Category: Performances
Posted on April 14, 2026
by Jason
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As creative director of Manitou Winds, I would have to say unconventional combinations are a specialty of our ensemble. Whether we’re combining seemingly unrelated instruments (e.g., clarinet, ukulele, and harp) or calling upon an instrument to play something most would consider “out of character,”… Continue Reading “Cicadas at the Equinox”
Category: Complementary Colors, PerformancesTags: Chamber Music, complementary colors, featured spring, guitar, Interlochen Arts Academy, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Matthew Cochran, Northern Michigan, Traverse City, wind quintet
Posted on April 14, 2026
by Jason
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On Saturday, May 6, 2023, we’ll present Complementary Colors, our spring concert program exploring the use of color in many different artistic disciplines from music to painting to poetry and beyond. It’s a dynamic program of chamber music, spoken word, and visual art that… Continue Reading “Complementary Colors”
Category: Complementary Colors, PerformancesTags: bassoon, bernard andres, Chamber Music, clarinet, concert, Daniel Baldwin, english horn, flute, Grace Episcopal Church, guitar, harp, horn, janet lanier, Lauren Everett Finn, manitou winds, Matthew Cochran, Northern Michigan, oboe, piano, Traverse City
Posted on April 14, 2026
by Jason
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On Friday, August 25, we presented Sail Away Summer, a special program combining music, poetry and storytelling at the Old Art Building in Leland, MI. On Saturday, September 16, we’re performing an encore presentation of this program at the Oliver Art Center in Frankfort,… Continue Reading “Sail Away Summer”
Category: PerformancesTags: bassoon, Cape Breton, Celtic Music, Chamber Music, clarinet, featured summer, First Flight, Fishtown, flute, french horn, guitar, harp, horn, Irish Tunes, J.T. McKinney, Jason McKinney, Jeanmarie Riccobono, Laura Hood, Lauren Murphy, Leland, lever harp, Northern Michigan, oboe, Old Art Building, peter schickele, poetry, Sam Clark, shetland islands, short stories
Posted on March 13, 2019
by Jason
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On Saturday, March 9, 2019, we invited everyone to Rove Estate Vineyard & Winery in Leelanau County to celebrate with us in the release of our debut album, First Flight. An afternoon of excellent local wine and beautiful local music, it was great to… Continue Reading “Album Release Party!”
Category: PerformancesTags: Anne Bara, bassoon, CD release party, Celtic Music, Christina Duperron, clarinet, composer, First Flight, flute, french horn, guitar, harp, horn, Jason McKinney, Laura Hood, Leelanau County, lever harp, oboe, Rove Estate Vineyard & Winery, Sam Clark, soprano saxophone, Traverse City
Posted on December 27, 2018
by Jason
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Our 2018 Winter Songs & Carols program was tremendous fun to present and an exciting evening for both performances! We were honored to perform with two very special guests: Emily Curtin Culler, soprano, and Katherine Drago Luellen, mezzo-soprano. The year had been a very… Continue Reading “Winter Songs & Carols: Our 2018 Concert Program”
Posted on August 18, 2018
by Jason
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Thank You to everyone who came out to experience “A Celtic Summertide” with us at the Oliver Art Center in Frankfort! It was a lovely evening of music and art made all the lovelier by the warmth of your company. The gallery became filled… Continue Reading “A Celtic Summertide: Thank You!”
Category: A Celtic Summertide, PerformancesTags: A Celtic Summertide, Anne Bara, bassoon, Cape Breton, Celtic Music, Chamber Music, Christina Duperron, clarinet, composition, concert, Ellie Harold, Emily Curtin Culler, english horn, flute, Frankfort, french horn, guitar, harp, horn, In Studio A, Interlochen Public Radio, IPR, Ireland, Jason McKinney, Laura Hood, manitou winds, Northern Michigan, Nova Scotia, O'Carolan, O'Carolan's Symphony, oboe, Oliver Art Center, Sam Clark, Scotland, soprano
Posted on July 26, 2018
by Jason
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Picture the scene: The year, 1880-ish. Ballysadare (Irish: Baile Easa Dara) – a tranquil bayside village in County Sligo. The poet William Butler Yeats, who had spent many summers here as a child, returns for another sojourn. In his wanderings about the village, he… Continue Reading “A Story that Lingers, a Tune that Wanders”
Category: A Celtic Summertide, PerformancesTags: A Celtic Summertide, Benzie County, Celtic Music, Down By the Salley Gardens, Emily Curtin Culler, featured anytime, featured celtic, flute, folk music, Frankfort, Gaeilge, harp, Ireland, Jason McKinney, Northern Michigan, Oliver Art Center, poetry, Sam Clark, soprano, The Mourlough Shore, W.B. Yeats, William Butler Yeats, Ye Rambling Boys of Pleasure
Posted on July 18, 2018
by Jason
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If you’ve attended a Manitou Winds concert, recently, you’ve no doubt experienced the wonderful voice of Emily Curtin Culler. Whether singing an aria from a Baroque cantata, a classic German lieder, or a traditional Irish lullaby, Emily’s voice has tremendous dynamic range and is… Continue Reading “A Celtic Summertide: The Art of Collaboration”
Category: A Celtic Summertide, PerformancesTags: A Celtic Summertide, art of collaboration, bassoon, Bealtaine, Beidh Aonach Amárach, Benzie County, Celtic Music, Chamber Music, clarinet, composers, composition, concert, Dandling Songs, Emily Curtin Culler, featured celtic, flute, folk music, Frankfort, french horn, horn, Ireland, Jason McKinney, jt mckinney, jtmckinney, lullaby, manitou winds, Northern Michigan, oboe, Oliver Art Center, Seoithín Seo Hó, soprano, Summer, Thugamar Féin an Samhradh Linn, Trí Amhrán as Éirinn, wind quintet
Posted on May 2, 2018
by Jason
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Traveling Mercies, written by Manitou Winds founder Jason McKinney, was completed in January 2018. Composing the work became both an adventure and a learning process. To tell you more, here’s Jason in his own words: The idea to write a chamber work for organ… Continue Reading “Traveling Mercies”
Category: Performances, Sojourn of SpringTags: bassoon, Bradley Hunter Welch, Central United Methodist Church, Chamber Music, clarinet, composition, concert, featured autumn, featured spring, flute, horn, Jason McKinney, manitou winds, Michigan, oboe, organ, organ music, performance, Sojourn of Spring, spring concert, Thomas Bara, Traveling Mercies, Traverse City, wind quintet, woodwind quintet, world premiere
Posted on April 25, 2018
by Jason
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Beyond the notes and instructions on the page, beyond the audible details of musical form at the heart of a piece, most musicians want to find an even stronger connection to a piece that touches them. Sometimes in order to feel we’ve truly mastered a piece, we need to feel we understand why it was written.
Category: Performances, Sojourn of SpringTags: Central United Methodist Church, concert, Craig Phillips, Interlochen, Interlochen Center for the Arts, manitou winds, organ, Sojourn, Sojourn of Spring, spring concert, Thomas Bara, Traverse City