On May 6, 2008, Vento Chiaro was featured on WGBH with Cathy Fuller as Host. To hear a recording of this live broadcast, click here.

The following interview was conducted by Robert Shay (Academic Dean, The Longy School of Music) in the fall of 2001 and published in the spring 2002 newsletter of The Longy School of Music:


The woodwind quintet Vento Chiaro (flutist Joanna Goldstein, oboist Ana-Sofia Campesino, clarinetist Michelle Doyle-Ronkin, bassoonist Ellen Barnum, and hornist Jason White) came into existence at the Peabody Conservatory, where the group's members were studying at the time. Their collective passion for chamber music led them to pursue the Artist Diploma as an ensemble-in-residence at Longy, completing the program in May 2001. Their principal coach at Longy was clarinetist Jonathan Cohler, and they also worked with a number of guest coaches including John Harbison, John Heiss, and Fenwick Smith. Vento Chiaro participated in several major competitions while at Longy, winning the Saunderson Award at the Coleman Chamber Music Competition and the silver medal at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. This past summer founding member Leah Abbott left the group, moving to New York City. After meeting with several clarinetists, the remaining foursome invited Doyle-Ronkin, who recently relocated to Boston from Memphis, to join the group. The group is currently preparing for a March 14th concert at Longy (works by de Falla, Carter, Klughardt, and Janacek) and a tour to Italy in April and May, and is raising funds for a compact disc recording project.


RS: What brought about your commitment to chamber music?

JG: I really wanted to play in a woodwind quintet, but I knew that no one else would want to, so I proposed getting a performance of the Poulenc Sextet together, and that got most people interested. Ellen had just played the work, so she was less interested, but once all of us read the work through we were all very excited.

EB: But our pianist kept injuring herself and could never make it to rehearsals, so we started playing quintet pieces, and we realized how much we enjoyed the experience.

ASC: Early on we played the Ligeti Six Bagatelles, and after that I thought to myself, I don't remember having this feeling as a musician before.

JG: And a very positive audience reaction to the Ligeti helped to confirm what we were thinking.


RS: So after a successful initial performance, what was involved in moving forward as a quintet?

EB: All of us except Jason were in our last year at Peabody-actually Leah had already graduated-and the experience seemed so much more fulfilling than anything else we had done before, to be playing in a small ensemble where we had more creative control. So we were looking for an opportunity to stay together when Joanna saw Longy's ad in Flute Talk [describing the Artist Diploma ensemble-in-residence program].

ASC: But we had to work on Jason a little, because he was in the middle of a program.

JW: I was just halfway through the M.M. program at Peabody, studying with Peter Landgren, who was also coaching the quintet at the time. But when we came to Longy for the audition we had a great experience, and we realized what opportunities we might have in the Boston area. I became convinced, and here I am.


RS: What was your time at Longy like?

JG: Working with Jonathan Cohler was a great experience. His energy, his ideas-he's not conservative when it comes to music-really pushed us and helped us form a commitment to our own musical ideas.

ASC: He was very caring and spent a lot of time with us preparing for recitals and competitions, even helping with recordings.

EB: In general our time at Longy was one of focusing our ideas, deciding where we wanted the group to go, securing our status as a non-profit organization. Clay Hoener [Associate Chair of the String Department and instructor of an annual course called The Business of Music] provided endless help. He looked over drafts of written material and advised us on numerous points. He was one of a number of people at Longy who genuinely loved and supported us.


RS: You enjoyed some successes in competitions while at Longy. What was that like?

ASC: We didn't view preparing for the competitions any differently than we would a performance, and that may be one of the things that set us apart.

EB: We weren't interested in playing it safe either. We thought carefully about how the music should be played, even if that meant phrasing something in a non-traditional way. For example, a lot of our tempos in the Nielsen Variations were very unusual, but I think they got people to take notice and realize that a Woodwind Quintet could be something different than what they expected.

ASC: It's tempting to put yourself into a different mode for competitions but we always tried to think in terms of performance as we're going on stage. It made it more fun and interesting for us.


RS: Being in an ongoing chamber ensemble must be a bit like being married-except you have four other partners. What's that part of it like? For instance are there any fights?

JG: Definitely-it's an important part of how we work. We didn't at first, but then things build up, and you realize you have to communicate, even if it's hard.

ASC: I think it helps that our personalities are absolutely different.

EB: And we know that it's okay that it's that way, and in fact that's what makes it work so well, musically and otherwise.

MDR: My sense as a newcomer is that the process of bringing someone new into a group changes the dymanics. There was an initial period of good behavior, a kind of honeymoon, but now I feel as though I'm one of the group-we all say what we think openly.


RS: This summer you'll be joining the faculty of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, a program for high-school-age musicians. Tell me about that.

EB: They were seeking a chamber group that was young, with a lot of energy, that was interested in sharing its excitement with young musicians. Four groups auditioned, and we were selected. We will be overseeing the chamber music program for the Young Artists Wind Ensemble, coaching three quintets and several other ensembles, and we'll coach sectionals for the large ensemble. We'll also be giving two full recitals.

ASC: This is one of the best parts, that they want us to be there both as performers and coaches.

MDR: They want the students to be learning from us as performers, so they'll be observing us in rehearsal and coming to our performances. It's an opportunity for us to help them understand their role in an ensemble, even to deal with issues of ensemble etiquette-to help them with all aspects of being a musician.