Legendary for their high-energy performances, Imani Winds has been named the country’s best wind quintet, by Sacramento State’s Music Department.

As part of their New Millennium Series, this Grammy-nominated ensemble will bring their talent to campus on Tuesday.

The Millennium Series, hosted by the music department, presents world class music and cross-over artists from around the world to Sacramento at an affordable price, said music professor Andrew Luchansky.

“Imani Winds is a contrast to some of our artists on the series,” Luchansky said. “They’ll appeal to a wider audience. They do crossover, contemporary classical music, jazz and improv; they’ve even had collaborations with Wayne Shorter – a legend in the jazz world.”

Noted for their ethnic diversity, the wind quintet includes flutist Valerie Coleman, oboist Toyin Spellman-Diaz, clarinetist Mariam Adam, french hornist Jeff Scott and bassoonist Monica Ellis.

Imani Winds, whose name means “faith” in Swahili, draws influences from Latin, Caribbean, Jazz, African and American spiritual music, Luchansky and Adam said.

“Not only do they bring world class technical and musical ability &- which is the case of many of the groups in the Millennium series, they also bring a real commitment and a real personal involvement to conveying that music to the audience,” said Hans Hoff, Luchansky’s student assistant.

The concert will open with Coleman’s Red Clay Mississippi Delta a fast-paced jazz schizo followed by Joseph-Maurice Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin &- a lush French Neo-romantic piece, Adam said.

Adam calls Red Clay Mississippi Delta “a riotous experience,” as it manifests the affairs of Coleman’s family.

“That’s Valerie writing about her family that comes up for Mississippi to her mom’s house in Kentucky and the characters that are there. They bring moonshine with them. They have a whole type of personality,” Adam said.

Full of a “youthful excitement and passion,” Luchansky said, Imani Winds is interactive and will attract even the younger crowds.

“Imani Winds is actually famous for their really high-energy performing style and they are also tremendous at engaging the audience,” Hoff said. “They’ll talk from the stage, they’ll talk about their personal relationships with the pieces, many of which were written for them.”

Adam said each piece strikes a personal chord because they carry a specific “soundscape.”

Jason Moran will perform his piece Cane which reflects his family’s journey from Africa to New York, a story he thinks will leave a lasting impression on the audience.

“It’s kind of neat to hear how he interprets the sound of the wind quintet and more specifically what Imani Winds embodies which is the ability to play the Jazz style, but also have a very classical bend.” Adam said. “I think that people usually come away from his piece feeling the emotional aspect of it and the rhythm &- that it’s a finger-snapping rhythm. But it also has some movements that are very emotional as what they represent &- the slave history of his family. It’s really deep.”

Hoff said Imani Winds’ voice has set them apart and allowed for more individuality in the chamber music world – Imani Winds feels more at home than other locations outside the traditional Western world.

He said their two composers, who draw from emotive experiences to write music, enliven the group’s personality.

“The biggest trump card for us is having two-composers who write original music. We create our own voice,” Adam said. “In classic music, you don’t often have performers who are also composers. So that has allowed us to have a unique voice and also to just expand in the wind quintet repertoire.”

Adam said the audience will enjoy layers of sounds at the concert and some funny Charleston jazz segments as well.

At certain moments, they’ll hear singing overlap riotously, come together, and then branch off – it takes active listening on the crowd’s part, she said.

“I think they are going to be pleasantly surprised at how much fun they’ll have. People will enjoy our group just because we have a lot of communication between us and we have fun on stage,” Adam said. “So it’s not just this stiff experience with a wall between the audience and the performers. We are very much engaging with the audience so that they feel comfortable with what they’re about to experience.”

Luchansky said he is excited to have Imani Winds at Sac State because of their high artistic caliber, and simply because it’s about time the “best, young, crossover ensemble in the world” came to Sacramento.

Adam said when onstage, the ensemble often feels limitless and loose amongst each other.

What’s more, they purposefully perform in equally loud, innovative dress.

She said Imani Winds plans to offer Sacramento music to reflect upon after the concert.

“I think everybody comes away from our concerts loving or liking it at least one piece, and they’ll remember it,” Adam said. “It’s a new era in classical music and people just have to be lured in to believe it.”

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