Barbara Jazwinski: Dreams of Vagabond Winds

Barbara Jazwinski (b. 1950) studied composition and theory at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, Poland. She received her M.A. degree in composition and piano from Stanford University and her Ph.D. in composition from the City University of New York. Her teachers included Mario Davidovsky, György Ligeti, and John Chowning. Currently, she is Head of the Composition Program at the Newcomb Music Department, Tulane University in New Orleans. Barbara Jazwinski’s music has been heard throughout North America, Europe, and the Far East. She is the recipient of numerous commissions, grants and fellowships including commissions from Sonora Winds, Polskie Towarzystwo Muzyki Wspolczesnej, London Festival of American Music, New York University New Music Ensemble, Louisiana Music Teachers Association, Esther Lamneck, Jeremy Hew Williams, Louisiana Sinfonietta, New Hudson Saxophone Quartet, Chamber Music Center at the Composers’ Conference at Wellesley College, Quatuor Francis Poulenc, an Artist Fellowship from the Louisiana State Arts Council, grants from the Presser Foundation, Newcomb Foundation, Metzner Foundation, Meet the Composer, Inc., among many others. Her compositions are available on the Vienna Modern Masters, Capstone, Lorelt, Ravello and Musiques Suisses labels along with iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon, Spotify, and Pandora.

Dreams of Vagabond Winds was composed in 2021 for Sonora Winds who commissioned the work and premiered it at the 2021 conference of the International Double Reeds Society on May 25, 2021. The work is highly virtuosic, exploring idiomatic, coloristic and textural characteristics of the oboe, the clarinet and the bassoon in different registers and dynamic levels. The work attempts to create a sonic environment that bridges experiences from the composer’s own musical heritage that spans different continents and artistic traditions.