Durran teaches bassoon and coaches wind chamber music at Penn State.
"For me personally, it's always great to play with such fine colleagues," he said.
The Pennsylvania Quintet has been featured on Performance Today on National Public Radio. The musicians have also produced three albums, American Wind Music, 20th Century Wind Chamber Music, and Recent American Works for Winds.
The group has had the honor of being the ensemble in residence at the Sedona Chamber Music Festival and has won the National Flute Association's international Chamber Music Ensemble Competition.
The quintet has played at major venues across America and Europe, including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall in New York City.
Bontrager said her favorite venues are overseas.
"We played three concerts at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Germany, and one of them, we played at midnight," Bontrager said. "It was really fun and very rewarding. Europeans tend to appreciate classical music more."
She said the quintet practices two hours, twice a week.
Durran said the group plays on campus about three to four times a year.
He also said the music for the program is chosen unanimously by the ensemble.
Tonight's program will feature music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Darius Milhaud, Endre Szervansky, Jan Bach, Paquito D'Rivera and Maurice Ravel. The 321st anniversary of the birth of Bach is exactly one week from today, and the quintet played in the concert "Bach Around the Clock" on March 17.
Bontrager said the upcoming performance is particularly interesting because the repertoire is different than usual.
"We usually play pieces with five parts, but this is more interesting because we will be playing a variety of smaller pieces, both trios and duos," she said.
Durran said it is true there is a concert attendance requirement for music majors, but many students also go because they want to see their professors perform.
A student of both Durran and Hurtz, Trey Farrell (freshman-music education) said he has been meaning to go to a performance but hasn't been able to make one yet.
He said he is planning on attending the recital tonight.
As an oboe player in the Philharmonic Orchestra, Symphonic Wind Ensemble and a student quintet, Farrell said he likes the fact that Durran is an active oboist in addition to teaching.
"Before [Durran] was a professor, he played a lot, and it's good that he still does because you can't teach unless you are playing, too," Farrell said.
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