The name "Imani Winds" was chosen by Coleman before she formed the quintet. She viewed it as a vision of what the quintet could mean to African-American and other underrepresented communities. Their 2023 album
Passion for Bach and Coltrane, a multimedia collaboration with poet
A. B. Spellman, won the 2024
Grammy Award for Best Classical Compendium. In 2001 they won the Richard S. Weinert Award for Innovation in Classical Music from the
Concert Artists Guild. In 2002, they won the
CMA/
ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming and the
CMA/
WQXR Recording Award for their first album
Umoja. In 2006 & 2009, they performed with the
Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, in the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, in the summer series. In 2007, they won the
ASCAP Concert Music Award. Imani Winds have toured throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, and participated in Chamber Music Society Two, a professional residency program of
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. In addition, Imani has toured internationally and recorded with saxophonist
Steve Coleman, performed with pop recording artists
Morley, and opened for
Cassandra Wilson and
Wynton Marsalis. They have performed with several notable jazz musicians such as
Wayne Shorter,
Steve Coleman,
Paquito D'Rivera, and
Steffon Harris. They have appeared on radio programs including
Saint Paul Sunday,
Performance Today,
Performance Today, The Bob Edwards Show, and
The World. The group has continued to commission and premiered more works after the initial five-year time frame, and the group has continued their original intent to introduce more diverse composers to the standard wind quintet repertoire. == Commissions ==