Camerata Woodwind attracts diverse audience

By: Charlotte Downes

Posted: 11/12/08

Bundled up in hooded sweatshirts and jackets, a few dozen students woke up relatively early and made their way to the College of Fine Arts and Communication School of Music to see the Camerata Woodwind Quintet perform their fall concert at 1 p.m. Nov. 9.

Interspersed among faculty and community members dressed formally in dresses, blazers and heavy black winter coats, the students seemed a bit out of place among the gleaming gold wood and heavy crushed red velvet of the concert hall. Whether there for extra credit or because of a love for music, soon enough the cell phones were put away and all doodling on programs ceased.

Anyone in attendance on Sunday experienced quite a treat. The Camerata played so well that they managed to captivate and enthrall the audience entirely. Not a single person left at the break.

The Camerata performed three pieces: "Seventeen Variations for Woodwind Quintet, Op. 22," composed by Jean Michel Damase; "Woodwind Quintet," composed by Elliot Carter; and "Quintet, Op. 43," composed by Carl Nielsen.

As the ensemble in residence of Western Illinois University since 1966, the Camerata has performed regularly in Macomb. The Camerata tours the Midwest, and performs recitals across the country, playing most recently in Nashville, Tenn. at the National Flute Convention.

Not only has the Camerata spanned the United States, but they have performed across the world, traveling to countries such as Mexico, Yugoslavia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Poland and Germany.

All the members of the Camerata are faculty of the Western Illinois Music Department. Virginia Broffit, the youngest of the group, is the assistant professor of flute. In 2004, Broffit won the National Flute Association's Young Artist Competition, and was a semi-finalist in the National Flute Associations Piccolo Artist Competition and the Frank Brown Competition.

Sharon Faust, interim oboe instructor, is currently a member of the Knox-Galesburg Symphony Orchestra, and has played in other orchestras in Virginia and Georgia. Faust is also the director of development for the Tri-States Public Radio.

Eric Ginsberg, professor of clarinet, studied at Juilliard School, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees. He has played in the Oklahoma Symphony, the Lincoln Symphony and the Omaha Symphony, and played in the New York City Ballet as well as the Brooklyn Philharmonic.

Randall Faust, professor of music at Western Illinois University, is the hornist of the Camerata and the Lamoine Brass Quintet, as well as a composer. Many groups, including the Symposia of the International Horn Society and the International Trombone Association, have performed his works. He has also published articles in "The Horn Call."

Douglas Huff teaches bassoon and music appreciation. Huff is the principal bassoonist of the Knox-Galesburg Symphony Orchestra. Huff has 13 years of Symphony Orchestra experience and has won numerous awards. Among his many accomplishments, Huff won a Fulbright Grant to teach and perform in South Korea.