What is Fiati Five?
A woodwind quintet that's rethinking chamber music
What does Fiati Five do?
We perform music that we love, approaching each concert as a communal and joyful experience for musician and audience alike.
But what does that really mean?
How we play:
We treat all concerts as an educational opportunity – to share music in a welcoming way and to talk with audiences and engage them on a personal level, explaining the music we’re playing and who we are as musicians, people, and music lovers. We welcome audience questions before, during, and after performances, and we often pair the music we play with food or other art as a familiar point of entry.
What you can expect to hear on our programs:
Where we play:
We often perform in non-traditional spaces – museums, restaurants, homes, piazzas – comfortable places where you might not expect to hear classical music. Music sounds great outside of the concert hall, too! In addition to our recent performances across the eastern US coast, we’ve been the ensemble-in-residence at Chamber Music Campania since 2013, performing across southern Italy (Oppidi Varano, Campagna, Eboli, Salerno, Lucera, and Gargano).
We treat all concerts as an educational opportunity – to share music in a welcoming way and to talk with audiences and engage them on a personal level, explaining the music we’re playing and who we are as musicians, people, and music lovers. We welcome audience questions before, during, and after performances, and we often pair the music we play with food or other art as a familiar point of entry.
What you can expect to hear on our programs:
- American music. Some of our favorites are Irving Fine, Samuel Barber, and David Maslanka
- New music. We love collaborating with composers on new pieces, exploring their unique ideas and sounds. Sometimes composers seem like far-off, nebulous ideas rather than people, but we bridge the gap between composer and audience by demystifying their craft in our performances.
- Transcriptions of music from other genres and musical styles that move us: Italian operatic favorites, pop songs, Renaissance madrigals
Where we play:
We often perform in non-traditional spaces – museums, restaurants, homes, piazzas – comfortable places where you might not expect to hear classical music. Music sounds great outside of the concert hall, too! In addition to our recent performances across the eastern US coast, we’ve been the ensemble-in-residence at Chamber Music Campania since 2013, performing across southern Italy (Oppidi Varano, Campagna, Eboli, Salerno, Lucera, and Gargano).
What's a fiati?
Fiati is the Italian word for “woodwind instruments.” Our name is a play on our horn player’s love for the classic Fiat 500.
What do we do in our spare time?
Even though we reside in different cities across the US, we live together like a musical version of The Real World for a few intensive weeks every year. When we are together, we like to eat (a lot!), play Scrabble, hike and sightsee in our temporary homes, look at pictures of our pets, cook (messily), debate the best flavor of Trader Joe’s cookie butter...did we mention eat?
Who is Fiati Five?
Alice Jones, flute
Zach Pulse, oboe
David Cook, clarinet
Mike Walker, horn
Christina Dioguardi, bassoon
Zach Pulse, oboe
David Cook, clarinet
Mike Walker, horn
Christina Dioguardi, bassoon
A more traditional narrative bio is available here.