Catalog

An acclaimed performer and teacher, Johanna Cox Pennington has been oboe professor at Louisiana State University School of Music since 2011 and a member of the Breckenridge Music Festival Orchestra since 2002. A graduate of Northwestern and Eastman, Pennington was chosen for Eastman's Freiburg Exchange Program that took her to Germany for advanced studies. She has performed with many orchestras including the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She travels to Europe, South America, Asia and throughout the United States performing as a recitalist, chamber musician, and clinician. She has selected five world premieres for this recording, including a recording of Brett William Dietz's Voodoo Spells and Gris-gris. Pennington is joined on this recording by pianist Willis Delony, violinist Lenora Cox Leggatt, Brett William Dietz performing on the vibraphone, cellist Daniel Lelchuk and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Carlos Miguel Prieto.

Pianist and educator David Witten's career has included numerous concert tours in Europe, Israel, Russia, China, and South America. He is the editor of Nineteenth-Century Piano Music: Essays in Performance and Analysis, which includes his landmark analytical study of the Chopin Ballades. A graduate of Johns Hopkins University, SUNY Buffalo and Boston University, he is on the faculty of Montclair State University. Witten has chosen four works by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, who was born in Florence, but whose ancestry traces directly back to a Sephardic Jewish family that escaped the Spanish Inquisition. Castelnuovo-Tedesco's musical style is filled with colorful harmonies and a penchant for modal melodies. Coming to the United States in the mid-1930s, he found work at MGM and other studios, ultimately composing soundtracks for more than 200 films. This recording features both his early and late piano works -- two concert suites from 1924 and works from his later years in California.

Music is language, said the legendary French flutist and inspirational teacher, Marcel Moyse, the flute is one of its mediums of expression, and when I play I try to convey the impression of laughing, of singing, of talking through the medium of my instrument in a manner almost as direct as that expressed by the human voice." This insight is especially pertinent to this recital of Latin American and Spanish music for flute and piano, which intermingles transcriptions of vocal music with original compositions and transcriptions of instrumental works. Regardless of the music's origins, whether in vocal or instrumental music, the flute speaks and singsand at times even dances. Flutist Stephanie Jutt's elegant artistry and passionate intellect have inspired musicians and audiences around the world. Her groundbreaking performances of new music, transcriptions, and traditional repertoire have made her a model for adventurous flutists everywhere. Stephanie Jutt received first prize at the International Concert Artist Guild and Pro Musicis International Soloist competitions, and was a finalist in the International Walter W. Naumburg Competition. She has performed in recital throughout the United States, Europe, South America and Asia. A dedicated teacher, Ms. Jutt was Professor of Flute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music from 1990-2017.

In Vento Appassionato, Molly Barth presents her interpretations of ten of the most influential 20th century compositions for solo flute in the repertoire, chronologically spanning from 1913 to 1966. Each piece on this recording leads Ms. Barth on an impactful emotional journey, which she delights in sharing with her listeners. Grammy-Award winning flutist Molly Barth is in demand as a soloist, clinician, and chamber musician. Lauded by reviewers, she has performed in Australia, Korea, Mexico, and across the United States. A founding member of the famed new music ensemble, Eighth Blackbird, Ms. Barth won first prize at the 1998 Concert Artists Guild International Competition. She is on the faculty at the Blair School of Music, Vanderbilt University and is a graduate of Oberlin, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and Northwestern University School of Music.

Composer Joseph Fennimore's ninth recording for Albany Records includes new works for piano, brilliantly performed by Jeffrey Middleton. Fennimore, who is known as a formidable pianist, has a special affinity for this instrument, and it shows in these works. He wrote the music on this collection when he was in his mid 60s to mid 70s. It is mature, the product of a restless and powerful mind. While these works don't form a program, they each benefit from a lifetime of accumulated experience and feeling. They are ruminative, unflinching in the contemplation of mortality, yet retain the composer's natural vivacity, his sense of whimsy and style. Pianist Jeffrey Middleton is a graduate of Juilliard and Yale. His career has included chamber music, vocal coaching and accompanying, solo performances, and teaching. He is on the faculty of the School of American Ballet, receiving the Mae Wien Award for distinguished faculty service in 2010.

Through her recordings and her appearances in major cities in the U.S., Europe and Asia, pianist Eliza Garth is well known as an artist with a passionate voice and adventurous spirit, championing some of the most demanding works in the repertoire of our time. For her debut recording with Albany Records, Garth has chosen two works -- a set of Piano Preludes by Sheree Clement and a major work by Perry Goldstein. Clement, a graduate of Peabody, the University of Michigan and Columbia, has heard her works performed by some of the most noted new music ensembles in the U.S. including the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, and the League of Composers Orchestra, among many others. Using intricate shimmering colors over re-imagined fragments of tunes, her music builds surprising narratives. It unfurls, percolates, and nudges, allowing listeners to rediscover the present. Perry Goldstein studied at the University of Illinois, UCLA, and Columbia. His music appears on 19 commercial recordings and he has written music for noted new music performers such as Gilbert Kalish and the Emerson String Quartet. On the faculty at SUNY-Stony Brook, Goldstein has been involved in a variety of activities in the service of contemporary music. His composition on this recording, Of Points Fixed and Fluid, is built on dramatic possibilities obtained when disparate ideas are forced to coexist and interact.

The six works on this disc were composed over a 57-year span from 1958 to 2015. They present a series of snapshots of composer Harvey Sollberger's compositional concerns through the medium of the flute. In the 35 compositions that feature the flute, these six can be thought of as the plums, but are not the only ones by any means. Harvey Sollberger, now 80 years old, has had a distinguished career as a composer, flutist, and conductor. He co-founded the Group for Contemporary Music, the first contemporary music ensemble in residence at an American university. His music has been performed throughout the world, his discography now tops 150 commercial releases and he has taught at Columbia, the Manhattan School of Music, the Indiana University School of Music and the University of California, San Diego. The IWO Flute Quartet, named after its members' home states of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, was formed in 2011 by four leading Pacific Northwest flutists. Each member (Sydney Carlson, Leonard Garrison, Jennifer Rhyne, and Paul Taub) advocates for contemporary music and enjoys significant careers as performers and educators.

Composer David Del Tredici credits pianist Marc Peloquin with getting him back to writing music for piano after a 20 year hiatus. The two met at the turn of the century and Del Tredici was so impressed with Peloquin's curiosity, performance skills and joy in his music, that he was persuaded to start again. This is the second in what will be four volumes of Del Tredici's works for piano. The music on this recording includes works written in 1958 and 1984 as well as ones written between 2003 and 2015. Critically acclaimed by the press, Marc Peloquin has appeared in a wide rnge of venues, including the Kennedy Center, the Guggenheim Museum, the American Academy in Rome and Weill Recital Hall, among many others. Known for his advocacy of composer of our time, Peloquin has recorded music by Otto Luening, Chester Biscardi, Samuel Barber, and Dennis Tobenski. He studied at Boston University, the New England Conservatory, and the Manhattan School of music. He is on the faculty of the New School University and artistic director at the Bloomingdale School of Music.

Inspired by the way the composers on this recording dealt with life's troubles by turning to music, flutist Catherine Ramirez decided to perform their music for solo flute in the hope it would be a source of strength for others facing adversity, fear, or frustration. Catherine Ramirez is a virtuoso flutist who has won three top prizes at the Città di Padova International Music Competition and first prize in the New York Flute Club Young Artist Competition. She has been featured as a soloist and chamber musician in China, and Italy as well as at prestigious venues in the United States. Committed to bringing music to underserved populations, Ramirez has performed for young people recovering from additions, and for children with autism and developmental disabilities, among others. Her orchestral performances include appearances with the El Paso Opera and El Paso Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. She is a graduate of Occidental College, the Boccherini Music Institute, Queens College, Yale University School of Music, and Rice University and is on the faculty at St. Olaf College and teaches masterclasses at conservatories, colleges and universities in Italy, China, Colombia, and throughout the United States.

Composer Roberto Sierra's fourth recording in the series of his music on Albany Records features music for cello and piano. More than three decades separate the compositions, but despite this, there is a common thread that unites all the repertoire—an approach to composition that draws and builds on Sierra's musical heritage. Growing up in Puerto Rico, studying 18th and 19th century European piano repertoire, his musical memory merged this with the sounds of the popular Afro-Caribbean music of the time and this unique DNA shows in his compositions. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Sierra's music is performed throughout the world. He has served as Composer-in Residence with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, and the New Mexico Symphony. Cellist John Haines-Eitzen and Matthew Bengston call themselves the "Sierra Duo," having established a special relationship with the composer. They have spent years studying and performing Sierra's passionate and virtuosic music for cello and piano and this recording demonstrates their deep affinity for his music.

Neil Thornock's Cosmology is a set of seven movements, each with a title and scriptural epigraph, but with no pauses to separate them, and a metaphysical program to unite them. That program depicts a soul's cosmic journey via a set of metaphors. Neil Thornock, on the faculty at the Brigham Young University School of Music, has composed works for chamber and orchestral ensembles, electronic media, and a variety of keyboard instruments. His music has been performed in recitals and conferences throughout the United States and Europe. Pianist Hilary Demske has received widespread critical acclaim for her performances. She is regularly invited to perform in prestigious venues across multiple continents and has performed in China annually since 2011, appearing in more than 30 cities on multiple tours. An avid performer of contemporary music, Demske is on the faculty at Utah Valley University.

This recording presents but a sampling of the wealth of jazz-inspired character pieces. It is not surprising that many American composers draw on this native language of jazz for inspiration in their art music, but in the first decades of the 20th century many European composers found ways to incorporate this exciting American art form into their music. The works performed by Jonathan Sokasits explore the variety of ways that composers integrate elements of jazz into their writing. On the faculty at Hastings College, Jonathan Sokasits has previously taught at Ithaca College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He studied at Ithaca College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was a student of Howard Karp. Sokasits regularly performs as a recitalist and with numerous chamber ensembles. His recordings appear on the Mark and Albany Records labels.

The virtuoso pianist Eunbi Kim performs concert music by the exploratory artist Fred Hersch on this recording. Kim's recital and recording projects are frequently sparked by a fresh artistic obsession, and often present the audience with intimate and challenging subject matter. Her genre-defying, often interdisciplinary recitals have been presented in prestigious venues across the United States. Kim is a perfect match for Fred Hersch's music, which is known for its personal and expressive pianistic style. While this is a recording of his concert music, Hersch is also well known as an innovative pianist in jazz, being credited with more than 40 albums. He is the author of Good Things Happen Slowly: A Life In and Out of Jazz.

Internationally acclaimed and award-winning flutist, composer, and producer Burak Beşir was born in Cyprus. He graduated with distinction from the Ankara State Conservatory, then attended The Royal Scottlish Academy where he received his master's degree. He was the recipient of a 2003 United Kingdom Young Concert Artist Award, which gave him the opportunity to perform at concerts and festivals, including a concert at Wigmore Hall. He has performed as principal flutist of the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet. Beşir came to the U.S. in 2008 to study at the Berklee College of Music, where he received the Arif Mardin Achievement and Best Concerto Performer Awards. He is a frequent performer at the National Flute Association Conventions, where he has performed his own compositions and arrangements. Beşir wished for his debut album to reflect his playing, his music and his passions in life. The recording showcases rich and diverse masterpieces from the flute repertoire, as well as Beşir's virtuosic playing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Renowned harpist Emily Mitchell has long championed the music of Gary Schocker. To date, Schocker has written more than 125 pieces for the harp, so it becomes a challenge to choose which to record. Each is unique and beautifully written. Schocker, a flutist/composer, is an outstanding musician of outstanding versatility. He enjoys an international career as a flute soloist, and his compositions include sonatas and chamber works for most instruments of the orchestra. He has also written several musicals and is now studying to be a harpist. Harpist Emily Mitchell has been heard worldwide to critical acclaim as a concerto soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. She has been profiled on The Today Show and Good Morning America, among many others. After performing and teaching in New York City for 30 years, she relocated to Texas, where she is now on the faculties of Stephen F. Austin State and Sam Houston State Universities. Her discography includes her popular Celtic harp recordings for RCA Victor as well as four recordings on Albany Records of the music of Gary Schocker.

Grammy Award winning artist Jennifer Montone is the principal horn of the Philadelphia Orchestra and an internationally acclaimed soloist and chamber musician. She has performed as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Saint Louis, Dallas, National, and the Polish National Radio Symphonies as well as the Warsaw National Philharmonic. Montone is on the faculty at Juilliard as well as the Curtis Institute. She was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2006 and in 1996 was the winner of the Paxman Young Horn Player of the Year Award in London. Montone contends that horn players are privileged to perform some of the most beautiful music ever written and in this recording, imagined as a recital, she and her colleague, pianist Anna Polonsky explore the connection between Romantic and contemporary horn writing by following a chronological progression that spans 120 years. The works were written during a period of great musical and artistic innovation that saw the horn developed fully as a featured orchestral and solo instrument.

Violinist James Stern is a multi-faceted musician whose performances have been heard worldwide. Noted by the Washington Post for his "virtuosity and penetrating intelligence," he is known for his innovative programming that includes performing in multiple capacities (as violist, pianist, conductor, reciter, and arranger), and providing program annotations that are integral to the performance. His numerous recordings can be heard on the Albany Records, Bridge, Centaur, CRI, Dorian/Sono Luminus, Enharmonic, New Focus, and New World labels. This recording of the six sonatas and partitas of Bach reinforces his advocacy of this music as a single, unified work bolstered by multiple experiences of performing the entire cycle in a single live concert. The sonatas and partitas are presented in the order that Bach did and this facilitates simulation of the concert experience for the listener. The title of this recording comes from Bach's title on the manuscript, Sei Solo. Interpreted by some to mean Six Solos, which assumes that Bach was grammatically incorrect with the Italian (solo instead of soli), it is suggested that the title is actually a pun on the word sei, which can mean either six or you are -- hence the choice of You Are Alone.

Enric Madriguera is connected to Andrés Segovia in many ways: he was a student of Segovia’s as a young man, and his aunt, Paquita Madriguera, was Segovia’s second wife. Enric’s program is offered as a form of homage to Segovia and the music reflects Segovia’s influence with the choice of works and their direct connection to the maestro. Especially notable is the first recording of Three Studies by Segovia, performed as a set and using a “Segovia guitar” from the collection of Russell Cleveland. On the faculty at the University of Texas at Dallas, Enric Madriguera, he also is the director of guitar ensembles for the ChamberArt Festival in Madrid, Spain. As both a performer and educator, Madriguera has traveled to and presented in five continents during the span of his career.

All of the music presented here, beautiful in its own right, is suitable for intermediate-level flutists to play. None have been widely recorded, so this recording offers performance models for younger students. These are lovely concert pieces by French composers written in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Flutist Leonard Garrison teaches at the Lionel Hampton School of Music at the University of Idaho and is principal flute of the Walla Walla Symphony. He has been flutist in the Chicago Symphony and Tulsa Philharmonic as well as president of the National Flute Association. His other recordings on Albany Records include works for flute and piano by American composers and two recordings of the Scott/Garrison Duo performing American works for clarinet and flute. His colleague at the University of Idaho, Roger McVey is the pianist on this recording.

American Masterpieces for Solo Percussion Volume II continues the exploration by percussionist Tom Kolor of seminal works for percussion written in the 20th century by American composers. This disc contains works by some of the world's most noted composers including Charles Wuorinen, Morton Feldman, Ralph Shapey and Christian Wolf. A graduate of Juilliard, Tom Kolor is one of New York's most in demand chamber musicians. He regularly performs with the New York New Music Ensemble, Da Capo Chamber Players, Ensemble 21, and the Group for Contemporary Music, to name only a few. He has been a member of Talujon Percussion since 1995, presenting hundreds of concerts throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia with this ensemble. A faculty member at the University of Buffalo SUNY, Kolor oversees the percussion department and directs the UB Percussion Ensemble and UB Contemporary Ensemble. He appears on more than 50 commercial recordings.

The Nature Project, begun in 2005, was inspired by cellist Madeleine Shapiro's love of outdoor activities and concern with the environment. Ms. Shapiro has commissioned and performed more than 20 works specifically for this project, and it continues her career-long interest in electronics and multi-media. This recording features five of these works by pioneering composers. Called a "cello innovator" by Time Out New York, Madeleine Shapiro has long been a recognized figure in the field of contemporary music. She performs extensively as a solo recitalist throughout the U.S., Europe and Latin America with a focus on recent works by living composers. In addition to her recordings for Albany Records, Ms. Shapiro appears on the Naxos, New World, Stradivarius, CRI, Mode and HarvestWorks labels.

Horn player Laura Klock, after a 40 year career as a faculty member at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and principal horn of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, decided it was about time to record her own disc featuring some of the composers who have energized and inspired her over the years. Written by and recorded with her friends, this disc indeed spreads the word about these exciting new works for horn by Emanuel Rubin, Frederick Tillis, Jeff Myers, Robert Stern, Hsueh-Yung Shen, and Salvatore Macchia. Ms. Klock, a graduate of the University of Michigan, was a founding member of the Massachusetts Brass Quintet and a member of the Brass Ring Quintet. Throughout her career, Ms. Klock has enjoyed teaching and playing both the modern horn and its ancestor, the natural horn. This disc reflects those interests with the inclusion of an energetic contemporary work for natural horn and alto saxophone. She has commissioned and recorded numerous new works for horn and her recordings appear on the Open Loop, Crystal, Gasparo, and Albany Records label.