The concert will feature guest artists soprano Carline Waugh with pianist Ayako Tsuruta performing “Songs of the Seasons,” by Margaret Bonds, “Sympathy,” “Night,” and “Words for A Spiritual,” by Florence Price, “Twelve African Songs,” by Fred Onovwerosuoke, and Peter Ashbourne’s “Five Jamaica Folk Songs.” Also featuring St. Louis’ own Intercultural Music Initiative (IMI) Chamber Players woodwind quintet, performing Jeff Scott’s arrangement of “Libertango” by Astor Piazzolla, and the “Suite for Wind Quintet” by Amanda Harberg.

Admission is FREE!

IMI has its roots in St. Louis since 1994, with a programming mission always rooted in promoting cultural diversity. The IMI Chamber Music Concert Series integrates new and unfamiliar musical works into the existing performance repertoire and partners with a growing community of artists and educators from around the globe. Our St. Louis based IMI Chamber Players has a mixed instrumentation for regular features on our St. Louis concert series and in performances across the U.S. and internationally. Concerts feature top-notch musicians known for their passion for chamber music by lesser-known composers, particularly those of African descent and other racial minorities. As Gary Scott of St. Louis Magazine remarked, “IMI is a new series of concerts, which works to build bridges of true understanding and cooperation between cultures…”

Carline Waugh is a Jamaican-born soprano acclaimed for her ability to mesmerize audiences. Her numerous credits include diverse operatic roles such as Buffalo Soldiers, Songo Di Una Notte Di Mezza Estate, and the cantata Hilegard Von Bingen and Black Madonna. Her other recent roles include Mimí in Puccini’s La bohème, Gretel from Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Liu from Turandot, Zerlina from Don Giovanni, Valencienne from The Merry Widow, Polly from Die Dreigroschenoper, and Gianetta from The Gondoliers.

A native of Japan, pianist Ayako Tsuruta studied with Josef Raieff at the Juilliard School, and subsequently with Claude Frank at Yale University, Maria Curcio-Diamand in England and Marek Jablonski at University of Alberta. Other influential teachers have included Hiroko Ogura, Katsurako Mikami, Joseph Kalichstein, Ann Schein, Artur Pizarro, Stephen Coombs and Arkady Aronov.

The featured members of the IMI Chamber Players woodwind quintet are Wendy Hymes, flute; Carrie Smith, oboe; Mary Bryant, clarinet; Hank Skolnick, bassoon and Peter Ulffers, french horn.

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