. . . continues to earn the highest critical acclaim

Excerpts from press reviews and letters from listeners

Letter from Paul, Portland, Oregon, February 2006

We sat in the front row so [our grandsons] could be real close and observe the musicians. Kathleen Macferran did an outstanding job capturing the audience's attention. And the three musicians in the Rainier Chamber Winds Trio were great at exaggerating how they communicate with each other, and demonstrating each instrument's range.... Your [Family Concert] program has had an impact not only on our two grandsons, but many others that day. Please extend our sincere thanks to your staff and to Kathleen Macferran and her team for a job extremely well done!

Letter from Kelley, Seattle, Washington, May 2001

Both my daughter and I had the great pleasure of attending your performance at the Everett Children's Museum a few weeks ago. My 3 year old was extremely excited to see the instruments up close, and very much enjoyed coloring and listening to music (she insists we do the same at home now...).

Seattle Weekly, February 11, 1999

Rainier Chamber Winds continues to bring us music for wind ensembles that we are unlikely to hear anywhere else, except in music schools. While wind quarters are regularly extracted from orchestras to perform for schools and other outreach programs....anything written for a large complement of winds alone tends to get neglected in the professional arena. Every concert Rainier Chamber Winds plays is full of interest, and not least because conductor Kathleen Macferran does careful research and comes up with excellent, widely varied programs. As part of the group's 10th anniversary season, Sunday's performance at the Seattle Art Museum included the premiere of a piece it commissioned. Jeux was composed by Charles Berry, a recent import from California to Bainbridge Island. While Macferran is always a conductor meticulous to every detail.....where Macferran shone was in the first work on the program, Johann Nepomuk Hummel's Partita in E-flat for Four pairs of Winds. Brisk, light, very clean, and in well-articulated baroque style, the performance showed Macferran and her players at their best. It was a delight. The Rainier Chamber Winds has just come out with a CD of musical tales in the style of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, commissioned from two local composers and performed at its children's concerts. The recording is a generous 76 minutes long, well produced, and is suitable for ages 3 and up (even adults).

Seattle Times, February 23, 1998

"Masterpieces of Color" was the title chosen for yesterday's Rainier Chamber Winds concert - a rare example of truth in advertising. This ensemble of about 11 wind musicians (in varying configurations) under the baton of founder Kathleen Macferran worked its way through a program of French (and French-influenced) music by Pierné, Goossens, Enesco, Françaix and Pascal with a near-infinite variety of combinations and colorations, all the more enjoyable for being so seldom heard. This music isn't being done elsewhere in the region, certainly not at this level of proficiency. The Rainer Chamber Winds includes some of the region's best freelancers and regulars with such ensembles as the Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Northwest, Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra and Cornish College's Sonora. The resulting musical palette is broad indeed. From the delicay of Pierné's "Pastorale Varieé" to Goossen's more orchestral "Fantasy," to the witty "Sept Danses" of Françaix, the RCW followed Macferran's adroit and subtle lead in performances of elegance and distinction.

Letter from Linda Sirianni, Principal of the North Bend Elementary School, October 1998

On behalf of our students and staff I want to thank you for an excellent presentation this morning. The advance material you sent was well prepared, and today's performance was a wonderful experience integrating literature and music. Both students and parents commented on their delight at being close to the musicians as well as enjoying the talents of your narrator.

I appreciate any opportunity to expose our students to quality performances integrating the fine arts. As I mentioned to you this morning, many of these children do not have the chance to visit Seattle with their families, and rely on performances like yours to provide access for them. We... appreciate the sponsors that have made your visit possible.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 18, 1997

The Rainier Chamber Winds has been bringing little-known music to Seattle with incisive talent and programming flair for seven years. Sunday's concert at the Seattle Art Museum was typical: a fascinating review of mostly 19th-century French music played with keen ensemble and period flavor. . . . Macferran knows precisely how to extract the maximum juice from any work, without appearing to do much of anything. Her conducting is quiet and undemonstrative, yet its accomplishments are obvious. The ensemble, based on the woodwind quintet of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and French horn, varies in size depending on the music performed. On Sunday it was uniformly deeply involved in the music at hand. Whether the group had to spin long, lovely lines of melody or quip like a jokester, it had the flexibility to do so. Its reading of Pierne's "Preludio e Fughetta," which opened the concert, was bright, energetic, focused, but had no difficulty bending itself to the different demands of D'Indy's "Chansons et danses" or Gouvy's "Petite suite gauloise." The Rainier Chamber Winds has never sounded more assured or finished. This collection of musicians, ably led by Macferran, is both forthright in its aims and excellent in execution.

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