Founded in 2017, The Frisson Wind Nonet has recruited musicians from some of the best music schools and toured widely throughout the United States. The group is like a gourmet pizza. Tom Gallant, the entrepreneurial helmsperson of Frisson and self-styled stand-up comedian, often describes the oboe, his instrument of choice, with the amusingly rearranged quotation, “an ill wind that no one blows good.” He may appreciate the culinary metaphor, therefore, in which the ensemble’s wind component (oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn) is the cheese to the sauce of the string component (violin, viola, cello, and double bass). Flute and piano toppings switch out as programming requires. The crusty base that holds this spicy treat together is the group’s philosophy of agile music-making, drawing not only from a variety of instruments, but also styles (holiday, pops, classical, and very much et cetera) and experience (exciting young artists playing beside accomplished professionals). The name ensures the spice: frisson, as the ensemble’s website points out, is French for “a shiver or thrill”; “a sudden burst of excitement.” They bill themselves as “explosive.” Bon appetit!

Rossini: Overture to Barber of Seville
Krommer: Octet Partita in F Major, Op. 57
Mozart: Serenade No. 11 in E-Flat Major
Gounod: Petite Symphonia