Upcoming Shows
Tickets now available! Our next concert, Still Bravely Singing, is coming up soon:Saturday March 7
7:00 pm
Baumann Centre, Victoria
TicketsSunday March 8
2:30 pm
Sooke Community Hall
TicketsAll tickets are Pay-What-You-Can ($0-55) and we encourage you to choose an amount that fits your budget.
Past shows
Fall 2025: Stormy Seas
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
Still Bravely Singing: Birdsong for Our TimeStill Bravely Singing is a concert about birds, but it's really about using birds to look at humanity: to reflect on our history, grapple with our present, and imagine our future.Birds have long been used as symbols and metaphors, especially for ideas like freedom and hope. Music and poetry can allow us to collectively engage with what's happening around us, and perhaps help us make better sense of it all. And there's certainly a lot happening all over the world these days that is difficult to confront.While the music on this program is heavy at times, it also includes moments of great joy, optimism, and even humour. We hope you'll join us in exploring this beautiful and thought-provoking music.Program:
Erin Lilliefors: Flight
Clare Howard: Above the Final Fields*
Stephanie Berg: We Are Not Birds*
Maya Angelou: Caged Bird, performed by Tenyjah McKenna
Olivier Messiaen: Abime des Oiseaux, performed by Le Lu
Caroline Shaw/arr. Danielle Fisher: and the swallow
Ingrid Stölzel: Echo of the Past*
Clément Janequin/arr. Ben Litzcke: Le Chant des Oiseaux*Canadian premieres from the Women in Harmoniemusik commissioning consortium. We'll be the first Canadian ensemble to perform these three pieces, which were all written in the past year.Featuring:
Ben Litzcke, conductor
Laura Andrew, flute
Thomas Bauer, flute/piccolo
Kristen Cooke, oboe
Andrew Montgomery, oboe
Le Lu, clarinet
Rebecca Hissen, clarinet/bass clarinet
Jean Poynter, horn
Karen Hough, horn
Heather Fisher, bassoon
John Myatt, bassoon
Allan Thorpe, contrabassoon
Tenyjah Mckenna, actorSaturday March 7
7:00 pm
Baumann Centre, Victoria
TicketsSunday March 8
2:30 pm
Sooke Community Hall
TicketsAll tickets are Pay-What-You-Can ($0-55) and we encourage you to choose an amount that fits your budget.This concert is generously sponsored by Wildwood Health & Performance, Long & McQuade Musical Instruments, Thrifty Foods Hillside Mall, and Fernwood Coffee.
You can make a donation to support our work here.These concerts will take place on the territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən People, now known as the Songhees and Xwsepsum Nations, and the T’Sou-ke First Nation.
Past Shows
Fall 2025: Stormy Seas
Victoria, Pender Island
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)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, Wildwood Health & Performance, Long & McQuade Musical Instruments, Thrifty Foods Hillside Mall, Rachel Lenkowski, Ptarmigan Arts, and Fernwood Coffee for their past and ongoing support.You can make a donation to support our work here.Our performances take place primarily on the territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples, who have been making music on these lands since time immemorial. We work towards reconciliation by undermining colonial power structures in classical music and lifting up voices that have traditionally been silenced.