Catalog

Theodor Berger was born in the village of Traismauer-on-the-Danube on May 18, 1905. He was a pupil of Franz Schmidt at the Academy of Music in Vienna. His compositions include a number of works for large orchestra, chorus, string quartet and music for radio, television and film. His style and technique vary according to the nature of the individual work at hand. The titles of his compositions are almost always organic, conveying the nature of each work with clarity. One of his works, Malinconia, written in 1933, brought admiration from Richard Strauss. The list of conductors who promoted Berger's music includes Furtwängler, Kleiber, Krips, Ormandy and Steinberg. However, this recording is the only one of his music that is available today. This compact disc presents the first recordings of the orchestral compositions of Miguel Del Aguila. Born in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1957, Del Aguila moved to the United States in 1978 and studied at the San Francisco Conservatory and in Vienna where he has lived since 1982. The rhythmic propulsiveness in much of Del Aguila's music derives from Latin American sources. Another influence is American blues. Beyond these influences, there is a very personal sense of drama in his music, which is partly the result of "programs" or stories of the composer's own devising - which is the case for the works on this recording.

Composer, concert presenter, educator and arts administrator, Theodore Wiprud has played many important roles in American musical life since the 1980s. His ongoing work with musicians, students, and communities -- currently as Director of Education at the New York Philharmonic and host of the Philharmonic's Young People's Concerts -- corresponds with music described as "rewarding to perform," "warmly received by audiences," and "destined to set a high standard." Theodore Wiprud came of age as a composer as the rigorous precepts of both serialism and classic minimalism yielded to a flowering of musical plurality. His works characteristically employ a freely tonal approach to harmony, convey specific emotional climates, and often reflect aspects of spiritual experience. This is the first commercial recording dedicated to his music.

Thoughts and Prayers is an album of tributes that draw upon composer Larry Bell's personal, social, national, and international awareness. The music is drawn from a solemn personal conviction and desire to preserve the lives of others in our memory. It is also a simple act of bearing witness to events that may be all too soon forgotten or too painful to contemplate. Bell offers four works for solo piano interspersed with two works for soprano, cello/viola, and piano. Award-winning composer Larry Bell's music has been commissioned and performed by a distinguished array of musicians, ensembles, and orchestras. He has taught at The Juilliard School, the Boston Conservatory, New England Conservatory, and the Berklee College of Music. He is joined on this recording by mezzo-soprano Jennifer Webb, cellist Sam Ou, pianist Deborah Nemko, and violist David Wallace.

Looking back over the past 100 years, it would seem that the string quartet has been the most popular outlet for contemporary composers' most intimate thoughts. It may have taken longer for the unique blend of violin, piano and cello to catch up in terms of repertoire, but this remarkable disc displays the diverse voices that can be heard in this form. The Finn Segerstam has been best known as an orchestral conductor and a very prolific composer (as of January 2nd of this year, he had composed 173 symphonies). This Trio is a perfect example of the free-flowing, almost improvisational style he calls "free-pulsative." Needless to say, Hans Werner Henze has now achieved status as one of the world's most significant composers, and his early Kammersonate reflects the neo-classical influences of the post-War era. Both Sharafyan and Mansurian are Armenian. Sharafyan's music is rooted in ancient Armenian culture, while Mansurian's approach is in a more personalized, mystical vein. Finally, the Baird Trio's cellist, Jonathon Golove, has contributed a work using material from an opera based on Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest. The Baird Trio, in residence at the University of Buffalo, performs a wide range of repertoire, devoting particular attention to rarely heard and recent original works for their medium. The members believe the piano trio has a significant role to play in 21st century musical life.

It might be said that the composers on this recording represent three aspects of what Gilbert Chase called "Boston Classicism." Each composer had close ties to the musical life of Boston, and in his own way, each composer reflected European classical traditions. Typical of turn-of-the-century ideals, the two American-born composers, Parker and Heilman, studied in Germany, then brought back to New England the romantic European style that was then considered more acceptable than less cultured American styles. Paradoxically, Samuel Adler was born in Germany, but he studied in Boston. Even so, his style is solidly based on European classic techniques, especially on his love of Bach and Handel. The Rawlins Piano Trio was founded in the summer of 1987 at the University of South Dakota and named by the trio in honor of their principal benefactors. The trio has dedicated itself to performing works by American composers, as well as the more traditional piano trio literature. Performing throughout the United States, the Rawlins Piano Trio has been invited to perform for the International Sonneck Society for American Music and continues a very active concert schedule.

This disc is a most interesting family portrait. Aaron is the grandfather. He was born in Siberia, educated partly in Switzerland, and spent all of his creative life in China, where he was fascinated by the music and the culture. He was largely self-taught as a composer and his music represents largely a fusion of Chinese elements - scales, colors, legend - with western instruments and forms. While he lived in China, he supported himself as a bookman and for 15 years was the head of the Shanghai Municipal Library. In 1947, he came to the United States. Long associated with the Portland Youth Philharmonic, Jacob is Aaron's son. He studied with Ernst Toch, Bernard Rogers and Aaron Copland. Today he is a most respected man in the field of classical music, recognized across the nation for the work he had done with young people. Many of his Orchestral students play with the best Orchestras in the country and abroad. David, the son of Jacob, is a composer who was educated at Harvard. He was a timpani player who wanted to conduct. He studied with his father and then at Aspen with Morel and Blomstedt. He also studied at Tanglewood with Schuller, Bernstein and Ozawa. Today, he spends most of his time composing. Daniel is his brother and he is a violist who graduated from Juilliard. He has been principal violist for the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the American Composers Orchestra. Today he is the violist of the American String Quartet. All of the music on this disc has either been composed or arranged for him. So here we have a wonderful portrait of a very remarkable family in music.

It's been nearly a decade since the music of the Common Sense Composers' Collective first surfaced on CD. Their first disc challenged the rarified asceticism of the then still-reigning though waning contemporary music orthodoxy with joyous abandon. Even the disc's cover, featuring eight clearly fun-loving folks, already dented the wall of solemnity that is suggested by the ubiquitous dour tweed-suit mug shots on the covers of many contemporary music recordings. But, ultimately, it was the sheer persuasiveness of the music that crashed down those walls. This group is now entering its second decade and so far has commissioned 62 new works. The pieces contained on this new release were originally written in 1996 in collaboration with the members of the Alternate Currents Performance Ensemble. They are joined on this CD by the New Millennium Ensemble, a mixed sextet of winds, strings, piano and percussion founded in 1990. The mission of all the performers heard on this disc, remains one of collaboration and community. They workshop the compositions through a process one would find more in the dance world than in the classical music world. Many of these works, which began with Common Sense, have found a new home with The New Millennium Ensemble, underlining a new collaborative dynamic and sense of joy in music-making.

Libby Meyer is a composer whose work reflects the natural rhythms and patterns of the world around her. Her music has been commissioned and performed throughout the United States. She has served as composer-in-residence at the Islae Royale National Park and the Visby International Center for Composers. The recipient of numerous awards including the National Endowment for the Arts and the American Composers Forum, she is on the faculty at Michigan Technological University. This recording of her music includes works for vocal ensemble as well as chamber ensembles. Performers on this recording include the Capella Clausura conducted by Amelia LeClair and the Juventas New Music Ensemble.

Born in 1950, composer Tom Flaherty is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including Meet the Composer, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. His music is performed throughout Europe and North America by some of the best known contemporary music ensembles in the United States A graduate of Brandeis, SUNY Stony Brook and the University of Southern California, he currently is on the faculty at Pomona College. An accomplished cellist as well as composer, Flaherty's compositions reflect his love of this instrument. The music on this recording was written over a seven year span and was inspired by his friends, colleagues and family. His compositions juxtapose simple things in interesting ways. Colliding meters, tempos, modes and levels of dissonance permeate his recent music but the performer's experience remains at the forefront.

Several currents in modern music have contributed to the present body of chamber music that includes trombone. Without question, jazz trombonists have influenced composers with their persuasive presence and ear-catching explorations of the trombone's technical and expressive capabilities. Other influences include academia, producing exceptional brass players, and the instrument's affinity for theatricality and offbeat sounds have led to the increasing presence of the trombone in the music of our time. Naturally, with the prominence of such players as Stuart Dempster, John Swallow and Christian Lindberg, major composers have been prompted to write with the trombone in mind. Hence, the remarkably diverse and striking works on this CD. David Gier began his professional career as a member of the Springfield, Massachusetts, Symphony Orchestra and with orchestras and ensembles in the northeast. He currently teaches trombone and brass at the University of Iowa and has been an active performer and clinician at various venues and workshops. Gier's students have been prizewinners in numerous solo competitions and have won trombone positions with many professional ensembles. Before moving to Iowa, Gier served for six years on the faculty of the Baylor University School of Music.

Elizabeth Chang comments that "This selection of composers derives its rationale from my own artistic heritage and the profound artistic and pedagogical influence Leon Kirchner had on me when I was an undergraduate Kirchner, in turn was a student of two of the most influential composers of the twentieth century, Roger Sessions and Arnold Schoenberg." Ms. Chang enjoys a multi-faceted career as performer, teacher, and arts administrator. Her performing career has taken her to more than 20 countries. She is on the faculty at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Pre-College Division of the Juilliard School. She is artistic director and co-founder of the Lighthouse Chamber Players, co-founder of the Five College New Music Festival, the UMass Amherst Bach Festival and Symposium and Musique de Chambre en Val Lamartinien (Burgundy, France). A graduate of Harvard, Ms. Chang was recipient of the Presidential Scholar in the Arts award. She is joined by noted pianist Steven Beck, who shares Ms. Chang's passion for music of our time.

The two programs on this double CD were presented at the Pacific Rim Music Festival in 2003. They were offered as part of the Festival's tribute to Chou Wen-chung in honor of his 80th birthday. What brought these works together is their relationship to Chou Wen-chung. Some were students; some associates and in the case of Varèse, Chou's teacher.

This is the second volume in the Albany Records' series devoted to the music of Stephen Dankner (see TROY067 - Songs of Bygone Days). Dankner's music is highly accessible and very well crafted. He studied with Roger Sessions and Vincent Persichetti. Currently he is the chairman of the Music Department at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, which is an arts preparatory high school. He is also on the faculty of Loyola University's College of Music where he teaches composition and electronic-computer music.

This release contains reissues of the Nonesuch recordings from the mid-seventies. For those who remember these recordings, the sound is every bit as spectacular as it was on the original and the playing is breathtaking. Donald Martino is one of America's most important composers. Notturno for piccolo-flute-alto flute, clarinet-bass clarinet, violin-viola, cello, percussion and piano won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1974. The greatness of Martino's music is the manner in which it assaults the ear and the imagination. This makes it such a challenging listen. Andrew Porter described Pianississimo, Martino's exuberant celebration of pianistic possibilities, as "an enchanted journey, through circles where transfigured shades of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Ravel sometimes glimmer, in a realm at once welcoming and strange." The Triple Concerto for clarinet, bass clarinet and contrabass clarinet with a chamber ensemble of 16 players was composed on a commission from the Group for Contemporary Music and dedicated to the composer Milton Babbitt on the occasion of his 60th birthday. About this piece Mr. Martino has written: "After some months of unproductive effort and frustration, I realized that I was being hindered by a conception of the work which prescribed, if not a full orchestra, at least a substantial string section. Since it was impractical to enlarge the ensemble (The Group for Contemporary Music), I decided to enlarge the soloist. Only then did the drama of the work reveal itself to me and its execution became clear. My plan was to transform the three separate clarinets into "Superclarinet," a six octave gargantuan who would use the concerto as a world in which to romp and play with the superfriends."

Amos Elkana is a multi-award-winning composer whose music has been characterized as original, guided by unique and delicate taste, and radiating a strong sense of honesty. Born in Boston but growing up in Jerusalem, he returned to Boston to study at the Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory. He has also studied at Bard College. His music has been performed all over the world by leading orchestras, ensembles, and soloists. Apart from concert music, Elkana composes for dance and theater. Also and active performer, he participates in concerts and performances of improvised music where he plays the electric guitar and the computer. This recording of his music contrasts a work for large ensemble with works for single instruments, some of which include electronics.

Born in Buenos Aires, Jorge Liderman began his musical studies at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem. In 1988, he received his doctorate in composition from the University of Chicago where he worked with Ralph Shapey and Shulamit Ran. A year later, Liderman joined the composition faculty at the University of California, Berkeley. The composer writes: "Continuity and the lack of continuity have been at the center of my musical thinking for nearly fifteen years. By continuity I mean the presence of a musical fabric woven by one or more musical processes that unfold gradually. This leads the listener, "uninterruptedly," from one harmonic idea to another, from a low to a high register for example, or from a clearly irregular and non-metric rhythmic pattern to a regular and pulsating beat. On the other hand, the lack of continuity shapes itself through the abrupt juxtaposition of sharply contrasting brief musical statements. Here the contrast is created by the juxtaposition of far reaching harmonic areas which could also be different in nature. Trompetas de Plata, a collection of some of my most recent chamber works for strings, percussion and piano, was composed with these ideas in mind."

Composer Jeremy Haladyna has created compositions inspired by his trips to the Mayan region and his research of more than 35 years into Precolumbian thought. His Mayan Cycle now stretches to 37 pieces, some of which are heard on this recording A laureate of the Lili Boulanger Prize, he taught at the University of California Santa Barbara for 29 years and was director of their Ensemble for Contemporary Music. His music has been heard at major venues around the world and his discography includes recorded performances of him as a pianist, conductor, and organist.

This recording of brass and organ music by the noted American composer Larry Bell features Chris Gekker, trumpet, the Cambridge Symphonic Brass Ensemble and Richard Bunbury, organ. Recognized by The Chicago Tribune as "a major talent," Bell has been awarded the Rome Prize, fellowships from the Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundations and the Charles Ives award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, among many others. His music has been commissioned and performed by a distinguished array of performers and has been the subject of documentaries on National Public Radio and Radio Amsterdam.

Born in Poland, composer Jakub Polaczyk graduated from the Penderecki Music Academy, Jagiellonian University, and Carnegie Mellon. He lives in New York City and is on the faculty at the New York Conservatory of Music. His music has won numerous awards, including the American Prize in Composition, and the Iron Composer First Prize. His music has been performed around the world in concert hall and music festivals. This recording features his chamber music, most of which was composed in New York City. Union Square, the title of the recording as well as one of the compositions, is a special place to Polaczyk. He goes there for inspiration, to play chess, and enjoy the intermingling of many cultures. He often describes his compositional approach as playing a game of chess.

This recording commemorates the assassination of President John F. Kennedy through three works. The Julius Quartet, based in Dallas, still sees the remnants of the assassination and its effects throughout the city. Two of the works (One Red Rose and The Sixth Floor) were commissioned in commemoration and the third, Samuel Barber's famous Adagio, was performed on a nationally broadcast radio concert on the day after the assassination. Commended for leaving audiences "mesmerized by its resonant sounds" The Julius Quartet has cultivated a distinguished voice since its formation in 2012. They have performed all over North America and shared in numerous collaborations with celebrated artists. Winners of numerous awards, The Julius Quartet served as ensemble-in-residence at Southern Methodist University and continues an active performance schedule.

Eric Moe, composer of what the New York Times calls "music of winning exuberance," has received numerous ,grants and awards for his work. As a pianist and keyboard player, he has performed works by hundreds of composers, from Anthony Davis to Stefan Wolpe. He was educated at the University of California at Berkeley and at Princeton University. He is currently Professor of Composition and Theory at the University of Pittsburgh, where he directs the graduate program in composition and the department's eclectroacoustic music studio. He is equally skilled at writing and performing new art music. At the core of his "maximal-minimalist" compositional technique is the ability to look at musical material as one would a complex crystal. Although trained and rooted in classical music, Moe's rhythmic and melodic conception draws as much from West Africa and Bud Powell as it does from Stravinsky and Chopin.

Just as we did a few years back with the music of Andrei Eshpai, we now undertake a series of recordings devoted to the music of Boris Tchaikovsky in honor of what would have been his 80th year. The series will contain forgotten masterful performances by famous musicians, some of them now deceased, including recordings from the private archives of the performers as well as brand new world premiere recordings organized by the Boris Tchaikovsky Society in Russia. The perception of contemporary Russian music in the West is currently under revision. The post-Shostakovich era was once thought of as no more than a haven for the avant garde, with names such as Edison Denisov, Alfred Schnittke, and more recently, Sophia Gubaidulina, Galina Ustvolskaya, and others, claiming the limelight. But times are changing. A handful of lesser-known composers whose work stands at a stylistic crossroads between Shostakovich and their more celebrated counterparts are gradually coming into focus. These composers - they include such figures as Mieczeslav Weinberg, Andrei Eshpai, Boris Tishchenko, Georgi Sviridov, Gavriil Popov, Nikolai Peiko, and Revol Bunin - demonstrate that Russian music in the latter half of the 20th century is far richer and more varied than was previously imagined. Included in this distinguished company is Boris Tchaikovsky, hailed by such eminent figures as Shostakovich and Rostropovich as one of the most original voices of his generation (he bears no family relation to his famous 19th century namesake). His work offers an ever-fresh source of lyrical inventiveness and new formal possibilities, written in a contemporary style that embraces beauty, depth of expression, and accessibility. He was trained at the Moscow Conservatory at the worst of times: during Stalin's notorious postwar assault on the arts. To his credit, he refused to take part in the officially authorized tirades against the terrorized Shostakovich, who was banned from the Conservatory at the time, and whose former students, Tchaikovsky being one of them, were branded as "contaminated." He graduated in 1949, not totally unscathed himself, yet having studied under three of the most prominent masters of instrumental music of the time - Shostakovich, Miaskovsky and Shebalin. The cultural thaw of the early 1960s opened many doors for Soviet composers. Tchaikovsky's own artistic development was also in flux. The lyricism that lay at the base of his musical thinking was undergoing profound metamorphosis. That lyricism was progressively becoming couched within a fresh, mosaic style whereby the music's surface is carved into a succession of bold, accentuated utterances. The curious rhythmic rigidity of these utterances - a Tchaikovsky hallmark - is offset by considerable flexibility in the music's other variables, such as increased levels of dissonance and colorful instrumental contrasts. He had now found his own mature voice, which allowed him to create a powerful new language that was distinctly Russian in sound, thoroughly up-to-date, and capable of a wide range of expression. It is the language for all his future compositions and can be heard in this wonderful new CD.

Russian-born pianist Rose Shlyam Grace has collaborated with flutist Katherine Fink, euphonium player Ed Morse, and pianist Kristie Born to record six works by contemporary American composers — all of which have been written since 2000. The works include two solo piano pieces by Gregory Fritze and M. Shawn Hundley; two works for euphonium and piano by Gregory Fritze; a sonata for flute and piano by Philip Wharton; and a piece for two pianos by Zack Browning. Ms. Grace has concertized throughout the U.S. as a soloist and chamber music recitalist. She is a graduate of Oberlin, the University of Chicago and Eastman and is on the faculty at Bethune-Cookman University as well as teaching at Daytona State College.

Wayne Peterson's music is that of a composer who embraces and takes delight in the hands-on process of making music, especially as it relates to the combinations and interactions of various instruments and their sonic possibilities. In a very real sense the musical ideas appear to evolve naturally from these capabilities without in any way being limited by them. As he writes in the program notes for Duodecaphony for viola and cello, "I welcomed the opportunity to address anew the problems of melody, counterpoint, harmony and timbre as they applied to this somewhat restricted choice of strings." A winner of the 1992 Pulitzer Prize in Music for his orchestral work The Face of the Night, the Heart of the Dark, Peterson's music is marked by a wonderful rhythmic fluidity, which derives from his experience as an accomplished jazz pianist. Perhaps most importantly, Wayne Peterson's musical language is at once sophisticated and direct in its approach to the listener; it never compromises its basic integrity. In his hands the instruments are agents of luminous beauty, beckoning us to even deeper aesthetic pleasures. Peterson's music can also be heard on TROY601, 689 and 766.

Victoria Bond is the only woman composer/conductor to receive commissions from major organizations and also hold music director positions with leading ensembles. Her extensive catalog includes works written for the Houston, Shanghai, and Richmond Symphony Orchestras, the Saint Paul and Indianapolis Chamber Orchestras, American Ballet Theater, Pennsylvania Ballet and Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. This recording highlights some of her enchanting music, including Bridges, a work for two clarinets and two Chinese instruments, the Erhu and the Pipa.

This intriguing and ingenious album by Gernot Wolfgang bridges sophisticated Viennese elements with edgier and rawer textures found in more contemporary American works. Wolfgang is taking us on an autobiographical safari with this "groove-oriented" classical album that will be a pleasure for the listener to explore. The compositions are for eclectic chamber groups, beginning with a bassoon-piano opener and concluding with a piano quartet. These many forms reveal the multiplicity of Wolfgang. Described as a "master composer with important things to communicate to his listeners," Gernot Wolfgang was born in Austria in 1957. Currently he lives in Los Angeles where (among many other musical activities) he works as an orchestrator in the film and TV music industry. He has been a lecturer at the University of Music in Graz and offered master classes at numerous universities in the U.S. and Mexico. He has received more than 40 commissions from organizations such as the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Jazz Festival of the European Broadcasting Union, and the Debussy Trio. This is his fourth recording for Albany Records.

America began forging its own cultural identity in the 19th Century with music reflecting a vast array of cultures coming together. By the time the first music conservatory opened in 1865, European classical music had begun to be mingled with music influenced by Native American themes, African-American styles of ragtime and spirituals, Latin American and rural American folk music, and the traditional military band. With Vintage America, Calico Winds showcases these American musical roots. Known for exploring the full palette of tone colors available to the wind quintet, Calico Winds plays "in perfect balance with each other, each [member] contributing lovely tone quality and flawless intonation..." (The Times Herald, Olean, NY) It is with these attributes that Calico Winds brings to life America's rich musical legacy.

William Kraft (b.1923) has had a long and active career as composer, conductor, timpanist/percussionist and teacher. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Santa Barbara and was a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for 26 years, where he also served as composer-in-residence. His music has been performed by major orchestras throughout the United States and he has been commissioned by many distinguished ensembles. This is the sixth disc devoted to his music on Albany Records.

Inspired by a work for viola and clarinet by Rebecca Clarke, clarinetist Elizabeth Crawford and violist Katrin Meidell formed Violet and began working on expanding the literature for this sorely underrepresented genre of classical chamber music. All the works on this recording were written for their duo. Since its inception in 2015, Violet's efforts have produced more than 100 new compositions. Elizabeth Crawford is on the faculty at Ball State University. Prior to this appointment, she was a member of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. She has performed and taught at festivals around the world and has transcribed a number of works for E-flat clarinet. Her recording of music for this instrument appears on the Albany Records label. Violist Katrin Meidell enjoys a prolific career as a performer, pedagogue, and lecturer, traveling around the world to perform and present. She is on the faculty of Columbus State University.

Horn soloist Eric Ruske has established himself as an artist of international acclaim. Named associate principal horn of the Cleveland Orchestra at the age of 20, his impressive solo career began when he won the 1986 Young Concert Artists International Audition at 22. In 1987, he won the first prize in the American Horn Competition, and in 1988, the highest prize in the Concours International d'Interpretation Musicale in Reims, France. Mr. Ruske gave the 1990 world premiere of Gunther Schuller's Concerto for Horn and Orchestra with the San Antonio Symphony with Mr. Schuller conducting. He has performed as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Milwaukee Symphony and the Boston Pops. Mr. Ruske was educated in his native Croatia and at Juilliard and the Curtis Institute.

"Inspired", says the San Francisco Chronicle of flutist Barbara Leibundguth. Former Co-Principal Flutist of the Minnesota Orchestra, Ms. Leibundguth also wins praise from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: "Bright, gleaming tone...evocative...both stylish and adroit." One of the finest flutists of her generation, Ms. Leibundguth was invited by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as well as by the major orchestras of Atlanta and Houston, to appear as guest solo flutist. She has also held principal positions with the San Francisco Symphony, the Chicago Opera Theater, and the Omaha Symphony. As a soloist and chamber musician, Ms. Leibundguth has performed at the Marlboro, Grand Teton, and Blossom Music Festivals, and in her hometown of Chicago on the Dame Myra Hess Recital Series. Ms. Leibundguth and award-winning composer/pianist Carl Witt have worked together since 1994, and their musical chemistry creates electric, intelligent performances. In 2002, they received a $25,000 McKnight Performing Artist prize. Visionary Duos was recorded in the world-renowned acoustical space of Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis. This CD presents a collection of passionate and beautifully crafted works, featuring virtuoso counterpoint, radiant melodies, bracing intensity, jazz riffs, and gypsy flair. Here we have an intriguing and expansive view of flute music in the 20th century.

This recording seeks to celebrate the eclectic American music of the recent past. In 1994 John Sampen and Marilyn Shrude initiated a commissioning project designed to represent this diversity. Seven major American composers were invited to contribute "postcard pieces" highlighting their unique musical styles. The resulting collection, which comprises an interchangeable suite for saxophone and piano, demonstrates serialism, aleatory, improvisation, and a variety of other musical languages, styles and genres. In addition to the postcard pieces, this compact disc includes five works complimenting the musical and cultural melange of late 20th century America. Internationally-recognized saxophonist John Sampen has premiered more than 60 works, including commissions by Rands, Subotnick, Cage, Adler and Babbitt. A clinician for the Selmer Company, Sampen has presented master classes at important universities and conservatories in Asia, Europe and North America. Dr. Sampen is presently Distinguished Artist Professor at Bowling Green State University and president of the North American Saxophone Alliance.