Laurier Guest Artist Series: Pentaèdre Woodwind Quintet, Leslie Fagan, soprano, Penderecki String Quartet, and Friends

March 9, 2026

March 15, 2026, 3 p.m.
Maureen Forrester Recital Hall

Pentaèdre Woodwind Quintet:
Stéphanie Morin, flute
Élise Poulin, oboe
Martin Carpentier, clarinet
Louis-Phillippe Marsolais, French horn
Mathieu Lussier, bassoon

Penderecki String Quartet:
Jerzy Kaplanek, violin
Jeremy Bell, violin
Christine Vlajk, viola
Katie Schlaikjer, cello

Leslie Fagan, soprano
Anya Alexeyev, piano
Ian Whitman, bass
Joseph Petric, accordion
Cassandra Wolff, percussion
Brennan Connolly, percussion

We ask that patrons take photos only during intermission and/or after the show and do not record audio or video unless otherwise announced at the beginning of the show.

Program

Humereske – Rondo by Alexander Zemlinsky (1871-1942)
Pentaèdre Woodwind Quintet

This Exact Shade of Moon for Soprano and String Quartet by Jeffrey Ryan (b. 1962)
Poems by Yusuf Saadi
I. Painting a February Sky
II. Meditation (Waxing Moon)
III. Love Sonnet for Light
IV. Meditation (Full Moon)
V. If Van Gogh Worshipped the Moon
VI. Meditation (Waning Moon)
VII. Reading Borges on the Moon
VIII. Meditation (New Moon)
IX. Flowers on Europa

Leslie Fagan, soprano
Penderecki String Quartet

Intermission

Symphony No.4, GMW 37 by Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), arr. Klaus Simon
I. Bedächtig, nicht eilen
II. In gemächlicher Bewegung, ohne Hast
III. Ruhevoll, poco adagio
IV. Wir geniessen die Himmlischen Freduden. Sehr behaglich

Pentaèdre Woodwind Quintet
Penderecki String Quartet
Leslie Fagan, soprano
Anya Alexeyev, piano
Joseph Petric, accordion
Ian Whitman, bass
Brennan Connolly, percussion
Cassandra Wolff, percussion

Lyrics

Special Thank You

With much gratitude to the generous donors who contributed funds for this special commission celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Faculty of Music, for “This Exact Shades of Moon for Soprano and String Quartet” by Jeffery Ryan and Poems by Yusuf Saadi.

Elizabeth and Alan Bell
Diane Cloutier
John Lehr
Jennifer Reynolds Taylor
The Fledgling Foundation
Wilfrid Laurier University Alumni Association
Anonymous

Land Acknowledgement

We would like to acknowledge that Wilfrid Laurier University and its campuses are located on the shared traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishnaabe (Anish-nah-bay) and Haudenosaunee (Hoe-den-no-show-nee) peoples. This land is part of the Dish with One Spoon Treaty between the Haudenosaunee and Anishnaabe peoples and symbolizes the agreement to share, protect our resources and not to engage in conflict. From the Haldimand Proclamation of Oct. 25, 1784 this territory is described as: “six miles deep from each side of the river (Grand River) beginning at Lake Erie and extending in the proportion to the Head of said river, which them and their posterity are to enjoy forever.” The proclamation was signed by the British wit​h their allies, the Six Nations, after the American Revolution. Despite being the largest reserve demographically in Canada, those nations now reside on less than five percent of this original territory.