Catalog

Christopher Rouse was one of America’s most prominent composers. Winner of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize in Music, he created a body of work perhaps unequalled in its emotional intensity. Three of his concertos — for trumpet, oboe, and bassoon — are included in this recording. Eric Berlin is principal trumpet of the Albany Symphony and assistant principal trumpet of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra. He has commissioned, premiered, and recorded numerous new works for trumpet. Katherine Needleman is principal oboist of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and has appeared as a soloist with orchestras around the U.S. Peter Kolkay is the only bassoonist to receive an Avery Fisher Career Grant. In demand as a chamber musician, recitalist, and soloist with orchestras, he is on the faculty at Vanderbilt. The Albany Symphony, led by conductor David Alan Miller, has received four Grammy nominations and is both a 2014 and 2021 Grammy award winner.

Harmony in Black is part of a five-year initiative by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra that aims to elevate the voices of an array of living, diverse composers throughout the United States. For this first recording composers Patrice Rushen and William Banfield are featured. Their three compositions do not quote spiritual melodies directly but do embody the spirit of those songs by drawing either on direct quotation of speeches or writings. Multi-Grammy nominated artist Patrice Rushen is admired by many for her groundbreaking achievements including serving as Musical Director for the 46th-48th Annual Grammy Awards. Dr. William Banfield has produced a body of work in the past 25 years that includes music, books, teaching and creative work that contributes to contemporary arts leadership. Banfield is an award-winning composer who is now serving as Composer-in-Residence of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.

Conductor Andrew Koehler comments that Steven Holochwost’s compositional language is almost always informed through conversations with the past and though he does not shy away from sonorous climax, his music tends toward a mode of expression that favors the quiet and reflective. Holochwost studied composition at Yale and Rutgers, earning his doctorate under the tutelage of Charles Wuorinen. Holochwost has received grants, awards, and fellowships from Rutgers, Princeton, the National Association of Composers, the Fisher Foundation, and ASCAP. He also has a PhD in developmental psychology. This is his second recording for Albany Records. Currently the music director of the Kalamazoo Philharmonia, Andrew Koehler has been honored for his innovative and thoughtful programming. He is active as a guest conductor in the U.S. and throughout the world.

This recording of works by four composers highlights the diversity of America. Edmund Thornton Jenkins came from Charleston, South Carolina. He studied at Morehouse and the Royal Academy of Music in London. His artistry encompassed classical music as well as jazz, but he died prematurely, cutting short his career. John Wineglass is an Emmy-Award winning composer who is currently composer-in-residence with the Monterey Symphony. Beth Denisch music has been performed around the world with her music drawing inspiration from artist and authors, nature and astronomy, and unexpected places: real and imaginary. Born in Russia, Elena Roussanova is a composer, pianist, and educator, whose career includes a long list of accomplishments, including Composer-in-Residence for the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2020. She was awarded the American Prize in Composition for Orchestral Music in 2017-18 and her works have been performed by both American and international orchestras.

Composer/conductor Julius P. Williams leads the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra in a recording of works by Black composers. In addition to Williams’ compositions, there are works by the Dean of African-American composers, William Grant Still, Augustus O. Hill, and a work by Edmund Thornton Jenkins restored and arranged by his nephew Tuffus Zimbabwe. Julius P. Williams was named one of Musical America’s Top 30 Professionals of the Year in 2022. His career has taken him to musical venues around the globe and he has been involved in virtually every musical genre. He is currently Artistic Director and Conductor of the Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra and was composer-in-residence with the Boston Symphony. His music has been performed by countless symphony orchestras including the New York Philharmonic. Cleveland Orchestra, and Detroit Symphony, to name but a few. His recordings appear on the Albany, Centaur, Videmus, and Naxos labels.

This second recording of orchestral works by Narong Prangcharoen on Albany Records includes three works, one inspired by the composer’s experiences in Orange County, California; the second by the relationship between humans and fire; and the third by the relationship between sound, echo, and silence. Narong Prangcharoen enjoys an international reputation and is recognized as one of Asia’s leading composers. His music has been performed in Asia, America, Australia, and Europe by many renowned ensembles. Prangcharoen is a dean of the College of Music at Mahidol University and composer-in-residence of the Thailand Philharmonic.

The Bowling Green Philharmonia continues its unique approach of having composers speak about their compositions. This ninth volume in the series includes works by Mikel Kuehn, Shulamit Ran, Gabriela Frank, Louis Karchin, and Augusta Read Thomas. Conductor Emily Freeman Brown has spearheaded this important series that includes works written for the Bowling Green Philharmonia. A graduate of Eastman, Brown has appeared as a conductor with orchestras in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and South America. Her recordings appear on the Naxos, Linn, and Opus One as well as Albany Records.

Three concerto-like works by Jeffrey Mumford are offered on his newest recording for Albany Records. Mumford is the recipient of numerous awards, commissions, fellowships, and grants including the American Academy of Arts & Letters and the Guggenheim Foundation, among many others. His music has been performed extensively in the U.S. and abroad. Mumford was on the faculty at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and is currently Distinguished Professor at Lorain County Community College. In his music, Mumford cultivates rich connections between the aural and the visual, creating intricate, profoundly expressive music directly influenced by the people with whom he works over his long career. Noted soloists Christine Lamprea (cello); Winston Choi (piano); and Christine Wu (violin) are joined by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kazem Abdullah; Ensemble Dal Niente conducted by Michael Lewanski; and the Chicago Composers Orchestra conducted by Allen Tinkham.

Thai composer Dr. Narong Prangcharoen’s success as a composer was confirmed by his receiving the prestigious Charles Ives Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Barlow Prize. He enjoys an international reputation and is recognized as one of Asia’s leading composers. His music has been performed worldwide by many renowned orchestras and new music ensembles. He was composer-in-residence of the Pacific Symphony and is now composer-in residence of the Thailand Philharmonic and Artistic Director of the Thailand International Composition Festival. This recording, his third for Albany Records, features seven of his orchestral works.

This recording is taken from live performances of the distinguished Sinfonietta of Riverdale and includes works by American composers Karel Husa and Steven Stucky as well as works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Edward Elgar, and Anton Bruckner. Large enough to perform chamber symphonies, it is also small enough that each of its world class musicians is a featured soloist. Their recordings are on the Arabesque and Albany labels. Conductor Mark Mandarano enjoys an international career as a conductor that has included performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and other major venues in the U.S. and abroad. He has served as principal guest conductor of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, and is now director of the Macalester Symphony Orchestra and artistic director of the Minnesota Youth Symphonies.

The Albany Symphony, conducted by David Alan Miller, performs two world premiere recordings of works by the distinguished and original composer, David Del Tredici. Pop-Pourri is the very first piece in Del Tredici's legendary "Alice" series and is scored for orchestra, soprano, rock band, and chorus. Adventures in Wonderland includes The Pool of Tears and The Mouse's Tale, which are connected with narration, sketching the events occurring in between. Hila Plitman, the soprano soloist is a Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and actress. The Albany Symphony is legendary for its commitment to American music. Conductor David Alan Miller is one of the leading American conductors of his generation. He and the Albany Symphony are the recipients of two Grammy awards.

The Augusta Symphony, conducted by Dirk Meyer performs five works by Miguel del Aguila. Del Aguila's music exudes an exuberance that immediately grabs the ear upon first listening. Infectious Latin rhythms add a propulsive drive, while lush melodies are instantly memorable. Three-time Grammy nominated American composer Miguel del Aguila was born in Uruguay and has more than 130 compositions to his credit. There are more than 50 of his works that have been recorded. The Augusta Symphony is the premier professional orchestra for Augusta's River Region in Georgia and South Carolina. Led by German conductor Dirk Meyer, the orchestra presents classical, pops, and family concerts. Violinist Guillermo Figueroa is one of the most versatile and respected musical artists of his generation, renowned as a conductor, soloist, and concertmaster.

The eighth volume of New Music from Bowling Green includes orchestral compositions by Aaron Jay Kernis, Marilyn Shrude, Richard Cornell, Dalit Warshaw, Martin Kennedy, and David Liptak. Conductor Emily Freeman Brown has been the driving force behind this series, which now has recorded more than 40 works by American composers. Brown has appeared as conductor with orchestras in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and South America. In addition to her work for Albany Records, she has recorded for Naxos, Linn, and Opus One Records. Soloists include violinist Ioana Galu, a native of Romania and now on the faculty at the University of South Dakota, and trombonist Brittany Lasch, who is on the faculty at Bowling Green State University.

This recording features three imaginative and dynamic works by GRAMMY® Award-winning composer Michael Daugherty. The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra gives exciting performances under the baton of long-time music director Neal Gittleman, joined by classical guitarist Manuel Barrueco, electric guitarist D. J. Sparr, and narrator Michael Lippert. Bay of Pigs for Classical Guitar and Strings evokes the bittersweet and turbulent events of past and present Cuba. Gee’s Bend for Electric Guitar and Orchestra is a tapestry of syncopated grooves, slow blues and spirituals inspired by the quilts and African- American women quilters of Gee’s Bend, Alabama. TROYJAM for Narrator and Orchestra, with a poetic libretto by Anne Carson, retells the story of the Trojan War from Homer’s Iliad, but with a twist: the Greeks, led by the “lyre-strumming” Achilles against the Trojans led by Hector, decide to play the instruments of the orchestra in a wild jam session to make music, not war.

Christopher Theofanidis' music has been performed by many of the world's leading performing arts organizations, from the London Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic to the San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and the American Ballet Theatre. A two-time Grammy nominee, Theofanidis is currently on the faculties of Yale University and the Aspen Music Festival. This recording of two of his concertos is performed by the Albany Symphony conducted by David Alan Miller, which is known for its commissioning and performances of music by American composers. Chee-Yun, violin soloist is a winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions and has performed with many of the world's foremost orchestras. Viola soloist Richard O'Neill is the newly appointed violist of the Takács Quartet. An EMMY Award winner, two time Grammy nominee and Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, he has appeared as soloist with the world's top orchestras.

Sonata for Orchestra is a large, unfinished tonal work that Godfrey Winham was working on just before he died in 1975 at the age of 40. The first two movements were completed but the third had just been begun at the time of his death. This is a world premiere recording. The Composition for Orchestra was written in 1953 as a musical example of his thesis, Composition with Arrays. Winham was studying with Roger Sessions at the time of this work. The Piano Concerto by Roger Sessions is one of three he concertos he wrote and exemplifies the qualities that have made Sessions one of America's foremost composers: rhythmic vitality, orchestral brillance, dramatic power, and great melodic beauty. Pianist Barry David Salwen enjoys an international career as a concert pianist. Additionally he is a long time faculty member of the University of North Carolina Wilmington. He was the first to record the complete solo piano music of Roger Sessions, which appears on Albany Records. Conductor Joel Suben is known for championing new works by American and European composers, having led first performances and commercial recordings of some 500 works. His discography is extensive and appears on the Naxos, Albany, New World, Centaur, CRI, and Parnassus labels.

Two works honoring Earth Day comprise this distinctive recording. The first, by composer John Harmon, is a symphonic setting of the words of John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Earth Day Founder Sen. Gaylord Nelson with descendants of these men as narrators. The second, Hymn to the Earth by Edward Joseph Collins, is a secular cantata for soloists, choir, and orchestra, praising Mother Earth and the beauty of the four seasons using text set by the composer. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Earth Day's founding in 1970, this recording was undertaken by a non-profit: Earth/Art Resources as part of their educational and cultural mission to foster Earth Day values.

War & Peace is a video production released in Blu-Ray format and conceived as a total entertainment concept. The production combines artistic resources from other cultures with advancing techinologies in order to create music that impacts our senses in a manner seldom achieved before. Art, dancing, music, western and eastern cultures all combine to push the boundaries of musical entertainment by using new combinations of musical instruments, new multicultural art direction and new dance styles. War & Peace provides an entirely different visual and auditory impact to the audience. Entertaining sounds and rhythms, beautiful and meaningful visual imagery, and culturally diverse creative expressions are the hallmarks of War & Peace.

Acclaimed composer Michael Torke has brought fresh life to an old, but popular form, as these four concertos demonstrate. For Sky, a concerto for violin, Torke imposed classical forms on Bluegrass, evoking the music of the people who settled Kentucky. The other three concertos (for bassoon, oboe, and clarinet) test the limits of the instruments with unstale musical expression. Torke's music has been commissioned and performed by organizations such as the New York Philharmonic, the English National Opera, the London Sinfonietta, and the New York City Ballet, among many others. He has created a substantial body of works in virtually every genre. Award winning violinist Tessa Lark is a budding superstar in the classical realm and a highly acclaimed fiddler in the tradition of her native Kentucky. Bassoonist Peter Kolkay is on the faculty at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt. The recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, he is an active soloist and chamber musician. Oboist Ryan Roberts is a member of the New York Philharmonic and has performed as guest principal oboe with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony. Weixiong Wang is principal clarinetist of the Albany Symphony and the winner of several international competitions.

Steinway Artist Yaroslav Senyshyn is a Canadian born pianist of Ukrainian ancestry. He was a prize pupil of Antonina Yaroshevich, who was a contemporary of Vladimir Horowitz at the Kiev Conservatory. Thus Senyshyn was trained in the grand tradition of piano playing. He was featured in a documentary program about great Canadian pianists and is an active recitalist and concerto soloist, having performed with orchestras around the globe. Lauded by critics as a pianist of "enormous power" (The Washington Post) and for his technical fluency, master of the composer's style, and an understanding of the music" (Fanfare), Dr. Senyshyn is Professor of Music and Moral Philosophy at Simon Fraser University. For his third recording on Albany Records, Senyshyn has chosen two of the most loved concertos for piano: Chopin's Concerto No. 2 and Liszt's Concerto No. 2.

Born in 1905, Eric Zeisl fled Austria in 1938, coming to the United States, and committing himself to applying his mastery of classical compositional technique to commemorating the destroyed Jewish European heritage. He met Benjamin Zemach at the then new Brandeis-Bardin Institute, where Zemach headed the dance and theater department. The two men set out to create two biblical ballets, one of which, Jacob and Rachel, is performed on this recording. Zemach expertly distilled the dramatic elements of the old stories into scenes, and Zeisl composed the music—his forte was exactly that, depicting characters, actions and emotions in music. The second work on this recording, Variations on a Slovakian Folk Song, derives its theme from a book of folksongs called Slowakisch. The translation of the text is: Lord God mine, Father mine, give the world your light and justice. Every day your poor servant suffers terribly. The mission of the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony is to perform orchestral works of well-known as well as not widely recognized Jewish composers. The LAJS is the only orchestra in America dedicated to the performance and preservation of orchestral works of distinction that explore Jewish culture, heritage, and experience. Led by artistic director Noreen Green, who founded the orchestra in 1994, the LAJS celebrates the richness of Jewish music, sharing it with diverse audiences. Dr. Green is known worldwide for her knowledge and skill in presenting music with Jewish themes. She has served as guest conductor in the United States, Israel, South Africa, Australia, and Canada. In 2017, Musical America recognized her as one of its Movers & Shapers the Top 30 Musical America Professionals of the Year.

Taken from recordings of live concerts, the Frost Symphony Orchestra offers works by five American composers including Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Paul Creston, Lansing McLoskey, Dorothy Hindman, and Scott Stinson. For the Zwilich, the orchestra is joined by flutist Trudy Kane, now on the faculty of the Frost School of Music, after retiring from the position of principal flutist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. World-renowned saxophonist Dale Underwood is the soloist for the Paul Creston concerto.

A largely self-taught composer, Byron Richard O'Keefe takes his inspiration from the American countryside, particularly its rivers. An American Smetana, in the sense that his music evokes the rivers, hedgerows, and forests of the eastern United States, O'Keefe's compositions can be characterized as neo-pastoral Romanticism.

The presidents honored in this album fundamentally altered the structure and development of the United States. Composer Victoria Bond, in collaboration with librettist Myles Lee, MD, has written four concertos for soloist and narrator: "Soul of a Nation" (from which the title of the album was derived) is a portrait of Thomas Jefferson; "The Indispensable Man" illuminates Franklin Roosevelt; "The Crowded Hours" presents Theodore Roosevelt; and "Pater Patriae" honors George Washington. As portraits of personal character, each piece illustrates the inner turmoil each man endured on his journey to immortality. Soloists from the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (Frank Almond, Concertmaster), and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (John Bruce Yeh, assistant principal clarinet and Mark Ridenour, assistant principal trumpet), and Gabriela Vargas (flute) join narrators Adrian Dunn, Henry Fogel, Ray Frewen, and David Holloway. Emanuele Andrizzi and Stephen Squires conduct the chamber orchestra and wind ensemble from the Chicago College of performing Arts at Roosevelt University.

A collaboration of East and West, Ode To Nature contains a Blu-Ray disc of the performance along with an audio cd. The story is of Blossom, a beautiful and talented young woman with a boundless future. Her artistic gift was dancing and playing the Chinese single-string lute. At age 17, bone cancer struck and Blossom's life was saved by an ampuation. Life that was so promising now is left with only despair. Ode To Nature is about the transformation of the human spirit. It is about Blossom's power over life achieved by combining the five Chinese virtues (righteousness, order, benevolence, wisdom, trust) and the five elements (metal, wood, water, fire, earth). It is her journey to find light admidst darkness and to gain victory from defeat.

It is indeed a cause for excitement when two concertos by Florence Price, the first African American woman to write a symphony performed by a major U.S. Orchestra, are recorded. There are no known performances of Price’s first violin concerto, but the Violin Concerto No. 2, completed in 1952 was performed posthumously by its dedicatee, Minnie Cedargreen Jemberg at the opening of the Florence B. Price School in Chicago’s Kenwood neighborhood in 1964. The two concertos are joined on this recording by a work for violin and orchestra by Ryan Cockerham, which is a tribute to Florence Price’s home state of Arkansas. Violinist Er-Gene Kahng is on the faculty at the Universityof Arkansas in Fayetteville and is concertmaster of the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra. She is on the violin faculty at the Montecito International Music Festival, the Beverly Hills International Music Festival, and performs with the Bay View Music Festival string quartet. Ryan Cockerham’s creative work has been exhibited and performed by leading arts and academic organizations around the world, including the English National Ballet, Art Expo Milano, and the Texas Ballet Theater, among many others.

Sinfonia No. 5, a new work completed in 2016 by the distinguished composer George Walker, is in one continuous movement. On this world premiere recording, two versions are presented. The work has four quotes of varying lengths inserted in the score with the first version containing five brief speaking parts for soprano, tenor, two baritones, and bass. The second version does not contain the spoken text. Goerge Walker is the recipient of seven honorary doctorate degrees as well as a Pulitzer Prize for his work, Lilacs for Voice and Orchestra. His extensive discography includes recordings of his chamber, vocal, instrumental and orchestral music. This is the fifth volume of his orchestral music to appear on Albany Records.

The renowned saxophonist Dale Underwood offers a unique program of music by Brazilian composers for saxophone and orchestra. Currently on the faculty at the Frost School of Music, Underwood has been an active performer and educator for five decades, developing a world-renowned reputation. He has performed all across the United States and many countries around the world. Dubbed "the Heifetz of the alto saxophone" by the Washington Post, he has contributed to the expansion of the saxophone repertoire and establishing the saxophone as a classical instrument and helped raise the performance standard.

World premiere recordings by the renowned composer Aaron Jay Kernis, performed by the stunning soprano Talise Trevigne with the Albany Symphony conducted by David Alan Miller, make this one of 2017's most distinctive releases. Winner of the 2002 Grawemeyer Award, the 1998 Pulitzer Prize, and the 2011 Nemmers Award, Aaron Jay Kernis is one of America's most performed and honored composers. His music appears on concert programs worldwide and he has been commissioned by America's preeminent performing organizations and artists. Vocal music and singing have been profoundly important to Kernis and breath, lyricism and line have held primacy for him as a composer. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the three song cycles on this recording that span 20 years of his writing. Talise Trevigne and the Albany Symphony are at the center of these premiere recordings.

The seventh volume in the New Music From Bowling Green features works by Chinese composers Shen Yiwen and Xiaogang Ye; German composer Martin Herchenröder and American composers Braxton Blake and Ingram Marshall. The music includes music for orchestra (First Orchestral Essay and Winter 1; concertos (Concerto for Two Guitars and Concerto for Clarinet); and a work for orchestra and tape (Bright Kingdoms). As with all the recordings in this series, the composers have recorded their thoughts about their works.

The Albany Symphony, conducted by David Alan Miller, gives world premiere performances of two commissioned works by the distinguished American composer Michael Torke. Torke's music has been called "some of the most optimistic, joyful and thoroughly uplifting music to appear in recent years." (Gramophone) Hailed as a "master orchestrator whose shimmering timbral palette makes him the Ravel of his generation" (New York Times), Michael Torke has created a substantial body of works in virtually every genre. Torke has served as Composer In Residence for the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and has founded Ecstatic Records. The two works on this recording include a concerto for piano and orchestra titled Three Manhattan Bridges. Torke uses bridges as a metaphor for connecting to an earlier stance that music once had of a direct relationship with its audience. The second work, titled Winter's Tale is a concerto for cello and orchestra. Though not based on Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, it is inspired by lines from the play.

Conductor Mark Mandarano and the Sinfonietta of Riverdale offer live performances of American music recorded at their annual series of concerts. The program ranges from America's past to present with luminaries from the past (Walter Piston) to the present time with three generations represented by John Corigliano, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Byron Adams, and Oliver Caplan. A survey that shows us where we have been, where we are, and where we are headed. The Sinfonietta's reputation for fine musicianship and stimulating programming has been recognized by the public and the press. The ensemble has performed the music of world-renowned composers and has a history of commissioned works, one of which (Lunastella) is offered on this recording. Founded in 2008 by artistic director and conductor Mark Mandarano, the Sinfonietta's recordings also appear on the Arabesque label. In addition to the Sinfonietta, Mandarano has served as principal guest conductor of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and has led performances of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, and Nürnberger Symphoniker, among others. He is a graduate of Cornell and the Peabody Conservatory music and is director of instrumental music at Macalaster College.