AMES – The Brazilian Recorder Quartet Quinta Essentia, will perform in Ames at 7:30 p.m. on May 22 at the Martha Ellen Tye Recital Hall on the Iowa State Campus and will offer a masterclass at 4 p.m. on May 23.

Quinta Essentia (www.quintaessentia.com.br ) is an ensemble of young, talented and dynamic musicians and teachers from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The Quinta Essentia quartet is the main Brazilian recorder ensemble. It has an unusual formation of four musicians, but only one instrument.

“A curious ensemble that presents the sound of the recorder in a different approach” (Paran Online, 2009)

Their 2016 US tour includes appearances in Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., Iowa State University in Ames and at the Whitewater Early Music Festival in Whitewater, Wis. Their repertoire includes historic, contemporary and Brazilian music, and their latest project: J.S. Bach’s The Art of Fugue.

“This masterpiece of the renowned composer Johann Sebastian Bach, composed at the end of his life, leaves us perplexed by its perfection and the musical enigmas of its legacy Would the Art of Fugue have remained an unfinished work, or would Bach have written part of the work and invited other composers to finish it? What is certain is that he signed the work musically in its final subject and 270 years later, Quinta Essentia presents this masterpiece on historical instruments.” From quintaessentia.com.br/en/projeto/arte-da-fuga/ (accessed 2-13-2016)

During their 2016 US tour they are also conducting workshops and masterclasses in Ames, St. Paul, Minn., and Whitewater, Wis. In between these events, the group is attending the Suzuki Association of the Americas’ 17th Biennial Conference in Minneapolis, Minn.

Cost for tickets are adults $25, students $10 and children K-8, free.

For more information go to: www.quintaessentia.com.br to get a glimpse of this wonderful group of musicians and teachers. Check out the variety of styles and sizes of their instrumentarium at quintaessentia.com.br/en/projeto/instrumentarium/