Catalog

Dubbed "The Commissioners" by Chamber Music America magazine, Palisades Virtuosi (Margaret Swinchoski, flute; Donald Mokrynski, clarinet; Ron Levy, piano) has established an enviable presence in the chamber music world since its inception 14 years ago. To date, the ensemble has commissioned and performed more than 75 new works and has now released six recordings of some of the best of these commissions. All the music on these recordings are world premieres and all are American composers. Palisades Virtuosi has been named Visiting Artists at Bergen Community College and are in residence at The Ridgewood Conservatory. Established to promote music for their ensemble of flute, clarinet, and piano, Palisades Virtuosi is to be commended for their work on enhancing the repertoire.

Don Walker's second recording for Albany Records features some of his chamber works for mixed ensembles -- ranging from a work for flute, violin, and piano to a piano quartet to larger ensembles such as the last work on the program for flute, bassoon, trumpet, horn, violin, and cello. These compositions also display a range of style with Soul Music containing 12-tone elements combined with a traditional Blues melodic style; to the Piano Quartet where Walker's sense of humor led him to imagine Arnold Schoenberg compositing a twelve-tone piece in honor of John Cage's 100th birthday; to the Divertimento which features a second movement that borrows material from Schubert. Now retired, Don Walker had a distinguished career as a composer, teacher, organist, and archivist.

All of the composers on this recording are associated with the Second New England School of composition centered around Boston in the last few decades of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th. Each joined the emerging trend at that time to present classical-style music, steeped in European technique and training that nevertheless demonstrated an American spirit in terms of text and use of folk or local flavor. Edward MacDowell, the first of this wave of composers, inspired the rest and his contemporary George Chadwick co-led the Second New England movement and taught several of the other composers heard here. The performers include baritone Tod Fitzpatrick, who leads an active and distinguished career as a singer, teacher, and researcher; mezzo Kimberly James, who has performed with the Opera Theater of St. Louis and Santa Fe Opera, among many other credits; soprano Rebecca Sherburn, who is on the faculty at Chapman University and known for her championing of contemporary composers; and pianist Louise Thomas, who is an associate dean at Chapman University.

Women of Valor, an oratorio, is a celebration of women from the Old Testament, inspired by a midrash (biblical commentary) on Proverbs, where each line of the biblical text from Proverbs 31 represents a strong, resourceful woman. Texts for Women of Valor are drawn both from the Bible and from modern poems and prose. Women of Valor highlights the stories of Sarah, Leah, Rachel, Jocheved, Miriam, Hannah, Jael, Michal, Ruth, and Esther. The work was premiered in 2000 by the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony conducted by Noreen Green. Composer Andrea Clearfield's music has been praised by the New York Times for its "graceful tracery and lively, rhythmically vital writing" and the Los Angeles Times for its "fluid and glistening orchestration." Her awards include a Pew Fellowship in the Arts as well as fellowships at the American Academy in Rome, the MacDowell Colony, and the Rockefeller foundation's Bellagio Center, among many others. The Los Angeles Jewish Symphony is the only orchestra outside of Israel dedicated to the performance and preservation of orchestral works of distinction that explore the Jewish experience. Founded in 1994 by Noreen Green the LAJS has presented more than 20 world premieres of works by contemporary Jewish composers.

Heather Gilligan's music has been described as honest, direct, and compassionate while exploring emotions from humor to anguish. Her music has been performed to critical acclaim at the New York Choral Festival, the Washington D.C. International Music Festival, and by the American Modern Ensemble, Lorelei Ensemble, and Arneis String Quartet, among many others. She is on the faculty at Keene State College and a member of the Boston Composers Coalition. She received her DMA in Composition from Boston University and her MM from the Longy School of Music. She also holds a BS in Chemistry from Lehigh University. This recording contains six song cycles -- each set for soprano -- but the instrumentation is varied. Living in Light is scored for soprano and cello; Garden Songs for soprano, trumpet, and piano; Mixed Metaphors for soprano and piano; Winged Reflections for soprano, saxophone, and piano; Battlegrounds for soprano and string quartet; and Finer Points for soprano and percussion.

Louise Toppin has received critical acclaim for her operatic, orchestral, and oratorio performances throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, New Zealand, and the Caribbean. She has appeared in recital on many concert series including Carnegie Recital Hall, Merkin Hall, Kennedy Center, and Lincoln Center. Her discography includes 16 recordings of American music. In addition to her concert career, she serves on the faculty at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.She is joined by fortepianist John O'Brien. They began their collaboration as colleagues at East Carolina University and have performed throughout the country on concert series. This recording gives listeners the opportunity to hear songs—by lesser known and canonic composers alike—as they might have sounded with their original fortepiano accompaniment. La saison des fleurs lets us experience the many-shaded efflorescence of the art song genre anew, when poetry, voice, and piano joined together to create a higher artistic whole.

Violinist and composer Michelle Ross is unique as both a solo artist and collaborative visionary. In 2013, she had her Carnegie Hall debut with Maestro Harry Bicket, and her European debut as both soloist and conductor with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris as part of Play/Direct, in Cité de la Musique. She is the recipient of the 2012 Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund for the Performing and Visual Arts. A noted soloist and chamber musician, Ross is also in demand as guest concertmaster around the world with recent highlights including appearances with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre National du Capitol de Toulouse and the Orchestre d'Auvergne. Ross is the Artistic Director and Founder of Music in the Mountains. A graduate of Juilliard and Columbia, her teachers include Dorothy DeLay and Itzhak Perlman. Ross says that "As a performer, my moments of greatest joy occur when I play Bach. I love to bring this music into unusual settings, allowing an intersection between countless strangers and this infinite plane of beauty Every moment with this music, I learn something new about myself as an artist. One must be completely honest in front of Bach, and bring courage and love to this music."

Acclaimed as an artist of unusual sensitivity and virtuosity, pianist Steven Masi has concertized extensively throughout North America, Europe and Asia. As a recitalist and chamber musician he has appeared at the Aspen Music Festival, Casals Festival, Chattauqua Festival and Music Festival of the Hamptons, and as a guest soloist with orchestras such as the Atlanta Symphony and New Symphony Orchestra of London. Critic Colin Clarke has written about his Beethoven performances: "It is not exaggerating to suggest that Masi belongs with the elite in the late sonatas, providing as satisfying an experience as the likes of Solomon, Kempff, and Pollini, for example." Producer Joseph Patrych comments that "When Mr. Masi approached me with the idea of tackling this set, I was compelled by the maturity and thoughtfulness of his playing in the ones I heard. What you have before you represents the fruit of five years of labor, consideration, discussion and a shared passion for this seminal body of work in the piano literature."

Pianist Thomas Stumpf is fascinated with the concept of time and how it is utilized to make sense of the human condition. We have language and symbols for time and music is one of the most powerful of those symbols. Stumpf has used this 2-CD recording to reveal composers' concepts of time as it appears in their composition. Time as a straight line — time as a circle — time as the tolling of bells — the totality of time. Music exists in the dimension of time, and is one of the deepest and most genuine expressions of the unity of time. Music offers a deeper satisfaction with its inevitability of beginning, middle, and end that unpredictable real life can't. Moments of deep satisfaction can be found in the works chosen for this recording, especially when listened to again and again. Born in Shanghai and raised in Hong Kong, Thomas Stumpf studied at the Mozarteum and the New England Conservatory. His career as a solo and collaborative pianist has spanned four continents and his discography consists of seven compact discs. He was co-founder and Artistic Director of Prism Opera and is the recipient of numerous awards. He has taught at the New England Conservatory, Boston University and UMassLowell and is currently on the faculty of Tufts University.

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.

Saxophonist Adam Estes is on the faculty at the University of Mississippi, where he teaches saxophone and bassoon, coaches woodwind chamber ensembles, and teaches woodwinds methods courses. He is a founding member of the Assembly Quartet and maintains an active performance schedule as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician. His performing career has taken him to venues in Scotland, Ireland, Austria, Switzerland, France, and Belgium. His colleague, Stacy Rodgers is professor of music at the University of Mississippi where he is head of keyboard studies. Estes and Rodgers perform a program of contemporary works for saxophone and piano. The oldest work on the recording is Paul Creston's Sonata, written in 1939. Baljinder Sekhon's Sonata of Puzzles was commissioned by more than 50 saxophonists from 16 countries as part of the inaugural Global Premiere Consortium Commissioning Project and written in 2015. John Leszczynski's Almost Out of the Sky is also a commissioned work, which was written in 2011 at the behest of a consortium of 30 saxophonists. John Anthony Lennon's Distances Within Me was composed in 1979, while Lawson Lunde's Sonata, Op. 12 was written in 1959.

Robert Ward's The Crucible was commissioned by the New York City Opera in 1961 and is based directly on the Arthur Miller play, with the libretto by Bernard Stambler. The play, written in 1953, was inspired by the McCarthy witch-hunt of the 50s. The opera won the Pulitzer Prize and a New York Music Critics Circle Citation. A recording of the opera was released in 1961 and this has been the only existing recording of the work until now. Ward himself expressed his desire to have a modern recording of the work to producer John Ostendorf. Purchase Opera, with its deep roster of fine young professional singers and its collaboration with the Purchase Symphony and conductor Hugh Murphy, proved the right fit for this new recording. Ward systematically employs idiosyncratic harmonic language and melodic motifs to create distinct musical landscapes for each of the opera's characters. These landscapes reveal much about each character, sometimes even more than their words do.

Bruno Skulte (1905-1976) was a talented composer as well as a dynamic conductor and organist. He drew most of his inspiration from the culture of his Latvian homeland even though he lived in Germany and the United States. Skulte left Latvia for Germany when the Soviets invaded in World War II, along with thousands of other Latvian refuges. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1949 and lived the rest of his life there. He was the organist and choir conductor for the Latvian Lutheran Church of New York as well as two other Latvian choirs. He carried on the tradition of Latvian song festivals with hundreds and even several thousand singers on stage. While he never stopped composing, his works were not heard in Latvia during the Soviet occupation as they were deemed too "Latvian." His choral music is sonorous, lyrical, emotional, at times dramatic, and always sincere. The Latvian coloring is created mostly by the lyrics. Skulte used lyrics that seemed to express Latvian sensitivities: love of nature, love of country and other virtues taught by the dainas, the ancient Latvian folk poems. He died in New York, never having been able to revisit his beloved Latvia.

Iranian-American composer Reza Vali has a unique and very personal ethos in that his artistic output attempts to understand the dialogue between the ancients and the moderns. It addresses his conviction that what has been historically and artistically camouflaged can be revealed. Since 2000, Vali has been composing exclusively within the demanding palette of Persian polyphony. The works on this recording include a works for microtonal trumpet and orchestra; songs using Persian folksongs as their inspiration; a work originally written for Persian wind instruments and ensemble, scored for clarinet and ensemble here; and a work for Persian Ney, Kamanche, and orchestra. A member of the faculty at Carnegie Mellon, Vali studied in Iran, at the Academy of Music in Vienna, and the University of Pittsburgh. The recipient of numerous awards and commissions, his music has been performed by some of the most notable orchestras and ensembles in the United States, including the Seattle Symphony, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Da Capo Chamber Players, and the Kronos Quartet, among many others. This is his fourth recording for Albany Records.

Composer Paul Salerni was introduced to the poetry of Dana Gioia by his wife, who also insisted that he set it to music. That setting and all of the subsequent work that he and Gioia have done together have been key to Salerni's compositional voice. This recording presents three works of his and Gioia's that contemplate various aspects of love (filial, familial, marital, aesthetic, erotic, agapic, greedy, etc.). The string quartet included in this recording is more abstract, but a no less meaningful expression of love by Salerni for his family. Salerni, who studied at Harvard, is on the faculty at Lehigh University. His songs and chamber music are widely performed to critical acclaim. The music on this, his second recording for Albany Records, truly sings and dances.

When the planning for this set of recordings first began, the driving concept was to revive interest in the American choral repertoire of the middle of the 20th century as represented by recordings made by the Gregg Smith Singers. With the death of Gregg Smith on July 12, 2016, these recordings also serve as a memorial to the career of a man whose devotion to choral music in general, and especially American choral music "of every time and place," was greater than that of almost any other of his generation. Smith had an uncanny gift for seeking out and nourishing the talent of lesser-known American choral composers—both young and old—showcasing their works through concerts and recordings. Gregg Smith was founder and conductor of the Gregg Smith Singers; conductor of the Long Island Symphonic Choral Association; and composer-in-residence for Saint Peter's Lutheran Church in New York, as well as being an accomplished, prolific composer. No other conductor did as much to raise the standards of choral singing in the second half of the 20th century, or was as influential on other American choral conductors and composers. The full array of mid-twentieth century American choral music is presented here—all coming from the archives of the Gregg Smith Singers.

The Scott/Garrison Duo, clarinetist Shannon Scott and flutist Leonard Garrison, has performed together since 1988, with a long commitment to contemporary American music. They have been featured at many national conferences of the National Flute Association, College Music Society, and National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors. Scott is on the faculty at Washington State University and is principal clarinet of the Walla Walla Symphony and the Eastern Music Festival, while Garrison teaches at the University of Idaho, is flutist in the Northwest Wind Quintet and principal flute of the Walla Walla Symphony. In this, their third recording for Albany Records, the duo performs works by American composers.

During the past 50 years, the marimba has gradually found its place in the concert hall as a solo concert instrument. Through this process, the instrument has experienced a series of major innovations and as a result, there has been a great need for new marimba works that fully capture the musical and technical possibilities of the instrument. The music on this recording is the result of Juan Álamo's ongoing efforts to contribute to the growth and advancement of the marimba as a solo concert instrument. Throughout his career, he has commissioned works for the marimba as well as writing for the instrument himself, so this collection of his music as well as others vibrantly demonstrates the beauty and warmth of this ancient instrument. Juan Álamo, on the faculty at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill is an internationally known performer, composer, and educator. A graduate of Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music and the University of North Texas, he has presented solo recitals at universities and percussion and jazz festivals throughout the United States, Europe, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. He is the author of Four Mallet Music for the Modern Marimba Player and

Just as a textilist weaves threads into a tapestry, a composer crafts a collage of timbres, rhythms and silence into a soundscape. Owning a fascination with creators and their art, distinguished flutist Jan Vinci has dedicated much of her career to commissioning composers and documenting their new works in performance and recordings. And, to give listeners a perspective, she has presented these works alongside classic flute literature. This cd highlights new and old works by some composers that Vinci most esteems. They are all Americans. First Prizewinner of England's International Electric Music Performance Competition and recipient of a Classical Recording Foundation Award, Jan Vinci has enjoyed an international career performing in famous venues in the U.S. and Europe. On the faculty at Skidmore, Vinci has served as president of the New York Flute Club and often presents master classes at colleges and flute festivals. This is her fourth recording for Albany Records.

Clarinetist David Odom has a thriving career as a soloist, chamber artist, orchestral musician, and educator. He has performed on four continents including in Brazil at the Festival Internacional de Música de Campina Grande and the ICA ClarinetFest in Spain. His performances have been featured on radio and television. He is principal clarinet of the Atlanta Opera Orchestra and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and is on the faculty at Auburn University. His collaborator, pianist Jeremy Samolesky, is also on the faculty at Auburn and has performed throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. Odom notes that Max Reger was inspired to write for clarinet after hearing a performance in early 1900 of Brahms' F Minor Sonata given by clarinetist Johann Kürmeyer and his former teacher Adalbert Lindner. He promptly composed the two sonatas in the spring of that year and gave a private performance of both with Kürmeyer. The recording concludes with two short works and these, along with the sonatas, comprise Reger's complete oeuvre for clarinet and piano.

This recording of Gregg Smith's works for voice and instruments honors the life and work of this incomparable choral conductor and composer. Smith, who died in July, 2016, was one of the most influential leaders of the American choral movement and championed the music of American composers throughout his long career. His professional chorus, the Gregg Smith Singers, is world-renowned. Gregg Smith himself was also an important American composer, whose works deserve to be better known. The soprano Eileen Clark, who first met Smith more than 25 years ago, has spent several years going through manuscripts and deciding which of his works for voice and instrument to include on this recording. They are all major works that belong in the canon of American art song. Ms. Clark, a member of the Gregg Smith Singers, has an impressive list of performances with opera companies and festivals throughout the United States. Her singing has been described by the New York Times as "a knockout" for her interpretation of Gershwin and Porter, and "shining, confident" for her rendering of Krenek's Kantate. She is joined by colleagues Thomas Schmidt, piano; Ari Streisfeld, violin; and Evan Ziporyn, clarinet.

The New York New Music Ensemble's recording presents three of Lukas Foss's three best chamber works in reverse chronological order of composition. The recording opens with Tashi (1986), working its way backwards through Solo Observed (1982), and concludes with Echoi (1961-63). This presentation allows listeners to enjoy a musical narrative that begins at the end, with a work that represents the culmination of more than 40 years of compositional inquiry. The significance of Tashi's assimilation of stylistic elements is then understood retrospectively through the other two works, each more strongly associated with forward-looking compositional techniques than the last. Foss himself, who as a conductor was known for his innovative programming, would undoubtedly have appreciated this approach to the recording of his music. These three works provide an effective overview of Foss's eclectic compositional style and insight into his aesthetic and expressive motivation. The acclaimed New York New Music Ensemble has commissioned, performed, recorded, taught, and fiercely advocated for the music of our time, achieving international acclaim in its endeavors. The NYNME has more than 25 recordings to its credit and has commissioned and premiered more than 130 works by some of America's most distinguished composers.

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.

Pianist Mirian Conti reflects on the joys of her own childhood and her reasons for making this recording of music written about children: "As we travel around the world, the sounds, images, colors, smells, and first emotions are experienced by children pretty much in the same way in every corner of the planet. The composers represented in this recording, coming from six different countries, no doubt experienced their lives as children, and also looked back at that life as adults. The compositions here are about children, not for, children Their music is about remembering those first feelings of awe, wonder, fear, desire, and the many doubts about the immediate future the sounds of our music are strongly engraved in our genetic makeup -- the lullabies, the popular songs of our times, or the songs at school The collective songs and dances of a culture learned as a child are part of that child's musical DNA." Born in Argentina, Mirian Conti is a graduate of Juilliard and a Yamaha Artist. She has served on the Faculty of the Evening Division at The Juilliard School since 2007. She is a prolific recording artist who has recordings on the Island, Albany, Koch, Toccata, XLNT, Parnassus, and Steinway labels. As a soloist, she has appeared around the world with many orchestras and is a much sought after juror for international competitions. Among her most recent awards is the Isaac Albeniz Medal.

This recording contains a representative collection of composer Gary Smart's small chamber music works. Strings, winds, percussion, and piano are used in various groupings -- some traditional, some not. Smart's tendncy is to make use of American rhythms and stylistic genstures, but other influences can be heard as well. Quite a diverse set of compositions, but the majority of them center on the clarinet, inspired by the composer's friendship with Guy Yehuda. A unique musician -- composer-pianist Gary Smart writes music that reflects an abiding interest in Americana, world musics and jazz, as well as the Western classical tradition. This is the fifth recording of his music to appear on the Albany Records label.

Jerome Kern's 1920 Broadway hit, a Rags-to-Riches "Cinderella" musical, was created for Ziegfeld Follies star Marilyn Miller with book and lyrics by Guy Bolton, P.G. Wodehouse and others, is offered in a CD premiere recording, featuring the cast and ensemble of Light Opera of New York with Gerald Steichen, conductor.

The conception of this recording, Veiled Light, was inspired by the desire to advance the male choral art through superb repertoire written in the 21st century. This innovative and ambitious recording features 13 works by living composers, capturing a wide range of artistry and musical emotions with great spirit, sensitivity, and sincerity. Five works were specifically written for the Miami University Men's Glee Club in its mission to promote and foster the creation and development of new choral works for male choir. Founded in 1907, the Miami University Men's Glee Club has maintained a tradition of musical excellence throughout its storied history. For more than a century, the Glee Club has presented concerts to countless audiences on their campus, around the state, nation, and world. They have toured internationally, performing in Belgium, England, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, and Wales. Conductor Jeremy D. Jones has led the Glee Club in performances at the American Choral Directors Association Central Division Conference as well as several Intercollegiate Men's Choruses National Seminars. The Glee Club was awarded first place and overall grand champion awards at the Concours Européen de Chant Choral in Luxembourg in 2014.

Composer, flutist and now harpist Gary Schocker has written more than 125 works for the harp -- surely a record for a contemporary composer. The esteemed harpist Emily Mitchell has been an advocate, performer, and champion of Schocker's music from the beginning. As she says, "He writes for the harp as a singing instrument, not unlike the flute. Instead of busily accompanying, or traditional right hand melody, left hand harmony, both hands shape the line." The works on this recording were composed between 1993 and 2010 and represent more than 25 years of collaboration between composer and harpist -- a fruitful collaboration that has so far produced four discs. This recording, re-released on Albany Records, now brings all recordings of Gary Schocker's harp music on one label: two discs of his Christmas music for harp; Changes, released in 2016, and now Garden in Path.

Bonhoeffer was conceived as a concert work in a theatrical context by composer Thomas Lloyd. Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) was one of the most influential Christian theologians of the 20th Century. He returned to Germany from the United States to become an active leader of the Confessing Church, which actively resisted the capitulation of the establishment Lutheran and Catholic churches to the fascist leadership of Adolf Hilter. He was involved in the unsuccessful plot to assassinate Hitler and suffered imprisonment and death, being hanged at Flossenbürg Concentration Camp a few weeks before Germany's surrender. He fell in love with Maria von Wedemeyer and was engaged to her shortly before his arrest. The text for Bonhoeffer is adapted from the writings of both Bonhoeffer and von Wedemeyer. Thomas Lloyd is on the faculty at Haverford College; the artistic director of the Bucks County Choral Society; and director of music at the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral. His music has been performed by many choirs — professional, collegiate, community, and high school. The Crossing is a professional chamber choir based in Philadelphia conducted by Donald Nally and dedicated to the commissioning and performance of new music. They have collaborated with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; the International Contemporary Ensemble, Bang on a Can, and the American Composers Orchestra, among many others. They premiered John Luther Adams' Sila: the breath of the world in collaboration with the Mostly Mozart Festival in 2014. Their discography includes six recordings and they have been hailed in reviews as "superb" (New York Times) and "ardently angelic" (The Los Angeles Times). Under conductor Donald Nally's leadership, The Crossing has commissioned and premiered more than 50 works for chorus.

This recording presents seven works for flute by composer John Heiss. The flute is partnered by piano, cello, harp, and chamber orchestra and the compositions span 50 years. While Heiss has primarily composed music for flute, he also has written works for orchestra, voice, chorus, and chamber ensembles. The seven works on this recording comprise an important strand in his output, particularly in the way they trace his compositional development. Heiss studied at Lehigh University, Columbia and Princeton. He has taught at the New England Conservatory for almost 50 years, directing the NEC contemporary ensemble as well as teaching composition, flute, and music history. Flutist Fenwick Smith was a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra's flute section from 1978 to 2006 and a member of the New England Conservatory faculty from 1982 until 2012. A long-time member of Boston Musica Viva, his lifetime achievements as a flutist are legendary. Smith and Heiss have enjoyed a lifelong collaboration and this recording is a fitting encomium to their long and productive musical partnership.

Born in 1941, composer Don Walker attended Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, where he completed his PhD and was the recipient of the Ladd Prix de Paris in Musical Composition in 1966-1968. He also received degrees in library science and history. Walker taught at Sonoma State University as well as at the University of South Florida, and Oregon State; was a church organist; and worked as archivist at the University of the Pacific where he was project archivist for the beginnings of the Dave Brubeck Collection. Walker has written symphonies, operas, chamber music, solo instrumental music and vocal works. He has always loved and had an affinity for Emily Dickinson's poetry, valuing its fresh insights, unique imagery, and depth of feeling. Walker has created a number of cycles of songs using her poetry, most of them focused on nature, love, religion, and death and this recording features these songs. Soprano Ann Moss is a graduate of the Longy School of Music and the San Francisco Conservatory. A champion of contemporary vocal music, she has commissioned and premiered more than 80 art songs, vocal chamber music, and operatic roles. She is joined on this recording by pianist Karen Rosenak, a long-time member of the Empyrean Ensemble and a founding member of Earplay, a San Francisco-based new music ensemble.

This recording celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Pro Arte Quartet -- the oldest string quartet continuously in existence and the first university-ensemble residency in the United States -- plus the dramatic story of how a prominent European quartet became an American one. Founded in Belgium in 1912, the Pro Arte Quartet became stranded while on tour in Madison, Wisconsin in 1940 when the Nazis invaded their country. The University of Wisconsin offered this quartet in exile a permanent home at the university, where it has remained ever since. Six new chamber works were commissioned to celebrate this occasion -- now all available on compact disc. This disc contains String Quartet No. 3 by Benoît Mernier (b. 1964), the leading Belgian composer of his generation and Pierre Jalbert's (b. 1967) work for clarinet and string quartet. Jalbert is the recipient of many awards, including the BBC Masterprize and teaches composition at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. Mernier, also the recipient of commissions and awards, is also a virtuoso organist. He was inducted into the Royal Academy of Belgium in 2007.