Hundreds headed to the Patil Theater on Friday night for the opening event of the 2026-27 Harker Concert Series featuring the Dorian Wind Quintet, one of the longest-running chamber music ensembles, founded in 1961.

Norwegian composer Pauline Hall’s Suite for 5 Winds opened like a harmonious klaxon, the group moving through the first movement’s flighty melodies and covering a wealth of musical territory, from the playful to the contemplative to the melancholy. They followed with David Maslanka’s Quintet for Winds No. 3, a piece they performed in concert for the first time that evening. Combining superb interplay with hard-won individual skills, the quintet made handling the increasingly fiddly and complex material look almost effortless.

A highlight of their second set was the evening closer, Anniversary Variations on a theme of Reicha, a work commissioned for the quintet’s 40th anniversary from five composers – Richard Bennett, George Perle, Billy Childs, Bruce Adolphe and Lee Hoiby – each creating a different movement based on their interpretation of a theme from Antonin Reicha’s Wind Quintet in E-flat Major. Dorian Quintet’s rendition brought each of the composers’ sensibilities into relief, deftly exploring the depths of their experimentation with mood and texture.

Following an extended ovation, the audience was treated to an encore performance of Bach’s instantly recognizable Fugue in G minor, BWV 578, known to many as the “Little Fugue.”