Catalog

The compositions on this album represent more than 20 years of creative collaboration between composer Victoria Bond and pianist Paul Barnes. It began in 1999 with the recording of Black Light when Barnes first introduced Bond to the communion hymn Potirion Sotiriu. That started an exploration of three distinctive Byzantine chants. The two piano concertos were recorded earlier and are re-released here. All of these works are related to each other in that they are about the mystical quality of light. Victoria Bond leads a multifaceted career as composer, conductor, lecturer, and artistic director of Cutting Edge Concerts. Her works have been performed around the world and her recordings appear on numerous labels including Albany Records and Naxos. Pianist Paul Barnes continues to electrify audiences with his intensely expressive playing and cutting-edge programming.

This recording reflects aspects of a mutual intersection and continual development between pianist David Holzman and composer James Ricci, touching upon both musical and personal connections over the course of a lifetime. They shared similar musical backgrounds and experiences, but didn't know each other personally until 2015 and began a formal collaboration. Holzman has premiered the majority of Ricci's works on this disc. James Ricci studied at the Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory and Brandeis University. His music has been performed by soloists and chamber ensembles, including Kenneth Radnofsky, the Lydian String Quartet, Collage New Music, and Solar Winds, among many others. David Holzman has been hailed as a "master pianist" and is the recipient of numerous honors and awards. He is an advocate for music of the 20th and 21st centuries and is especially noted for his performances of the music of Stefan Wolpe. A graduate of Mannes College of Music and Queens College, he is on the faculty at C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University.

Pianist Rochelle Sennet says that “Bach to Black represents my strong interest in performing repertoire by Black composers in combination with works of J.S. Bach. The suites included on this recording represent beauty, excellence, contrast, celebration of dance style, and dialogue.” She has paired the English Suites of Bach with works by Black composers based on similarities in key, mode, rhythmic energy, and occasional disruption of tonal expectations. Dr. Rochelle Sennet has established herself as a well-known performer, teacher, and scholar. A graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory, the University of Michigan, and Texas Christian University, she received her DMA from the University of Illinois. She has been a prize winner in numerous competitions including the Kingsville International Piano competition, and the US Open Music Piano Concerto competition, among other. She is on the faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This is her fourth recording for Albany Records.

Jeremy Reynolds has recorded the complete works of David Maslanka for clarinet. The 2-CD set includes world premiere recordings of Fourth Piece, Eternal Garden, Trio No. 1, Trio No. 3, and Images from the "Old Gringo." David Maslanka, who died in 2017, was not only a noted composer, but much loved and admired, particularly by wind and brass players. This recording project, which began in 2008, had the benefit of countless hours of collaboration between Maslanka and the musicians. Hailed as a "wizard of sound" Jeremy Reynolds is on the faculty at the University of Denver Lamont School of Music and is associate principal clarinet of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic. He has performed on six continents, making his Carnegie Hall Debut in 2015 and has concertized extensively around the world. His collaborators include pianist Heidi Brende Leathwood, violinist Yumi Hwang-Williams, and violist Basil Vendryes — all of whom are on the faculty of the Lamont School of Music. An interview with Matthew Maslanka can be found on YouTube: https://youtu.be/MI667gKMHDU.

Harpist Elisabeth Remy Johnson offers works for harp by women composers from the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. In her introduction, Remy Johnson points out that the title, Quest, is drawn from the composition, Quest by Niloufar Nourbakhsh, whose inspiration for her piece perfectly fit the mission of this recording, which is to expand the harp repertoire by finding and arranging works by women. Principal harpist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for more than 20 years, Ms. Remy Johnson is acclaimed by critics and audiences for her "complete mastery of the harp and its secrets." In addition to her orchestral works, Ms. Remy Johnson has an active career as a soloist and chamber musician, performing across North America and throughout the world. The recipient of numerous awards and prizes, including first place in the American Harp Society and American String Teachers Association competitions, she is a graduate of Harvard.

The subtitle of this recording, Singing Style - cantabile expressions from the Baroque to present - gives the listener a good idea of what to expect. As pianist Bruce Leto, Jr. says, "Every piece of music has a story - whether tonally, modally, or motivically. Singing Style is an album derived as much from compositional cantabile sensibilities as from the art of song Singing Style takes the listener through compositional passages, vocal/piano arrangements, and humanitarian calls to action." Bruce Leto, Jr. has been a prize-winner in scholastic, collegiate, national, and international piano competitions, including the Young Artist Division of the Canadian International Music Competition, the Seattle International Piano Festival - Virtuoso Artists 20, and the Grand Metropolitan International Music Competition, among many others. A graduate of Haverford College and New York University, he is now working on an MBA at Villanova.

Michael Pendowski joins with pianist Jeremy Samolesky in a recording of works for alto saxophone. The repertoire features music that is jazz or jazz-inspired, reflecting Pendowski's personal interests. A director of the jazz program at Auburn, Dr. Pendowski is also an assistant professor of saxophone. He has taught at Eastman, Northwestern University, and DePaul, among other schools. He is a graduate of Eastman and Northwestern. He is a prominent composer in the educational field, having published dozens of jazz and classical compositions, encompassing the full spectrum from professional ensembles and high schools and universities. He has been a clinician throughout the country and in South America and has conducted and taught at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. Also on the faculty at Auburn, Jeremy Samolesky has appeared on concert stages across four continents. He performs and teaches regularly at universities and conservatories around the world.

There are few pre-1900 examples of violin and piano sonatas by American composers. The most celebrated are ones by Amy Beach and Arthur Foote. Less familiar is one by Rubin Goldmark from the same period and an even more rare work is a sonata by Alexander Reinagle dating from the 1790s. Violinist Ting-Lan Chen and pianist Nathan Buckner perform these two rarely heard sonatas on this recording. Chen, a Taiwan native, has performed around the world as a soloist and recitalist, including appearances at the White House and United Nations. A graduate of Taipei National University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, she is on the faculty at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. Nathan Buckner, also on the faculty at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, studied at Juilliard, Indiana University, and the University of Maryland. He has performed in major venues throughout the United States, as well as in Belarus, China, England, and Mexico, among many others.

Roque Cordero is universally acknowledged as Panama's finest composer. He was, in addition, an impassioned educator, writer, and conductor whose accomplishments were honored with numerous awards and commissions. His frequent and enthusiastic participation in international music festivals and organizations gave him a prominent place in the community of Latin American composers during the second half of the 20th century. Cordero's output comprises more than 80 compositions, the majority for chamber ensemble or orchestra. Vietnamese-American pianist Tuyen Tonnu offers Cordero's complete output for solo piano on this 2-CD set. She is known for her sensitive command of timbral color, singing lyricism, and striking style. She has graced the world's stages with solo and chamber music concerts in the U.S. as well as Asia and Europe. Dr. Tonnu is on the faculty at Illinois State University.

Violins of Hope is an artistic and educational project composed of instruments that were owned by Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust. Violins in the collection were played in the concentration camps and ghettos, providing a source of comfort for some and a means of survival for others. Above all, the instruments represented strength and optimism for the future during mankind's darkest hour. The project was founded by Amnon and Avshalom Weinstein, Israeli luthiers who collect and refurbish the instruments and bring them to communities around the world. Violinist Niv Ashkenazi was invited to join other musicians performing on instruments from this collection and now holds one of the instruments on a long-term loan. This violin, made between 1900-1929 in Eastern Europe or Germany, was used by Ashkenazi for this recording. Ashkenazi has chosen Jewish repertoire from throughout the lifetime of the violin. Like the instruments in the Violins of Hope collection, most of these composers were affected by the Holocaust. Virtuoso violinist Niv Ashkenazi has captivated audiences with his heartfelt musicianship and emotional performances. An accomplished soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician, he has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School. Pianist Matthew Graybil has performed throughout the United States and Canada since making his orchestral debut at age 14. The recipient of numerous awards and prizes, he is a graduate of The Juilliard School.

This recording covers more than 60 years of compositions and contains some of the very best French music for bassoon and piano. All but two of the composers were born in France and the two that were not (Tansman and Mihalovici) were profoundly influenced by French music and lived the majority of their lives in France. Bassooist Timothy McGovern is on the faculty at the University of Illinois, in addition to serviing as principal basson of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Illinois Chamber Orchestra, Champaign-Urbana Sympony Orchestra, as well as being a member of the Prairie Winds Woodwind Quintet. The receipient of numerous awards and honors, McGovern's discography includes more than 30 recordings of orchestral, chamber music, and solo repertoire. Pianist Cara Chowning is on the faculty at Ball State University and has a very active career as a pianist and music director.

Composer/pianist Grigor Khachatryan is an Armenian-American who was born and raised in the post-Soviet Union Armenia. He was taught from childhood that life holds no meaning without freedom. Both of his piano sonatas are based on stories that honor men and women who have given their lives to preserve human freedom and elevate the value of human life. Khachatryan came to the United States as a teenager, living in Bedford, Indiana where he finished high school, taking piano lessons at Indiana University at the same time. He went on to do his undergraduate and graduate work there, completing a Doctorate degree in Piano Performance. A winner of many awards and competitions, Khachatryan is active as a concert artist and composer. He is on the faculty at Concordia College, Moorhead.

Violinist Martha Walvoord and double bass player Jack Unzicker are both on the faculty at the University of Texas at Arlington with notable performing and teaching careers. This recording of new works for violin and double bass has as its centerpiece Michael Daugherty's The Diaries of Adam and Eve. The work was inspired by a novella of the same name by Mark Twain, which was published in 1906. Divided into seven movements, the music animates Twain's witty reimagining of the biblical tale of the first woman and man to inhabit the earth and the Garden of Eden. Other works written by George B, Chave, Andrea Clearfield, Tom Knific, and Daniel M. Cavanagh round out this program of new music for this unusual ensemble.

Ori Barel is an inquisitive composer who works in a variety of mediums and styles. Barel works extensively with electronics, specializing in both electro-acoustic and electronic music. His electronic works combine algorithmic technique with an intuitie musical approach. He is a graduate of UCLA, the California Institute of the Arts and the University of California. Centrifugal Force is inspired primarily by robotic art. Barel has created a piece that explores aspects of our culture using elements of traditional and free jazz as well as silent film music, culminating in a musical fusion of today's technological world with pieces of the past. The use of a player piano means that rhythms and tempos can be used that would be impossible to be played accurately by a performer.

Heidi Louise Williams performs piano sonatas by American composers with the oldest work written in 1919 and the most recent in 1991. Charles Tomlinson Griffes, George Walker, Carlisle Floyd, and Samuel Barber all used their art to explore imponderable realities that could be more fully accessed within the realm of music. These artists absorbed a variety of musical languages into their own, foreshadowing, in many cases, the postmodernist aesthetic of stylistic coexistence. From Walker's inclusion of folk tunes to Barber's gripping sincerity, from Floyd's devotion to human narratives to Griffes' persuasive fusion of styles, these works rely in some way or another on the power of human empathy, nobly representing the United States as an essentially diverse nation. Praised by critics, pianist Heidi Louise Williams has appeared in solo and collaborative performances across North America and internationally, having won numerous awards. A graduate of Peabody, she is on the faculty at Florida State University. This is her second solo album for Albany Records.

Critically acclaimed clarinetist Christopher Nichols has recorded a cd of some of his favorite individual and consortium commissioning project, which are core pieces of his repertoire. In addition to works for clarinet and piano, there is a composition for woodwind quartet and one for countertenor, clarinet, and piano. Nichols is on the faculty at the University of Delaware. He performs regularly with orchestras such as the Pennsylvania Philharmonic, the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, and the Allentown Symphony Orchestra. He has performed as a soloist at national and international conferences and in 2015, was recognized with an Established Artist Fellowship from the Delaware Division of the Arts. His collaborators include pianist Julie Nishimura, who is also on the faculty at the University of Delaware; countertenor Augustine Mercante, who performs to great critical acclaim; composer/pianist Jennifer Margaret Barker; and the Christiana Winds.

American composer Byron O'Keefe's second recording for Albany Records is a disc of his music for piano. The composer says that "These pieces, with one exception, were composed over a ten year period between 2009 and 2019. While they obviously show the influence of Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, and other composers of that era, I would hope that a certain quality peers through them so that the listener, whether hearing them with 19th century ears, or through more modern sensibilities, would tend to want to say something along the lines of ‘that sounds American'." The pianist is Kateryna Ulezko, a 2007 graduate of the Tchaikovsky National Academy in Kiev.

The compositions on this album range from little-known miniatures to two of the most revered sonatas in the repertoire. From virtuosic flights of fancy to quiet reflection, they explore the gamut of expressive possibilities that the combination of cello and piano has to offer. Cellist Jameson Platte maintains an active career as a performer and teacher. He is principal cellist of The Orchestra of Northern New York, Chelsea Opera, and Bachanalia Virtuosi, among others. On the faculty at Skidmore, Platte works extensively as a clinician, guest conductor, and cello coach. Pianist/composer Matthew Quayle is on the faculty at NYU Abu Dhabi. He has performed widely as a solo pianist and chamber musician and he has received commissions from numerous orchestras and chamber ensembles. This is his second recording for Albany Records.

Oboist Dan Willett can't resist transcribing works written for other instruments for the oboe and this recording is a testament to not only his transcription abilities but also to his fine performances of repertoire not originally intended for oboe. Three works by Mozart, Grieg, and Prokofiev make up this recording — the Mozart and Grieg originally written for violin and the Prokofiev for flute. Willett is a professor at the University of Missouri School of Music. In addition to frequent solo and chamber recitals, Willett has performed with numerous orchestras and at festivals. His collaborator is Natalia Bolshakova, who enjoys and active performing career.

The title of this recording -- Bridges -- implies connections. The bridges invoked on this disc are a series of personal and musical connections between five composers that lead from the 19th century piano virtuoso Chopin to 20th century tango master Piazzolla -- links from mentor to student through five generations: Chopin; Mathias; Williams; Ginastera; Piazzolla. All five composers were immigrants, literally and/or musically, so underlying the repertoire on this disc is the free exchange of ideas that come from travel and immigration. This program has been selected by Rosa Antonelli, a pianist who has championed repertoire from Latin America, particularly from her homeland of Argentina -- often resurrecting little-known jewels. Antonelli, a Steinway Artist since 1998, is one of today's leading performers, who has toured extensively, with more than 1,000 concerts in Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and North America to her credit. Her three previous recordings on Albany Records have received rave reviews from critics.

Pianist James Adler has recorded a recital that pays homage to people who have been great influences and offers musical remembrances of important people in his life. The longest work on the program, Pictures at an Exhibition is dedicated to his mother and his aunt, both of whom encouraged him in his pursuit of music. James Adler is a pianist who "can create whatever type of music he wants at the keyboard" (Chicago Sun-Times) and a composer who writes "with uncommon imagination" (Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Mr. Adler made his orchestral performing debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and has appeared in recital at famous venues around the world. His discography includes recordings on the Albany, Capstone, Navona, and Ravello record labels.

Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909) created some of the most popular and enduring pianistic portraits of his native Spain. His masterpiece was Iberia, a collection of 12 substantial pieces divided into four books. Technically challenging and structurally complex, Iberia is a monument in the piano repertoire. Pianist and Albéniz scholar Pola Baytelman teams up with musicologist and Albéniz biographer Walter Aaron Clark to present the only documentary on this magisterial work. Combining brilliant performances with lucid explanations of the music itself, it takes the viewer on a voyage through time and space to the Spain of Albéniz's Romantic imagination. In addition to this Blu-Ray video, an audio CD is included of Baytelman performing works for piano by Albéniz, including excerpts from Iberia. Acclaimed pianist Pola Baytelman is also highly respected as an educator, having taught master classes in China, England, Hong Kong, India and throughout the United States, including being featured at the 9th International Symposium on Spanish Keyboard Music. Dr. Walter Aaron Clark is Distinguished Professor of Musicology at the University of California, Riverdale, where he is the found/director of the Center for Iberian and Latin American Music.

Commissioned by acclaimed cellist Jonathan Miller, this digital only recording of Judith Weir's Three Chorales for cello and piano is a world premiere. Weir is a London-based composer of Scottish ancestry who occupies a central position in the UK's most august musical circles. Of the Three Chorales, Weir sasy that these three pieces for cello and piano are meditations—personal, secular and musical—on images from religious poetry. Jonathan Miller is a member of hte Boston Symphony Orchestra and has performed as soloist with numerous orchestras including the Boston Pops and Hartford Symphony Orchestra. He is the founder and artistic director of the Boston Artists Ensemble. He is joined on this recording by pianist Randall Hodgkinson, who has an international career as a concerto soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician.

Composer Robert Muczynski (1929-2010) garnered national and international recognition for his compositions, which have been heard throughout the world. Muczynski studied composition at DePaul University with Alexander Tcherepnin, crediting Tcherepnin for inspiring his career. He performed his first Piano Concerto with the Chicago Symphony in 1958 and was a noted film composer. He became composer-in-residence at the University of Arizona in 1965, where he spent the remainder of his professional career. Some may call Muczynski's music traditionalist or conventional, but there is no arguing his music is truly authentic, expressive, invigorating, and meticulously crafted. Pianist Zachary Lopes offers the first recording of his piano sonatas since the composer's own recording done in 2000. Lopes is an active soloist and collaborative artist and has given performance and master-classes across the U.S., South America, and Europe. He has held teaching positions at Wittenberg University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and serves as President of the Kentucky Music Teachers Association. He studied at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is on the faculty at Western Kentucky University.

This recording celebrates and commemorates 60 years of the deepest friendship between pianists Joseph Fennimore and Gordon Hibberd, with 16 four-hand waltzes performed by both as well as sonatas performed by composer/pianist Joseph Fennimore. The waltz recordings were made during the 1990s on three different occasions at three different locations and the Sonatas and Sonatinas during the 1960s. Both Fennimore and Hibberd received degrees from Eastman. They lived in New York City pursuing their careers until the 1980s when they relocated to New York's Capital District. This will be the 10th recording released by Albany Records of the music of Joseph Fennimore whose music has been called " a disarming mix of spare lyricism, poignancy and gently nose thumbing irreverence "

Jeffrey Rathbun has served as assistant principal oboe of The Cleveland Orchestra since 1990 and was the principal oboe from 2001-2003. He was previously a member of the Atlanta, San Francisco, Oakland, and Honolulu symphony orchestras. He has served as guest principal oboe with major orchestras around the United States, including the Boston Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic. He is on the faculty at the Kent/Blossom Chamber Music Festival, the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Rathbun is joined on this recording of works for oboe by Marc Shapiro, a distinguished pianist, who is an acting member of the San Francisco Symphony. He is principal keyboardist with the California Symphony and is active as a recitalist and chamber musician. Shapiro is on the faculty at Mills College. Frank Rosenwein, principal oboist of The Cleveland Orchestra performs with Mr. Rathbun on Rathbun's composition for two oboes.

Bernard Hoffer, born in Switzerland, came to the United States in 1941. He received degrees from Eastman, served as an arranger for the U.S. Army Field Band of Washington, D.C., and worked in New York as a freelance musician, composer, conductor and arranger. He is known not only for his chamber and orchestral music but also for works written for films, television, and commercials, notably the score to Thundercats, and themes for PBS News Hour and The American Experience. This fifth release devoted to his music on Albany Records features music for piano and the composer says that many of them are of a biographical nature, inspired by events or observations. Randall Hodgkinson, the distinguished American pianist is the featured performer, joined by Leslie Amper on Hoffer's work for two pianos, Events and Excursions.

Pianist Nancy Elton has received critical acclaim for her performances as a solo recitalist, concerto soloist, and chamber musician throughout the Southeast and other parts of the United States. A highly sought teacher in the Atlanta area, she has served on the piano faculties of Georgia State University, the University of West Georgia, and the University of Georgia. She received her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin, having previously studied at the University of South Carolina. Her numerous awards include the Georgia Teacher of the Year presented by the Georgia Music Teachers Association in 2005. For her debut recording she has chosen Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 3; selected Debussy preludes and two other works by Debussy.

The much beloved and acclaimed composer David Maslanka (1943-2017) featured the saxophone in many of his compositions, including concertos, solo, and chamber works. Nicholas May has chosen two for his debut recording -- the Sonata for Alto Saxophone (1989) and Piano and Tone Studies (2009). Maslanka's music requires not only tremendous technique but also a performer who is master of sound and color. The saxophone is an instrument of tremendous beauty and flexibility and Maslanka's works require a saxophonist capable of broad swaths of color, rich depths of contrast, and generous apportionment of the musical canvas. Nicholas May is such a saxophonist and this recording defines the works. May has been a finalist in numerous state, national, and international competitions. He received degrees from the University of Kansas and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is now on the faculty at Mid Plains Community College and a member of the Heartland Duo and the Sanders-May Duo. His collaborator, pianist Ellen Sommer is on the faculty at the University of Kansas School of Music.

Olivier Messiaen was one of the most influential teachers of the 20th century. He taught an international group of students who would go on to become influential composers and musical leaders, including William Bolcom, Karlheinz Stockhausn, Peter Maxwell Davies, Oliver Knussen, Iannis Xenakis, Quincy Jones, and the three composers on this recording. Pianist Matthew Odell demonstrates the importance of Messiaen's teaching contrasting his music with three of Messiaen's students. Matthew Odell has won acclaim for performances of a wide range of repertoire as a solo recitalist, soloist with orchestra, and chamber musician. In addition to performances in Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Merkin Hall, Mr. Odell has appeared at major venues around the world, including Paris, London, Moscow, and Helsinki, among many others. Mr. Odell served on the coaching faculty of the Académie internationale d'été in Nice, France.

The Scott/Garrison Duo, featuring 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. Ms. Scott is clarinetist for the Solstice Wind Quintet and principal clarinet of the Walla Walla Symphony and the Eastern Music Festival. Leonard Garrison is on the faculty of the Lionel Hampton School of Music at the University of Idaho, flutist in the Northwest Wind Quintet, and principal flutist of the Walla Walla Symphony. For this recording they perform works for flute and clarinet, flute and marimba, and flute, clarinet, and piano, including works commissioned by their duo. They are joined by pianist Rajung Yang and marimbist Stuart Gerber. This is their fourth recording for Albany Records.

Over the past few years, Albany Records' progressive releases of the piano music of Allen Shawn have made it clear that this is one of the most substantial and memorable bodies of work for the instrument of any living American composer. Because Shawn is one of the major American composer-pianists, someone who can take on fearsome technical demands and deliver real interpretive value as he surmounts them, these performances are especially important as documents not only of the music but also of the interpretation and performance of the works. In addition to his five piano sonatas, Shawn performs his Etudes and Five Piano Pieces. On the faculty of Bennington College, Shawn grew up in New York City. In addition to his piano music, his works include a Symphony; concertos for piano, cello, violin, and oboe and a double concerto for clarinet and cello as well as numerous chamber works for varied ensembles. This is the sixth recording on Albany Records devoted exclusively to his music.