and collective purpose. The music’s structure follows sections titled Coming Together, Individuals Speak, March of the Sycophants, Burlesque, Return of the March of the Sycophants, Wild Dance, A Chaos of Winds, Meditation, Lament, and Coming Together.
ABOUT DEBRA KAYE
Born in Detroit and raised in Atlanta, composer Debra Kaye creates music grounded in an eclectic blend of classical, jazz, experimental, and world influences. Her work spans orchestral music, chamber music, choral writing, art songs, theatrical works, and pieces incorporating fixed media. Her debut album And So It Begins (Ravello Records) earned a place on Ted Gioia’s annual list of top 100 CDs, and her 2024 release Time Is the Sea We Swim In (Navona Records), produced by Judith Sherman, was highlighted in Gramophone’s “Sounds of America” section. GRAMMY-winning conductor JoAnn Falletta praised the album, stating, “What a beautiful collection of your work, so sensitive and exquisitely colored. I loved it. You are a great composer!”
Kaye’s music has been recognized with six Global Music Awards, and her compositions have been presented by ensembles including the Portland Youth Philharmonic, Access Contemporary Music, Kyo-Shin-An Arts, the Fort Wayne Children’s Choir, and others. She has held residencies at the Millay Colony and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation and has received support from Meet the Composer, Mannes College, The New School, the Edward T. Cone Foundation, and the ASCAP Plus Award annually since 2009.
Active in the New York new music community, Kaye serves as associate director with Composers Concordance and is on the board of New York Women Composers. She is a past president of the Howland Chamber Music Circle and formerly served as executive director of the New York Composers Circle.
She is a graduate of Mannes College of Music and New York University and served on the faculty of Mannes Preparatory Division from 1991 to 2018. Kaye is also a lifelong diarist and an avid amateur photographer.
Videos