How to Listen at the Q Series

Inside the Woodwind Quintet with Duncan Henry

For the upcoming Q Series concert, there’s an opportunity to listen a little differently: through the ears of one musician. Principal Bassoon Duncan Henry offers a way into the music that’s less about expertise and more about attention, curiosity, and conversation.

At the center of the program is the woodwind quintet, an ensemble Henry describes as a constantly shifting exchange. As the bassoonist, he occupies the lowest voice in the group, often providing the harmonic foundation. But that role is never fixed. “A really good woodwind quintet,” Henry says, “kind of intermingles who is supporting and who is a more prominent voice.”

Principal Bassoon Duncan Henry describes the woodwind quintet as a constantly shifting musical conversation.

That interplay is what gives chamber music its sense of life. The bassoon may anchor the harmony in one moment, then step forward with a melodic line before blending back into the ensemble. When the group is working well, those transitions can be subtle and sometimes hard to isolate, which is part of both the challenge and the appeal.

For listeners, Henry suggests an approach that is intentional but forgiving. Rather than trying to take in everything at once, he encourages focusing on a single musical thread. “The audience could also just pick one of us, say the bassoon, and just try to follow along with our part,” he says.

This approach can open up the structure of the music in an immediate, personal way. Watching the musicians can help, too, since “as we move, that can kind of help your ear pick up what we’re doing.”

Q Series the Elks Lodge
January 21, 2026

This program features Narong Prancharoen‘s Shadow; Geraldine Mucha‘s Wind Quintet and String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 20 No. 5 by Franz Joseph Haydn. Series made possible by a generous gift from Mardel Fehrenbach.