Zéphyros Winds releases new album ‘Desert Pass’

Zéphyros Winds’ releases new album ‘Desert Pass’ featuring works by Tyson Gholston Davis, Reena Esmail and David Sanford

UNCSA Media has released “Desert Pass,” a new album from the chamber ensemble Zéphyros Winds, featuring works by three of today’s most vital voices in contemporary classical music. Released through the UNCSA media publishing arm, UNCSA Media, the album includes “The Light is the Same” by Reena Esmail and world premiere recordings of “Tatu” by David Sanford and “Desert Pass” by UNCSA alum Tyson Gholston Davis.

This new recording, the fourth release on UNCSA Media, offers a bold portrait of 21st-century chamber music from a diverse array of new voices writing for the woodwind repertoire. From Hindustani music of India to Miles Davis, to abstract expressionist artwork, the works on the album draw from a rich and expansive world of musical styles and genres. In a review of the recording, La Scena Musicale wrote that it is “an excellent entry point into the world of 21st-century chamber music for woodwinds. There is plenty to explore in an album that takes its inspiration from a variety of musical traditions. “The release is available now on all major streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music.

At the center of the album is the world premiere recording of “Desert Pass” (2023), a contemplative and evocative work by Tyson Gholston Davis, a 2019 graduate of UNCSA’s high school music program. Commissioned by Zéphyros Winds and dedicated to Saxton Rose, a bassoonist in Zéphyros and Dean of the UNCSA School of Music, the piece responds to Helen Frankenthaler’s 1976 painting of the same name. Like the canvas, the music flows through a series of metamorphoses in color and character, creating a lush and expressive soundscape for wind quintet.

UNCSA Media, “Desert Pass”
“Frankenthaler’s painting offered me a space to explore shifting atmospheres and fluid textures,” said Davis. “The musical form mirrors her brushwork — continuous, expansive, and ever-evolving.”

“The Light is the Same” (2017) by Reena Esmail explores the duality and convergence of two Hindustani raags — Vachaspati and Yaman — mirroring the text by the 13th-century Sufi poet Rumi: “Religions are many / But God is one / The lamps may be different / But the Light is the same.”

Esmail stated, “I spent the last half of 2016 trying to make sense of what was happening in our country and in our world. In my search for texts for another work, I came across these wise words from Rumi. He states so beautifully that, even if our methods for searching for meaning and happiness look very different, the things we seek are so similar.”

“Tatu” (2018) by David Sanford is a radical, genre-defying composition inspired by Miles Davis’s “Dark Magus” and the sonic experiments of Karlheinz Stockhausen. Written for Zéphyros Winds in 2018, “Tatu” challenges the expressive range of the woodwind quintet through a dense and immersive soundscape, “in the spirit of the 2003 film?‘The Five Obstructions’?by Lars von Trier and Jørgen Leth,” said Sanford. “I am challenged by the idea of creating a similarly charged and homogenous soundscape using woodwind quintet, likely the most disparate timbres of a traditional chamber ensemble.”

“I’m honored to contribute to this important new release from UNCSA Media,” said Saxton Rose, Dean of the UNCSA School of Music and member of Zéphyros Winds. “The works featured on this album reflect our ensemble’s mission to champion contemporary music by both acclaimed and emerging composers. Each piece pushes the boundaries of virtuosity, sound, and expressive potential for wind instruments in exciting and meaningful ways.”

He added, “I’m especially proud to present the world premiere recording of “Desert Pass” by Tyson Davis, one of our exceptionally talented high school alumni. His remarkable accomplishments since his time at UNCSA are a testament to his artistry and vision.”

About Zéphyros Winds
Now in its 30th season, Zéphyros Winds brings together five virtuosic soloists to perform a wide range of music for winds with “impeccable precision and rapt lyricism.” (The Chicago Sun Times). The ensemble gained attention in 1995, when, one year after its formation, it won both the First and Grand Prizes at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, becoming the first wind quintet in the competition’s history to do so.