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Asheville Chamber Music Series Hosts German ‘Piano Windtet’

Ensemble 4.1

Ensemble 4.1, a group of musicians who call themselves the world’s only “piano windtet,” will perform Friday, November 1, at 7:30 p.m. as part of Asheville Chamber Music Series’ 2024-25 season. The concert will be held at First Presbyterian Church of Asheville. Four wind soloists and a pianist comprise the group: Jörg Schneider, oboe; Alexander Glücksmann, clarinet; Christoph Knitt, bassoon; Sebastian Posch, horn; and Thomas Hoppe, piano. The ensemble got its start in 2013, and since that time has performed all over the world.

Program selections include Beethoven’s Quintet in E-flat major for Piano and Winds, Op. 16, and George Gershwin’s An American in Paris. “The German-based piano windtet ensemble 4.1 identifies itself as ‘The Easy Riders of the Viennese Classics,’” says ACMS programming chair Polly Feitzinger. “They are known for finding rarely performed compositions from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries which, for the Asheville concert, will include works by Gustav Holst (composer of The Planets) and N.H. Rice, who is believed to be a female composer who at the time would have had a problem identifying herself as a female composer.” This ACMS performance marks ensemble 4.1’s Asheville debut and is the finale of its 2024 German and American tour.

The group, hailed for its “unassailable musicianship” by the Washington Post, was nominated in 2019 for the OPUS KLASSIK, Germany’s most prestigious award for classical music.

The First Presbyterian Church of Asheville is located at 40 Church Street, Asheville. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit AshevilleChamberMusic.org, call 828.575.7427 or email support@ashevillechambermusic.org.

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