The Festival Winds was a Canadian ''

Harmonie is a German word that, in the context of the history of music, designates an ensemble of wind instruments (usually about five to eight players) employed by an aristocratic patron, particularly during the Classical era of the 18th century. The Harmo ...

'' ensemble, which appeared at the

Festival of the Sound Festival of the Sound is an annual classical music festival that occurs from July to August in Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada. Established in by Anton Kuerti, the festival's original artistic director, the annual festival was held in the auditorium ...

, a summer music festival based in the resort town of

Parry Sound, Ontario Parry Sound is a town in Ontario, Canada, located on the eastern shore of the sound after which it is named. Parry Sound is located south of Sudbury and north of Toronto. It is a single tier government located in the territorial District ...

from 1988 to 2014.{{cite web, url=http://www.festivalwinds.com/, title=The Festival Winds, date=July 2007, accessdate=2009-03-02 The group is reuniting for a performance of Mozart's Serenade in B Flat K361 in the summer of 2024 at the Festival of the Sound. The group specialized in the performance of ''Harmoniemusik'', a historical genre written for the small wind ensemble called the ''

''. The Festival Winds made the first recording of the first editions of ''Harmoniemusik'' the ''Harmoniemusik of K.V. Anhang C'', works attributed to

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

. The members of the ensemble were: * James Mason, Brian James, oboes * James Campbell,

David Bourque David Bourque is a Canadian musician, was a member of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 1983 to 2011. He played clarinet and bass clarinet in the TSO, and he has played on numerous film soundtracks. Bourque teaches in higher education at the Un ...

, clarinets * James McKay (bassoon), Christian Sharpe, bassoons *

James Sommerville James Sommerville is a Canadian orchestral hornist and conductor. He was the current principal hornist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and former Conductor and Music Director of the Hamilton Philharmonic, in Hamilton, Ontario.

, Neil Spaulding, horns *

Joel Quarrington Joel Quarrington (born January 15, 1955) is a Canadian double bass player, soloist and teacher. He is the former Principal Double Bass of the London Symphony Orchestra. Career He was born in Toronto, Ontario, and began playing the double bass at ...

, bass As of 2021, James Mason is the Principal Oboe of the

Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Ontario, Cambridge, Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and Waterloo, Ontario, Water ...

and Canadian Chamber Ensemble. Brian James is Second Oboe and Solo English Horn with Symphony Nova Scotia, and instructor of oboe at the Fountain School of the Performing Arts at

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

. Neil Spaulding teaches French Horn at

Queen's University at Kingston Queen's University at Kingston, commonly known as Queen's University or simply Queen's, is a public research university in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Queen's holds more than of land throughout Ontario and owns Herstmonceux Castle in East Suss ...

and is Second Horn with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. Joel Quarrington teaches at the University of Ottawa and is a Visiting Artist at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

in London. James Campbell, who has been the festival's Artistic Director since 1988, teaches at the Jacobs School of Music at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

, as does David Bourque, who also teaches at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

. James McKay is Professor Emeritus at the

Don Wright Faculty of Music The Don Wright Faculty of Music is the faculty of music at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. The faculty was founded in 1968. Originally known as just the Faculty of Music, it was renamed in 2002 in honour of Don Wrig ...

at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

. James Sommerville is the principal hornist for the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

References

Wind bands Canadian classical music groups