In 1910 flautist Georges Barrère (1876-1944) formed his Ensemble of Wind Instruments with fellow members of the New York Symphony. This was the second American incarnation of his Paris Société Moderne. Five years earlier he and Walter Damrosch had organized the New York Symphony Wind Instrument Club, a double woodwind quintet with Hermann Hand (formerly of the Vienna Opera) and J. Chernoff, horns. The new group comprised Georges Barrère and Rocco Guerrière, flutes; Albert de Busscher and Irving Cohn, oboes; Henry Léon Leroy and Harry Christmann, clarinets; Josef Franzl and John F. Heyer, horns; Benjamin Kohon and Emil Barbot, bassoon; and Carl Heinrich, trumpet.

A 1914 concert program from the University of Nebraska is representative of the groups repertoire. An undated Columbia Double Disk brochure describes the ensemble, provides revues from various cities it visited and lists a few ecordings.