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The Midnight Winds is an innovative group of young talent projecting a dynamic musical and personal exuberance which has strengthened with their emergence from the conservatory into the professional world. "This group is white hot," says Dr. Kristy Morrell, studio horn player and member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. "They come together to form a rare combination of warmth, sensitivity, and expression."

Midnight began their late-night gatherings at USC in 2000 as students of the Thornton School of Music. Five distinct and imaginative personalities afford this group an energetic and refreshing approach to music-making. This led them to Sedona, Arizona in May of 2006 as featured artists and quintet-in-residence for Chamber Music Sedona. The residency consisted of three educational outreach concerts and five chamber music performances, including collaboration in the gala concert with world-renowned Spanish pianist Francisco Alvarez. The enthusiastic audience and media response to these concerts resulted in invitations for future festival residencies in New Hampshire and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

As USC alumni, Midnight continues its association with the Thornton School of Music as a featured ensemble of the Protégé Mentoring Program and with further collaboration with the Polish Music Center. With impassioned goals to reinvent the chamber music wheel, Midnight features up-and-coming composers, commissioning and discovering works that feature elements of fusion, mixed media, performance art and the merging of music from different cultures. Simultaneously, Midnight brings provocative and inspiring interpretations to traditional masterworks and lesser-known chamber music gems, breathing originality and a fresh vitality into all of their endeavors.

In addition to broadening the experience of the traditional chamber music concert, each Midnight member dedicates their time to music education, and they combine their skills and abilities in a commitment to help music reach people of every demographic. As the winners of USC’s 2005-2006 Educational Outreach Fellowship Competition, Midnight performed a variety of programs for schools, community centers, and shelters in and around Los Angeles. Midnight is continuing this type of involvement with a pioneering and interactive program designed to highlight the relevance of music in film and television. This program features Midnight-commissioned arrangements by local film composers.

The members of the Midnight Winds also maintain successful careers as orchestral and freelance musicians, and they have accomplished much in their young musical lives. Individually, musicians of Midnight have appeared on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, Rose Hall of Lincoln Center, Kodak Theater, Hollywood Bowl, Ford Theater, Tchaikovsky Hall, and Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, as well as numerous venues in Russia, Poland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Mexico and South Africa. They have collaborated with a colorful array of artists, musicians, and groups including Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Sarah Chang, Esa Pekka-Salonen, Steve Reich, Yefim Bronfman, Hilary Hahn, Josh Groban, Gunther Schuller, George Crumb, Doc Severenson, Randy Newman, Michael Daugherty, Yundi Li, The Wayne Shorter Quartet, Monica Mancini, Christopher O’Reilley, Pepe Romero, Shelly Berg, Jaime Laredo, John Rutter, Chris Botti, Brad Paisley, Jamie Cullum, and Michael McDonald in performances led by world class conductors such as Kent Nagano, Helmut Riling, Carl St. Clair, Anshel Brusilow, Sergiu Commissiona, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, John Williams and Charles Fox. Some of these performances have been broadcast on television and radio including ABC, NPR, KMozart and KUSC.

As part of the “LA scene,” they frequently bring their individual talents to film scores recorded on major sound stages at Paramount, Fox, Warner Brothers, and Capitol Records. They have been featured on the Summit and Capitol Records labels. For more information on the accomplishments and activities of the Midnight Winds musicians, please view our Member Profiles.

Member Profiles

Texas-raised Amy Tatum recently obtained her Master of Music degree in flute performance from the University of Southern California, and previously a Bachelor of Music (Magna Cum Laude) in the same field from Arizona State University. Her teachers have included Jim Walker, Dr. Elizabeth Buck, Brian Gordon and Dr. Trygve Peterson. Amy plays principal flute in the American Youth Symphony, and has performed with the Bolshoi Ballet and Ballet Arizona. She records on a variety of standard and ethnic flutes for film scores in studios such as Capitol Records, Warner Brothers Studios, and Paramount Studios. She was featured on the rock band Yellowcard’s latest album, Lights and Sounds, and has recorded on the Summit and Capitol Records labels. Amy has collaborated with an array of artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Sarah Chang, Doc Severinson, Josh Groban, George Crumb, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and John Williams. As a strong proponent of new music, she commissions and performs new works in the LA area and shares her love of music through private teaching and mentoring with the Young Musicians Foundation. A former gymnast, Amy relishes her yoga practice and enjoys hiking, camping, and standing under waterfalls. She is fascinated by Buddhist readings, a sucker for Tempranillo and California Zin, and would give it all up for a house on the beach.

Alison Lowell began playing oboe because she was jealous of her brother's saxophone. With an early desire to expand the repertoire for her instrument, Lowell's first live performance was a jazz tune performed when she was ten. Lowell has continued to embrace new music and has premiered works at the Rose Hall of Lincoln Center, the Henry Mancini Institute, Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the Women in New Music Festival in Rochester, NY. Lowell performed "City Life" as part of the Weill Music Institute's Young Professionals Training Workshop at Carnegie Hall with Steve Reich in 2006 and has been invited to perform Reich's "Tehillim" as part of the June in Buffalo Contemporary Music Festival. She currently is engaged in a five-city recital tour with pianist/composer David Plylar as joint recipients of a 2006 Howard Hanson commission. Lowell also performs on baroque oboe and has appeared with many ensembles including Publick Musick, Harmonia Baroque and twice as a soloist with the University of Southern California's baroque orchestra. Lowell enjoys the added frustration of playing multiple double-reed instruments and loves learning to play shawm and duduk. When not scraping reeds, Lowell is a research assistant at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture. She is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where she was a student of Richard Killmer and is currently a fellowship student pursuing a Master's degree at USC, studying with David Weiss and Allen Vogel.

Clarinetist Andrew Leonard has soloed with the Pasadena Pops, the Torrance Symphony, and performed as a prizewinner of the Redlands Music Festival and Peninsula Music Festival Young Artist auditions. He has also performed on 3 continents with artists as varied as Helmuth Rilling, Hilary Hahn, John Williams, Tony Danza and John Rutter. A New Jersey native, he began his clarinet studies with Andy Lamy of the NJ Symphony and Alan Kay at the Julliard School’s Pre-College division. Andrew received a Bachelor of Music in clarinet performance in 2005 at the University of Southern California where he studied with Yehuda Gilad and members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. As a passionate believer in Los Angeles's musical future, Andrew is on the teaching artist faculty of the Harmony Project, the Young Musicians’ Foundation and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Keep an eye out - you may see Andrew at the beach or while camping in California's parks!

Polish-born Maciej Flis studied bassoon and music pedagogy at the Bacewiczes Academy of Music in Lodz. Upon completion of his studies in 2003, he was awarded a Master of Arts degree in Bassoon Performance. As a student, Maciej performed with the Rubinstein Philharmonic Orchestra in Lodz and took part in numerous music events and festivals in Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Mexico and the United States. He began his studies at the University of Southern California in 2002 as a recipient of the Flossie Meline Oliver Pieper Music Scholarship. He completed his studies with a perfect academic record. In recognition of his musicianship and accomplishments, Maciej won a scholarship and is studing with Julie Feves at the California Institute of the Arts. He is an active performer and teacher in the Los Angeles area, having played four seasons with the American Youth Symphony as co-principal. He has performed with such outstanding conductors and artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Yefim Bronfman, Kent Nagano, John Williams, and Charles Fox. Several of his performances have been featured on the Los Angeles radio stations KMozart and KUSC. Maciej’s passions include photography, travel and aviation, and he is currently in training to receive his Private Pilot’s License.

Kristina Orcutt fell in love with the power and grace of the French horn at age eight in her hometown of Arcadia, California. She has since attained her Bachelor of Music in Horn Performance, graduating with honors from California State University of Los Angeles. She is now completing her Master of Music at the University of Southern California. Her main teachers include Richard Todd and Nathan Campbell. As an active freelance musician and performer in Los Angeles, Kristina is playing her fifth season as assistant principal horn in the American Youth Symphony and performs frequently with the Torrance Symphony. She has collaborated with a variety of artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Randy Newman, and Shelly Berg, under the direction of conductors including Carl St. Clair, Kent Nagano, John Williams, and George Mester. Kristina Orcutt’s career thus far has led to performances in Carnegie hall, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Royce Hall, and the Hollywood Bowl. Kristina is passionate about traveling and enjoys singing, playing volleyball and speaking Spanish.