Founded at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Avenue Winds embodies that institution’s spirit: bold, engaging, passionate performances in recital, house concert, and informance settings. Avenue Winds takes you on an emotional journey exploring the musical joys of the woodwind quintet.
Performing with artistry and virtuosity, this engaging woodwind quintet has performed in recital at numerous venues including the Rossmoor Concert Series, Music on the Hill, University of San Francisco, Berkeley Chamber Performances, Old St. Hilary’s, the Presidio, Old First Concert Series and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Avenue Winds engages audiences of all ages with dynamic chamber music performances featuring new works by local San Francisco Bay Area composers as well as the classics of the woodwind quintet repertoire.
“Any opportunity to work with the Avenue Winds is an immense pleasure. One of the most professional and talented ensembles I know, they have given some of the most outstanding and thoughtful performances of contemporary music I have heard…performances that the composers have told me were the most insightful and well-executed performances they have ever received. They are one of the most remarkable wind quintets I know.”
John Bilotta, composer
Victoria Hauk, flute, loves exploring the beauty of music through collaboration with fellow Bay Area musicians and by sharing it with the next generation of musicians through coaching and teaching. She is an avid chamber musician and can be seen performing with groups including: woodwind quintet Avenue Winds, One Found Sound, and Areon Flutes. Orchestras she has worked with include: Marin Symphony, California Symphony, Stockton Symphony, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, and New World Symphony. She maintains an active private teaching studio and also coaches chamber music at San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Pre-College Division. She is the winner of the University of Arizona President’s Concerto Competition and Arizona Flute Society Competition and is an award winner of the Musical Merit Foundation of Greater San Diego, MTNA Southwest Regional Competition, San Diego Flute Guild Young Artist Competition and has received the Presser Foundation Award. She received her Professional Studies Diploma at the San Francisco Conservatory studying with Tim Day, M.M. at Lynn Conservatory studying with Jeffrey Khaner and Renée Siebert, and B.M. at the University of Arizona studying with Brian Luce.
Laura Reynolds, oboe, is an active chamber and orchestral performer throughout Northern California and serves as Principal oboist with the Santa Rosa Symphony, California Symphony, and second oboe and English horn with Marin Symphony. Laura has always been a chamber music enthusiast and before joining Avenue Winds was a member of the wind trio Trois Bois and Citywinds, a San Francisco woodwind quintet dedicated to contemporary repertoire. She is a member of the applied faculty of Sonoma State University as well as of the Pre-College and Continuing Education Divisions at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she additionally works as senior program manager. A graduate of the University of Michigan and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, her principal teachers were Harry Sargous and William Bennett. 
James Pytko, clarinet is an avid performer and educator in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is the Second/Bass Clarinetist of Opera San Jose and during the summer, he is the Principal Clarinet of the Utah Festival of Opera and Musical Theater. James has also performed with San Francisco Opera, Symphony San Jose, Sphinx Symphony, Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, and many other bay area ensembles. James has taught clarinet at California State University Stanislaus and University of California, Santa Cruz, and currently teaches privately. His primary teachers were Richie Hawley, Carmine Campione, Scott Andrews and Naomi Drucker.
Daniel Wood, horn, is a performer, composer, educator and musical entrepreneur. Prior to joining Avenue Winds, he received his musical training from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the chair of Musicianship and Composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Pre-College Division. As a composer, Daniel’s music favors small ensembles, including brass, wind and string chamber music, steel drum ensembles and jazz combos with commissions from Avenue Winds, CSMA Brass, and members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Also a member of Quadre – The Voice of Four Horns, Daniel has performed over 1,000 concerts and composed for all of their albums. He additionally writes and performs solo shows as an improvisational musician. As a freelance musician, he has played with chamber ensembles, symphonies, opera & ballet companies and new music groups. Daniel lectures on the “Business of Music” and runs Solid Wood Publishing, offering over 50 titles of horn music and he is the Northern CA representative for the International Horn Society.
Avenue Winds 