CLASSICAL
Pop-ups bring music to the parks.
Nestled within the sprawling concrete jungle of Houston are lush, urban oases brimming with creative inspiration. Artists of all kinds hold the potential to enliven these vibrant public spaces, but often they are equally influenced by them.
Such is the case with the musicians of WindSync — flutist Garrett Hudson, oboist Emily Tsai, clarinetist Julian Hernandez, bassoonist Kara LaMoure and French horn player Anni Hochhalter — who are no strangers to outdoor performances that embody the essence of nature.
The acclaimed wind quintet will work in harmony with two of the city’s hidden gems May 8, presenting back-to-back, family-friendly “Pop Ups in the Park” in collaboration with two other dynamic Houston-based ensembles — Kinetic and Loop38.
The free, outdoor series will begin in the late morning with an educational outreach program of instrument demonstrations at Levy Park, presented in partnership with Young Audiences of Houston, followed by an afternoon among the mosaics at the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art’s Smither Park. The latter will be a first for WindSync, as the musicians have yet to perform at the whimsical East End treasure, although they have long been intrigued by the legacy of the Orange Show, created by postman Jeff McKissack, and the Smither family, for whom the adjacent park was named.
“As artists and sensitive humans, we take in our surroundings, and we’re inspired by them,” says Hochhalter, who also serves as the quintet’s executive director and musician chair. “There are all these unknowns, but you learn so much by playing in new spaces and having to adapt to those spaces, and they can inform a certain amount of beauty.”
Not every locale is well-suited for concerts, she explains, but examining venue viability is a skill that WindSync has enjoyed honing since its beginnings as a student ensemble at Rice University in 2009. Hochhalter joined the group a year later, moving to Houston on a whim after befriending its founding bassoonist at a summer music festival in Italy.
Today, WindSync is an established international touring ensemble, and while only three of its members are still based in Houston (Hochhalter has returned to her native California, and Tsai resides in the Washington, D.C. area), the group continues to curate a four-concert season, in addition to an annual spring festival, where it all began.
“Houston has been an amazing laboratory for us because we get to do all of our first and final experimentations there,” Hochhalter says. “It’s very emotional for us to come back to perform and feel that sense of home again.”
Built on a three-pronged mission of artistry, education and community-building, WindSync is dedicated to presenting enriching, interactive programming that is accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds. The desire to connect with others both onstage and offstage is firmly woven into the fabric of the ensemble’s identity. In fact, the quintet’s mentorship of younger generations led to its supportive relationships with Kinetic and Loop38, both of which share similar ties to Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.
Last summer, the three ensembles began to meet more frequently via monthly Zoom meetings to discuss ideas for how to persevere through the pandemic. One result of their collaborative brain power is this weekend’s chamber music marathon, during which the groups will tag team, each playing for about half an hour before joining together in a grand finale at Smither Park.
“I think live performing arts, in general, are so crucial to our human experience in terms of inspiring curiosity, hope, thoughtfulness, sensitivity, connection and empathy,” Hochhalter said.