Catalog

David Maslanka is an American composer whose music we feel strongly about here at Albany. We are pleased to be able to bring you this world premiere recording of two important pieces for saxophone. Mr. Maslanka writes: "The Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano was commissioned by the North American Saxophone Alliance. It is a large, passionate and sometimes ferocious piece which mixes old and new elements. Song Book was commissioned by the artists who perform it on this disc. The movements of Song Book are relatively brief. They have a particular thing to say, a particular mood and attitude to express, and then they are done. I think of the pieces as emotional scenes. Whereas the Sonata tends to be overwhelming in its technical and textural demands, the lines and textures of Song Book are for the most part much simpler and quieter."

Persichetti composed his Parable IX, Op. 121 in 1972 as the ninth in a series of 25 parables written for various solo instruments and ensembles. Parable IX dramatically embodies its definition; "short fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle." In this work Persichetti explores the duality of lyrical as well as angular; amiable as well as angry; and, at its most basic level, portrays the conflict that continues between good and evil. James Syler was raised in New York and Florida. His interests and education have been divided between classical and jazz forms. About his work Minton's Playhouse he writes: "In the early 1940's there was a nightclub in New York called Minton's Playhouse. The weekly jam sessions and after hours experimenting that went on there, and other clubs, played an important part in the development of bebop, and consequently marks the beginning of modern jazz. In honor of the 50 year mark of this form of jazz this work looks to the past, and at the same time, to the present." Luigi Zaninelli was brought to the Curtis Institute by Gian-Carlo Menotti. At 19, he was sent back to Italy to study with Rosario Scalero (the teacher of both Samuel Barber and Menotti). During his career, Mr. Zaninelli has served as composer-in-residence at the University of Calgary and the Banff School of Fine Arts. Since 1973, he has been composer in residence at the University of Southern Mississippi. About his Symphony No. 5 David Maslanka writes: "My Symphony No. 5 has been composed around three well-known Chorale melodies: 'Through Adam's Fall', 'O Lamb of God' and ' Christ Lay in the Bonds of Death'. Much of the music of this symphony is urgent and insistent. I have used the words 'aggravated', 'angry' and 'overwhelming' by way of description. But for all its blunt and assertive force, the Symphony is not tragic. It is filled with a bright and hopeful energy."

This recording contrasts a concerto for saxophone quartet and wind ensemble by David Maslanka (1943-2017) with a concerto for soprano saxophone, winds and percussion by one of Maslanka's proteges, Roy Magnuson (b. 1983). Magnuson has composed music for orchestra, wind ensemble, band, chamber ensembles, vocalists, electroacoustic ensembles, and films. His music has been performed throughout the United States. A graduate of Illinois State University, Ithaca College and the University of Illinois, he is now on the faculty at Illinois State University. Revered by the wind ensemble world as a composer, teacher, and mentor, David Maslanka was a graduate of Oberlin and Michigan State University. His compositions include more than 50 works for wind ensemble, and this recording is one of more than 20 containing his compositions on Albany Records.

Mat Madness is exercise with attitude–intense yet invigorating. The Zen of Yoga and basic Pilates principles, such as stabilization and precision, inspire the workout. It’s mind/body. Physically, the routine is designed to develop symmetry in major muscle groups. Over time, increased stability and flexibility in joints lower the risk of injury in every day activities through elite athletic performance, not to mention improved posture and neuromuscular coordination. In Susan’s words: “I’ve always loved movement…After two marathons, I sought cross training that would compliment, not compete with my love for running. I discovered Pilates, Yoga, and the stability ball. It didn’t satisfy me to simply attend classes; my over-the-top passion motivated me to teach. So here I am, a full-time fitness professional…with a singular focus on helping you reach your wellness goals…” Susan is an apparatus-certified Pilates instructor, PiYo and Turbo-Kick teacher, and holds a Personal Trainer certification from the American Council on Exercise. Visit the Mat Madness website at www.matmadness.com to learn more about health and fitness-related topics.

This recording presents four works composer Mathew Fuerst has written for violinist Jasper Wood and pianist David Riley, along with a solo piano piece. The compositions span a time period of 12 years and show Fuerst's development as a composer. Fuerst, a prize-winner at the 2nd Annual Antonin Dvorak Composition Competition, is a graduate of Eastman and Juilliard, where he worked with Robert Beaser and John Corigliano. His music has been performed in numerous venues around the U.S. as well as in Paris, Budapest, Scotland and Hong Kong. He is on the faculty at Hillsdale College. Violinist Jasper Wood has performed with many of North America's finest orchestras as well as pursuing an active career as a recitalist and chamber musician. He is affiliated with the University of British Columbia where he teaches violin and chamber music. Pianist David Riley, on the faculty at the University of Oregon, has received rave reviews throughout the U.S. and Canada, performing as a recitalist at major venues.

Described by the New Yorker's Andrew Porter as a composer of "fearless eloquence," Louis Karchin has received performances of his music worldwide, by groups ranging from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Louisville Orchestra, to South Korea's Veritas Musicae and the Delta Ensemble of Amsterdam, Holland. Born in Philadelphia, he went on to advanced studies at the Eastman School and Harvard University, where his teachers included Samuel Adler, Joseph Schwantner, Earl Kim, Fred Lerdahl and Leon Kirchner. As Hayes Biggs writes in his notes to this CD, "Although this disc takes its name from its final selection, Matrix and Dream, the title Matrix is apropos in more than one sense. One of the word's definitions is that of a medium or situation out of which some other entity originates, or in which such an entity is embedded. Louis Karchin's highly personal, supple and elegant musical language, evolved over the course of a distinguished career as composer and performer, is by that definition the matrix within which this music is able to take form, substance and nourishment, and consequently to take flight...many of Karchin's compositional preoccupations, with regard to both genre and gesture, are represented on this recording...all of the new worlds that you can discover on this disc - from the smallest to the largest - emanate from and are contained within Louis Karchin's matrix; they will amply repay return voyages."

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.

Korean pianist Sung-Soo Cho performs an intriguing recital of compositions by American composers that range from works with very progressive musical language to ones that integrate influences of folk and honky-tonk -- in other words, the full spectrum of modern American classical music. The oldest work on the program was written in 1967 and the most recent in 2015. John Corigliano, Michael Ippolito, John Adams, Lowell Liebermann, Steve Reich, Elliott Carter, and David Rakowski are all represented on this recording. These composers have a strong advocate in Sung-Soo Cho, who was awarded "Best American Contemporary Performance: at the Cincinnati World Piano Competition and "Best Performance of the Commissioned Work: at the Texas State International Piano Competition. An award winner of numerous international competitions, Cho has appeared as a soloist in Asia, the U.S., and Europe. A graduate of Seoul National University and Manhattan School of Music, he is currently pursuing his D.M.A. degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is on the faculty at Notre Dame College.

This disc of chamber music by Lansing McLoskey includes works for large chamber ensemble as well as smaller ensembles and songs. Lansing McLoskey came to the world of composition via a somewhat unorthodox route. Instead of Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, his three "B's" were the Beatles, Bauhaus and Black Flag. His first experiences in composition were writing for punk rock bands in San Francisco, which is where he developed his love for classical music. His music has an emotional intensity that appeals to audiences and defies traditional stylistic pigeonholes. His music has been performed across the U.S. and in 14 other countries on six continents. A graduate of Harvard, UC Santa Barbara and the USC Thornton School of Music, with additional studies at the Royal Danish Academy, McLoskey is on the faculty at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.

Arthur Kreiger holds degrees from The University of Connecticut and from Columbia University. His teachers have included Hale Smith, Vladimir Ussachevsky, Chou Wen-Chung and Mario Davidovsky. His catalog contains pieces for orchestra, chorus, mixed chamber ensembles, piano, solo voice and the electronic medium. He is presently on the faculty of Connecticut College in New London. This recording collects compositions with electronic sounds from a 23 year period (1974 to 1997) of the composer's life. The music was created during the composer's 27 year association with the Electronic Music Center of Columbia University, where he worked as a student, technical assistant and teacher. Although the technological means of producing electronic sounds has evolved rapidly over the last half century, Kreiger's commitment to the formation of tightly interlocking mosaics of electronic and acoustic sounds has never wavered. Yet existing simultaneously with the frequent partnerships between electronic and acoustic means is an idiomatic electronic language that distinguishes itself from the acoustic instruments, enveloping those instruments in a universe of exotic sounds.

John Melby's musical development has followed a circuitous path that might not have been expected to lead to music for digital computer. Trained as an orchestral musician, he spent many years in the trombone section listening. He trained at Princeton in composition after graduating from Curtis. He was intrigued with Babbitt's exploitation of live performance coupled with synthesized accompaniments and before too long, found himself drawn to an electronically-synthesized orchestra. He has written a series of concerti for live instruments and computer, with three of them represented on this recording.

The bass trombone came into prominence as a solo instrument in the mid to late 20th century, and is essentially a larger version of the tenor trombone. Until recently, it has been relegated mostly to supporting orchestral roles, doubling the bass or choral lines with an occasional turn in the spotlight. Higher quality instruments and new types of valves led to an environment for better players, and in turn, have inspired more composers to write for the bass trombone as a true solo voice. The trombone slide is a device found on no other instrument. The slide offers both a hindrance and an advantage; awkward and slippery, it can be difficult to maneuver. However, because of the fluid characteristics of the slide, a trombonist can at a moment's notice, imitate any number of machines and wild animals, or sing the most beautiful songs with vocal expression. Berlioz expressed the characteristics of the trombone best in his treatise on orchestration: "In my opinion, the trombone is the true head of the family of wind instruments, which I have named the "epic" one. It possesses nobility and grandeur to the highest degree; it has all the serious and powerful tones of sublime musical poetry, from religious, calm and imposing accents, to savage orgiastic outbursts. Directed by the will of the master, the trombones can chant like a choir of priests, threaten, utter gloomy sighs, a mournful lament, or a bright hymn of glory; they can break forth into awe inspiring cries and awaken the dead or doom the living with their fearful voices."

Memento Mori is an oratorio for soloists, men's chorus and chamber orchestra. It is dedicated to those who have succumbed to AIDS. The work combines traditional English, Hebrew, and Latin texts with original prose and poetry by Quentin Crisp, Philip Justin Smith, Denise Stokes, and Bill Weaver. About this new work James Adler writes: "Where to begin? The road to this recording has been a longish, winding one. It began in 1994 when Jeffrey McIntyre, then director of the Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus, first talked about and then commissioned me to compose this work. I had lost so many colleagues, friends and loved ones to the disease that I simply had to do something. And my way was going to be a musical way. I did not set out to compose something diverse or unusual. It was my initial intention to create a work that could be emotionally gut-wrenching, quasi-theatrical, and religious in a spiritual sense. Jeffrey and I both shared the vision that while my Requiem should use as its model the Roman Catholic "Mass for the Dead," it should also feature some special twists and turns." Composer/conductor/pianist James Adler has been hailed as a composer who "writes for both chorus and orchestra with uncommon imagination." Following the April 2000, New York City premiere of his Requiem, in Merkin Hall, Bill Zakariasen acclaimed this "very ecumenical and consoling" work, which "gets straight to the heart."

Duo XXI (Anna Cromwell, violin and Mira Frisch, cello) is committed to developing the musical culture of the 21st century through commissioning, performing, and recording new music. Both members are passionate string professors who reach a diverse audience through concerts, conference presentations, and outreach workshops. The duo's mission is to unite today's students, performers, and composers to enliven music and to cultivate the intimate and expressive string do as a genre for our time. In their second recording for Albany Records, they give committed performances of seven of these commissioned works by composers Jonathon Kirk, John Allemeier, Brian Arreola, Ferdinando De Sena, Stephen Anderson, Paul Johnston, and David Maki.

This CD presents a beautifully balanced program of fine American Chamber compositions. From Carter and Fine to Coleman and Ruehr, there is something here to appeal to every taste; beautifully performed and recorded. Metamorphosen is a Chamber Orchestra composed of the country's leading young musicians assembled with the goal of presenting a fresh approach to music making. The Orchestra was founded in October 1993 by Richard Lim and Scott Yoo in their belief that innovation need not come at the expense of substance. Along with performances of the classics from the repertoire, the group commissions new works from emerging composers and premieres at least one new piece each concert. Metamorphosen combines the intimacy of Chamber music with the technical virtuosity of the best of today's young musicians.

Composer Curt Cacioppo is the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and has been commissioned by prestigious orchestras and chamber ensembles. His music appears on 18 recordings, the most recent of which earned a Grammy nomination. A graduate of Harvard, New York University and Kent State, Cacioppo has been a professor at Haverford College since 1983. This recording includes a work for solo piano; a major a cappella vocal work on poems of Luigi Cerantola performed by the Viva Voce Chamber Singers; and his third symphony, titled Tuscan Folio.

An opera without an orchestra? Composer Michael Ching's A Midsummer Night's Dream - opera a cappella deploys a "voicestra" of a cappella singers rather than instruments in the pit. Heidi Waleson of the Wall Street Journal wrote in her review that this "remarkably inventive opera is a celebration of what voices can do and still, with the exception of a few startling vocal percussion effects, sound like voices. The voicestra supports the singers on stage, its overlapping lines and syllables weaving around them, amplifying their characters and conflicts, sometimes echoing their words (or even their thoughts) or supplying atmosphere." MSND features the original Opera Memphis cast production of January 2011, produced by DeltaCappella, mastered by Tony Huerta, and recorded in legendary Ardent Studios in Memphis, The result is a spellbinding blend of voices that uniquely captures the romance and otherworldliness of Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream for today's audiences. The passion and finesse of opera, the vernacular phrasing of musical theatre, and the organic voicing of contemporary a cappella all combine to create a unique and powerful fusion of traditions that provide a novel and beautiful listening experience that illuminates the libretto with what Waleson calls "a human dimension."

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

It is the obsession of musicologist Hans Moldenhauer to uncover the truth in the killing of Anton Webern by American soldiers in 1945 that drives The Death of Webern, the second collaboration between composer Michael Dellaira and librettist J.D. McClatchy. Webern's brief, luminous compositions altered the course of 20th century music and Dellaira's score contains some wonderful moments of homage as well as moments when Dellaira's writing approaches a Webern-like aesthetic. Dellaira, however, is not beholden to a single style -- he veers seamlessly from dodecaphony to lyrical tonality, from severity to wistfulness and nostalgia, from a passage of lovely Bach-like polyphony to lines reminiscent of 20th century minimalism. Michael Dellaira's other operas include The Secret Agent, which won the Armel International Opera Festival's Laureat. Chéri was a finalist for the American Academy of Arts & Letters Richard Rodgers Award and his monodrama Maud was awarded an ASCAP Morton Gould Award. This world premiere recording is performed by a cast and chamber orchestra from the University of Miami's Frost School of Music, conducted by Alan Johnson.

Long before people began talking about postmodernism, Michael Sahl was living the postmodern life. Back in the 1970's there was a definite barrier between the Accepted High Art of modern classical music and the field of popular music (not so between jazz and rock-hence the fusion-jazz of Weather Report or Herbie Hancock). But Michael Sahl dared to write "classical" music with jazz chords and folk-music rhythms. Today, the Kronos Quartet plays rock music, and someone once even suggested that it would be perfectly normal for Sir Michael Tippett to write a piece for an established rock group. So, now we have Michael Sahl who is finally coming into his own, with his cabaret-style melodies riding smoothly over pungent jazz harmonies, and his rock-flavored rhythm section filling out his classical forms nicely. The music may strike some as "eclectic," but in Sahl's own mind, the contrasting elements fit perfectly together. The fusion is smooth, with its own personality: energetically syncopated, with a cool sense of restraint.

Born in Chicago, Michael White attended the Chicago Music College and at the Juilliard School where he worked with Peter Mennin and Vincent Persichetti. He was composer-in-residence for the public schools of Seattle and Amarillo, where he began composing operas. He subsequently taught at Oberlin and the Philadelphia Musical Academy and is now at Juilliard. Since 2007 White has composed entirely for solo piano and the results are heard on this recording. In pianist Mirian Conti, White has an unexcelled champion for his music.

In this third release with the Dvorak Orchestra (the previous discs are TROY687 and TROY704), Julius Williams again displays his enthusiastic and original approach to American orchestral works. Composer/conductor Williams has been Music Director of the Washington Symphony Orchestra and has conducted orchestras and ensembles all over the United States. He has held faculty positions at Wesleyan University, the University of Hartford and the University of Vermont. He has received multiple ASCAP awards in composition over the years. As a native New Yorker, his memorial piece to the September 11, 2001 tragedy is obviously heartfelt, with a suggestion of optimism. McQuillan, a native of Amsterdam, New York, reveals strong lyrical gifts in Seasons of Gold. Brooklyn-born Qualliotine paints an expressive picture of the changing seasons around his Massachusetts home in Mystic Valley Autumn, and Berklee School of Music teacher Hojnacki reveals a strong narrative drive in his neo-Romantic Symphony No. 1. This disc is a perfect demonstration of the diversity that exists in modern American music.

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

Many of the most unique and creative international composers of the past 40 years have used the violin as a canvas or laboratory. Eric Rynes, who has been hailed for his “committed,” “intrepid,” and “achingly beautiful” performances in diverse styles and genres, has recorded an album of extraordinarily diverse contemporary works for solo violin and violin with computer-realized sounds, from Elliott Carter’s playful depiction of a three-way argument in Riconoscenza, to Helmut Lachenmann’s turning the violin inside-out in Toccatina, to the otherworldly contrasting soundscapes of Scelsi’s L’âme ouverte and Xenakis’s Mikka. The title of Mikka and Other Assorted Love Songs is more than just a wink to a legendary rock album; it also conveys how Rynes performs this music. Rynes is concertmaster of the Northwest Symphony Orchestra and primary violinist of the Seattle Modern Orchestra; he has given recitals in Berlin, Barcelona, Belfast, and several other cities, and made guest appearances with rock and jazz groups. He maintains a parallel career as a senior computational scientist at the Altius Institute for Biomedical Sciences in Seattle.

This collection of chamber music for violin and other instruments includes works by Milhaud, Piston, Adler, Martinu, Rubbra, and Dvorak. Possibly the least known composer for American listeners is Edmund Rubbra, an Englishman who was born in 1901 and died in 1986 on St. Valentine's Day. He produced more than 160 works, a prolific output for a twentieth century composer, and made major contributions to all forms except opera. He developed a unique and unmistakable style which will increasingly be considered to be not a by-way but an integral part of twentieth century music history. Rubbra was born in Northampton of parents who were both music lovers. Cyril Scott heard of Rubbra performing a recital of his music and invited him to study composition. He eventually won a composition scholarship at University College where he studied composition with Holst. Thus Rubbra was taught by two composers with whom he had great natural affinities and interests. All three were interested in Eastern philosophy and mysticism, then highly fashionable in artistic circles, while Scott was an imaginative and at his best, highly original composer who was very sympathetic to Rubbra's aspirations. It was Holst, however, who released in Rubbra his enduring love of counterpoint and introduced him to the rich treasures of English Renaissance music, then only being slowly discovered.

Paul Ramsier's doublebass compositions have established the composer as a major figure in the evolution of the instrument. His larger compositions are the most widely performed contemporary works for doublebass and orchestra. These compositions have set new standards for the instrument through more than one hundred fifty performances with orchestras. In the fall of 1999, Ramsier moved from New York City to Sarasota, Florida, where, he says, "I discovered that John Miller, principal bass of the Florida West Coast Symphony, is a world-class soloist of rare gifts." During the summer of 2001, Miller suggested that he and Ramsier make a recording of some of the composer's compositions for doublebass that had not been recorded. Ramsier was initially hesitant to practice the piano again, but Miller and others felt that a composer's participation adds a touchstone for performers - especially when compositions are published - and becomes a historical reference as well. This new CD is the result of this collaboration.

Milos Raickovich, composer and conductor, has lived and worked in Belgrade, Paris, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Hiroshima and New York. He writes music in a unique style -- "New Classicism" -- that has been described as "...a combination of the American Minimalist style with European Classical and Romantic music." (John Schaefer, WNYC's "New Sounds") Love, passion and longing are the recurring themes in all the works on this disc. FAR AWAY includes six pieces, each based on a different type of scale, including various 3, 5, 6, and 7-note scales. The opening piece is the energetic and primal Flying Trio, for violin, cello and piano. The Romantic-sounding Sonata and Three Romances are works grounded in the Minimalist approach. A meditative, Asian influenced film score "El contorno" Variations is also included, as well as B-A-G-D-A-D, played by the RTS Symphony Orchestra from Belgrade. (Three other arrangements of the same piece are included in Milos Raickovich's antiwar CD B-A-G-D-A-D, Albany Records.) FAR AWAY concludes with the nostalgic Winter Waltz.

This recording brings together a variety of choral works by 20th century Latin American composers, all of whom find inspiration in folk culture. Chief among the composers represented here is Ariel Ramirez. Born in Santa Fe, Argentina, he roamed the South American hinterland in his early twenties playing piano and studying regional musical traditions. After a brief stint in Buenos Aires, he spent several years in Europe, studying in Madrid and Vienna and teaching music in a German convent. Returning to South America in 1954, he completed his musical training in Buenos Aires, where his politically engaged popular songs rapidly earned him renown as a leader of the nueva cancion movement. His breakthrough onto the international stage came in 1967 with the first performance and recording of the Misa Criolla (Mass in Native Style). The success of this innovative work owes much to its timing. Set in Spanish rather than Latin, it was one of the first major masses composed after the Second Vatican Council mandated the use of the vernacular. It also profited from the period's burgeoning interest in folk music. As a result, the work quickly captured the imagination of audiences worldwide and has received thousands of performances. The mass's reception abroad, where its style was perceived as novel and exotic, actually helped stimulate appreciation for native culture among more skeptical audiences back in Argentina. Like all Ramirez' major works, the Misa Criolla draws substantially on the folk traditions in which he immersed himself as a young man. There are complete English texts for all the works included in the program booklet.

What a coup it is to have this significant live performance from 2003 performed by the music department at Curtis Institute where Ned Rorem first studied in the 1940's and has been a faculty member for over 20 years! As a major addition to the opera, we have a new work, Aftermath, where Rorem, as have so many other composers over the past four years, responds to the tragic events of September 11, 2001. As Rorem writes, "In the wake of the September 11th shock, I asked what a thousand other composers must have asked: what is the point of music now? But it soon grew clear that music was the only point. Indeed, the future will judge us, as it always judges the past, by our art more than our armies- by construction more than by destruction. The art, no matter its theme or language, by definition reflects the time: a waltz in a moment of tragedy, or a dirge during prosperity, may come into focus only a century later. As a Quaker, I was raised to believe that there is no alternative to peace. Perhaps it's wrong, perhaps right, but I am not ashamed of this belief..." Rorem, born in 1923, is one of our great lyrical composers, described by Time magazine as the world's greatest composer of songs. His output encompasses far more than that, of course: three symphonies, four piano concertos, chamber music, other works for orchestra, all of which display a wealth of melody and a distinctive, unique instrumental sound (listen sometime to the Symphony No.2, whose brief second movement is essentially an instrumental song). Rorem's prowess as a vocal writer (and author of 14 books) lead him, naturally, to this adaptation of the classic play by August Strindberg, presented here in a remarkable, vivid performance and recording.

A singular figure in today's new music scene, Janet Maguire was the recipient of the 2008 Guggenheim Fellowship. Distinguished by her arrangement of the Finale of Giacomo Puccini's Turandot and by her own opera, Hérésie, Maguire has worked in a wide variety of genres. Maguire was music critic for the Paris Herald Tribune and founded a new music ensemble in Venice, Musica in Divenire.

Mezzo-soprano Sharon Mabry has championed the music of contemporary composers throughout her distinguished career. She has premiered works by more than 30 composers and has made eight recordings showcasing music by women and contemporary composers. In addition to her extensive concert career, Mabry is professor of music at Austin Peay State University, where she received the Distinguished Professor Award. She was a featured writer for the NATS Journal of Singing from 1985 through 2009. For this recording, she and collaborative artist, pianist Patsy Wade, perform song cycles by George Mabry (b. 1945) whose Songs of Reflection use texts by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Edna St. Vincent Millay as well as Dorothy Parker's poetry in Three Cabaret Songs; Kenton Coe (b. 1930) is represented with his work, A Family Gathering, setting poetry by Georgianna Orsini; Brian H. Peterson (b. 1953) whose Moon Songs are set to poetry by E.E. Cummings; and Persis Vehar (b. 1937) who used texts by May Swenson, Anne Waldman, and Barbara Greenberg for her cycle titled Women, Women.

Elizabeth Hoffman holds degrees in music from Swarthmore College, SUNY Stony Brook, and the University of Washington. She studied composition and analog electronic music with electronic music pioneer Bulent Arel at Stony Brook. During her doctoral composition studies at the University of Washington, she began using computers for musical ends. Elizabeth Hoffman's recognition includes awards from the Seattle Arts Commission; American Composers Forum Jerome Foundation; Bourges International Competition Residence prize; and Prix Ars Electronica Mention. She is currently Associate Professor in the Faculty of Arts and Science, Department of Music at New York University, where she also directs the Washington Square Computer Music Studio.