What is a Wind Ensemble?

​If asked to think about the word "orchestra", a fairly clear picture probably pops into most people's minds as to what that actually means: people in tuxedos or black dresses with violins, cellos, and a whole bunch of other instruments, probably playing a symphony by Beethoven on a big stage. While certainly a stereotypical description that doesn't encompass every aspect of what great symphonies actually do, people actually know what an orchestra is, even if they've never seen or heard one in person.

One of the challenges that we have as a wind ensemble is that there isn't the same kind of broad cultural knowledge about what a wind ensemble actually is. We would love to change that.

So, what actually is a wind ensemble?

One of the simplest descriptions we use is this: It's basically what happens when you take a full orchestra and omit the violins, violas, cellos, and most of the basses. We do keep all the wind instruments though: piccolos, flutes, clarinets, oboes, bassoons, trumpets, trombones, baritones, euphoniums, and tubas. The full percussion section stays as well, complete with timpani, piano, and often even a harp. To the mix also gets added a full complement of saxophones, which hadn't even been invented when Beethoven composed. This standard wind ensemble instrumentation was only really established back in 1952, when the Eastman Wind Ensemble was founded at the Eastman School of Music. 

Like a chef who can suddenly cook with spices other than just salt and pepper or a painter who gains access to a vibrant new pigment, composers have made incredible music since then by taking full advantage of the rich variety of sounds that become available once wind instruments are untethered from an orchestral strings section. While we do occasionally play transcriptions of orchestral works, we truly love performing music that has been written specifically for wind ensemble, and we hope to share that wonderful music with our community.

The playlist to the right contains recordings of us performing several original wind ensemble compositions. If you like what you hear, please come to one of our concerts and hear us live!