Music Performance Series

5th Floor is an adventurous wind quintet that takes great joy in bringing standards and hidden gems from the wind quintet literature to a live audience. Founded in 2019, the ensemble specializes in works by living composers and music that captures the diversity of the human experience. The group has performed around the DMV region including at the Georgetown Farmers’ Market, the Rock Creek Chamber series, and private events such as house concerts. The members of 5th Floor balance their multifaceted careers with life as classically-trained freelance musicians. Flutist Eric Abalahin has worked as a website manager by day and can be seen performing with large ensembles such as the Washington Sinfonietta and the Capital Wind Symphony. Oboist Laurel Kuxhaus is a Program Officer at the NIH and is the principal oboe of the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic. Clarinetist Chris Epinger worked at the NIH Clinical Center for 22 years and can frequently be found in the pit orchestra of regional musical theatre productions, and performs with both the NIH Philharmonia and the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic. Bassoonist Nancy Switkes teaches private woodwind instruction and runs Discover Quintet, a workshop that introduces young people to wind quintet playing. Horn player Jim McIntyre is a technology director for a local PR/marketing agency and performs with both the Washington Sinfonietta and the Symphony of the Potomac.