The Aeolian Winds
The name "Aeolian" literally means "borne on the winds." Founded in 1989, this highly acclaimed Canadian quintet has dazzled audiences from coast to coast through extensive tours of the Atlantic Provinces, British Columbia, Alberta, and the Yukon. The Aeolian Winds were invited to Taiwan in 1998 to showcase Canadian repertoire in the "True North Festival," an exposition of Canadian music and art. Concerts were given in Taipei and Kaoshiung.
Drawing on the players’ experience in solo and orchestral careers, the Aeolian Winds ranks as one of Canada’s leading chamber ensembles. Members include flutist Fiona Wilkinson, oboist Ian Franklin, clarinetist Peter Shackleton, bassoonist David Haward and hornist Derek Conrod. As a premiere chamber ensemble, the quintet has appeared at festivals and concert series across Canada, from Vancouver to St. John’s. Regularly featured on CBC Radio, the Aeolian Winds are committed to ongoing commissions of new works by a wide array of Canadian and international composers.
Having established a reputation for bringing a fresh interpretation to the traditional wind repertoire, the Aeolian Winds has developed innovative collaborations to expand upon the wind quintet’s catalogue. Projects have involved associations with the Elmer Iseler Singers, the Penderecki and Claudelle String Quartets, vocalists Kevin McMillan, Brian MacIntosh and Laura Pudwell, poet Meryn Cadell and pianists Angela Cheng , Michael Injae Kim and Ronald Turini.
The quintet has released two recordings on the ebs label entitled Pastels and Home Suite Home. More recently the quintet recorded The Devil’s Dictionary for CBC RECORDS.
Flutist Fiona Wilkinson is an Associate Professor of Flute and former Chair of Music Performance Studies at the University of Western Ontario. She received a Canada Council Award for European study early in her career, and has since continued to concertize and record widely throughout North America. Fiona’s career has included work with the Toronto Symphony, the Canadian Opera Company, the Aspen Festival Opera Orchestra, and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. Ms. Wilkinson is a founding member of the Aeolian Winds, Triptych and The Antler River Project.
Ian Franklin has been principal oboist of Orchestra London Canada since 1986. He has also held the position of principal oboist with the Victoria Symphony, the Regina Symphony, The Esprit Orchestra, the touring orchestras of the Royal Winnipeg and National Ballet of Canada and the Colorado Music Festival. Ian has been on the faculties of six universities and conservatories, most recently the University of Western Ontario. He has performed as soloist with a number of orchestras, including the CBC Orchestra, the Southwest German Chamber Orchestra, and the Symphony Orchestra of San Luis Potosi (Mexico), and has recorded for ebs (Germany), IBS Records, and CBC Classics.
In 1993,clarinetist Peter Shackleton was awarded First Prize at the 27th CBC Radio Competition. Since then, he has performed as a soloist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, CBC Vancouver Orchestra, and the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. He has served as principal clarinetist of Orchestra London and has performed with the Milwaukee Symphony, Stratford Festival, and Kitchener- Waterloo Symphony Orchestras. Currently he holds the principal clarinet chair with the Thunder Bay Symphony, is a member of the Aeolian Winds and Music in Common, is a faculty member at the University of Western Ontario, and performs with Tafelmusik on historical clarinet.
Bassoonist David Haward has held positions with Orchestra London, Canada and the Faculty of Music for the University of Western Ontario for the past two decades. Early in his career, David was awarded a Canada-Hungary Exchange Scholarship, which enabled him to study bassoon and chamber music at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest. Since then, he has performed numerous concerts throughout Canada in recital and for CBC radio. In 1987, David recorded a disc on the ebs label as a soloist with the Southwest German Chamber Orchestra.
Hornist Derek Conrod is a member of the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra (Toronto), Aeolian Winds, Music in Common, National Ballet Orchestra, and the Stratford Festival Orchestra, and teaches at the Eastman School of Music and the University of Western Ontario. A frequent recitalist and lecturer on historical horns, he has performed on more than 20 discs with Tafelmusik, the American Bach Soloists (San Francisco),and Apollo’s Fire, and has appeared as a soloist at the Mostly Mozart Festival at New York’s Lincoln Center and at Orchestra Hall in Chicago. In 1995 he served as music consultant for the Stratford Festival’s acclaimed production of Amadeus.