by Dana Paul Perna It was my pleasure to have attended a concert at the Community Church of Douglaston this past October 1, 2006. As part of their Douglaston Concerts series, the Quintet of the Americas, joined by guest artist, the pianist Blair McMillen, performed a concert underscored by Mozart whose 250th birthday celebrations is still ongoing. The Quintet's personnel consisted of Saito Moughalian (flute), Matt Sullivan (oboe), Meighan Stoops (clarinet), Barbara Oldham (French horn), and Gina Cuffari (bassoon). The concert was presented in a room adorned by wonderful pictures hung on its walls which were created by the pastel artist Carolyn Virginia Obergfell. The program opened with Mozart's Quintet for Piano and Winds, K. 452 which dates from 1784. Cast in your usual three movement form, the work was given a good performance by Mr. McMillen as the soloist and four members of the Quintet (since the flutist sat that one out.) Following that was a performance of work by Mozart Camargo Guarnieri - yes, that was his name - by Saito Moughalian and Blair McMillen (the other four members who had just played sat this work out.) Ms. Moughalian spoke about the composer who was born in Brazil of Italian lineage. A contemporary of Villa-Lobos, he forged his own style while still employing a style which incorporates Brazilian flavors. He studied with Boulanger in Paris and in the United States with Aaron Copland. On this concert, Guarnieri's 1947 Sonatina for Flute and Piano was championed with the proper spirit his music required. After intermission, we were treated to a world premiere of a work the Quintet commissioned from James Cohn. Utilizing themes by W.A. Mozart, Cohn expertly fashioned his Mozart Fantasy, op. 91 which he completed just recently (in 2006 which made it the newest piece on this concert). After being introduced by Matt Sullivan, James Cohn spoke briefly about his piece which was followed by the Quintet's performance of it. (Mr. McMillen sat this one out.) This short work was delightful in a manner that only Cohn could conjure up. It was refreshing and left us wanting more. The concert concluded with all six musicians performing a work by the Brazilian composer Marcello Zarvos, who is currently enjoying success composing music for motion pictures. His 2003 work called Changes for Woodwind Quintet and Piano was performed before this rapt audience. Cast in three movements which are interconnected, this work was quite exceptional, both in terms of its composition and its committed performance from all the performers. The third movement contained materials analogous to Brazilian music that would prove to be familiar to any audience, but it was not used as any sort of cliché. There was a freshness to his use of the instruments as one became aware that they were listening a work of true merit. While the Zarvos piece was the last work on the printed program, the Quintet returned to present us with the “more Cohn” we had wanted in the guise of his Arkansas Reel. Similar to the Cohn piece heard earlier, this was a refreshing piece that merged whimsy and merriment with craftsmanship in a concise form