by Jarrett Hoffman
As the classical music community knows, wind instruments have been fairly quiet over the past year. But knowing is different from feeling, and a pre-recorded concert by the Black Squirrel Winds on Sunday, April 11 turned out to be even more welcome than expected. Not only was it a rare showcase these days of the beautiful, colorful combination of sounds that make up the wind quintet, but it was played in an impressive fashion that’s far less common than a black squirrel sighting in Kent.
Although black squirrels can be spotted around Northeast Ohio, they are prolific in the city of Kent. “At our first rehearsal we talked about choosing a name for the group, so we threw out some ideas,” bassoonist Mark DeMio recalled during a recent telephone conversation. “Our horn player said that since there were so many black squirrels in the area he always liked the idea of playing in a group called the black squirrel — something. And that’s how we became the Black Squirrel Winds.” 
Last Saturday night, April 28 at Ludwig Recital Hall, the Kent State University New Music Ensemble presented a retirement concert for co-director Frank Wiley in celebration of his 38 years at Kent. Of the four Wiley works played, the two most recent were 