Past shows
Spring 2025: A Spring Breeze
Fall 2024: Autumn Colours
Summer 2023: Excursions
About us
A unique travelling wind ensemble focusing on living composers and underperformed repertoire
Upcoming Shows
Fall concert: Stormy Seas
Join us this September in Victoria or on Pender Island as we explore storms of both weather and emotion.Victoria
Friday September 26, 2025
7:00 pm
The Baumann Centre
TICKETSPender Island
Sunday September 28, 2025
4:00 pm
Pender Island Community Hall
TICKETSProgram
Gaetano Donizetti: Sinfonia for Winds (1817)
Ruth Gipps: Seascape (1958)
Michael Henry: ANIMA -- Aajej, Coromell, Rok (1998)
EKR Hammell: Sandcastles (2022)
Roger Zare: Mare Tranquillitatis (2007)
Anna Clyne: Overflow (2020)
George Enescu: Dixtuor à vents -- II. Modérément (1901)
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Sea Songs (1924)The idea for this program started with Anna Clyne's Overflow, a beautiful and ominous piece based on Emily Dickinson's poem By the Sea. It's a stunning, unique work that's been on our wish list since we first heard it, and we're thrilled for the opportunity to perform it.Michael Henry's ANIMA is a series of short pieces, each one about a particular kind of wind that occurs in a specific location. We'll be performing three of them: Aajej (a whirlwind in southern Morocco), Coromell (a Mexican evening breeze), and Rok (an Icelandic storm).Canadian composer EKR Hammell's Sandcastles was written after Hurricane Fiona irreversibly altered the shoreline of Epekwitk/Prince Edward Island, his home province.Mare Tranquillitatis is a sea only in name, but we think it fits into the program nonetheless and we're grateful to Roger Zare for arranging a version of his piece just for us.Ruth Gipps' Seascape is a piece we performed in our very first concert, and we couldn't resist bringing it back for this one.Donizetti's Sinfonia for Winds, stormy only in the operatic sense, is the safe harbour from which we'll depart on this journey. We'll pass through storms physical and metaphorical, explosive and quiet, and leave you with Vaughan Williams' cheerful Sea Songs, a march based on three nautical songs: Princess Royal, Admiral Benbow, and Portsmouth.Ensemble
Ben Litzcke, conductor
Laura Andrew, flute
Thomas Bauer, flute and piccolo
Elizabeth Eccleston, oboe
Andrew Montgomery, oboe and English horn
Le Lu, clarinet
Liam Hockley, clarinet and bass clarinet
Jean Poynter, horn
Elizabeth Uzelac, horn
Heather Fisher, bassoon
Holly Edquist, bassoon
Lachlan Barry, percussionThese concerts are made possible by the generous support of:
CRD Arts & Culture Support Service
Egon Baumann Music Foundation
Ann Coombs
Wildwood Health & Performance
Thrifty Foods Hillside Mall
Ptarmigan ArtsSpring 2026:
Our next program will feature new works from the Women in Harmoniemusik commissioning consortium (womenharmoniemusik.com), of which we're proud to be the only Canadian member. This project commissioned 8 women composers from around the world to write pieces for large chamber wind ensemble, and we can't wait to play their music.
Past Shows
Spring 2025: A Spring Breeze
Victoria, Pender IslandFranz Krommer: Octet Partita Op. 57, movement III (1806)
Svend Schultz: Divertimento (1961)
Nancy Galbraith: Dos Danzas Latinas (2002)
Eleanor Daley (arr. MacInnes): In Remembrance (1993/2024)
Yunfei Li: Five Elements (2021)
Igor Bázlik: Four Pieces for Wind Octet (1991)
Derek Bourgeois (ad. Brand): Serenade (1965)Fall 2024: Autumn Colours
Port Alberni, Salt Spring IslandJudith Bailey: Theme & Variations (1998)
Gordon Jacob: Divertimento in E Flat for Wind Octet (1968)
Yunfei Li: Five Elements (2021)
Ruth Gipps: Wind Octet Op. 65 (1983)
Ludwig van Beethoven: Rondino (1793)
Igor Bazlik: Four Pieces for Wind Octet (1991)Summer 2023: Excursions
Victoria, Pender Island, Salt Spring IslandKimberley Osberg: Our Little Secrets (2018)
Matthijs Kruik: Inquietus (2004)
Aidan M. C. Taylor: Circe (2023)
Lior Navok: Tetris (2009)
Ruth Gipps: Seascape (1958)
Patrick Glenn Harper: Excursion (2014)
About Us
Island Chamber Winds, founded in 2023 by conductor Ben Litzcke, is a non-profit organization based in Victoria. We tour Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands with ensembles of 8+ wind and brass players, bringing unusual music to communities across the region. Our repertoire ranges from classical to contemporary, with a focus on living composers and underperformed music.We want to connect you with music that you won’t hear anywhere else, and we hope you’ll find something to fall in love with!ICW is a community-supported endeavour and would not be possible without both the generous assistance of our sponsors and the adventurous spirit of our audience. We are grateful to the CRD Arts & Culture Support Service, the Egon Baumann Music Foundation, Ann Coombs, Fernwood Health & Performance, Long & McQuade Musical Instruments, Thrifty Foods Hillside Mall, Rachel Lenkowski, and Ptarmigan Arts for their support.