Catalog

The Esterhazy Quartet commissioned Samuel Adler's String Quartet No. 9 on the occasion of their 40th anniversary in 2010. Accompanying this string quartet are two other works – a piano quintet written in 2000-2001 and Adler's String Quartet No. 8, which was composed in 1988. Born in 1928, Samuel Adler's has had a long and distinguished career as a composer. He is the composer of more than 400 works; his music has been performed around the world; he is the author of three books; the recipient of numerous awards and prizes including the Aaron Copland Lifetime Achievement in Music Award; and a professor emeritus at Eastman and on the faculty at Juilliard. The Esterhazy Quartet has performed on three continents and garnered international accolades from critics. They are the ensemble-in-residence at the University of Missouri, and are widely recognized for their commitment to performing the music of our time. They are joined by virtuoso pianist Jerome Lowenthal, who, while born in 1932, continues to fascinate audiences.

Samuel Zyman, a long-time New York-based Professor of Music Theory and Analysis at The Juilliard School, is acknowledged as one of the leading Mexican composers on the international scene today. Zyman's music is characterized by intense and vigorous rhythmic energy, expressive lyricism, and the frequent use of near-jazzy imitative counterpoint. Flutist Jonathan Borja enjoys a varied career as a performer and Educator. Associate Professor of Music at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Borja was a member of the Topeka Symphony Orhcestra and the Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra. A graduate of the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance and Principia College, Borja began his studies at the National Conservatory of Music in his native Mexico City. He has performed throughout the United States and Mexico at distinguished venues including Steinway Hall, Powell Symphony Hall, and the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Singapore.

Tom Myer is the Professor of Saxophone for the College of Music at the University of Colorado at Boulder and has served as the Director of Jazz Studies from 1988-95. He received his M.M. degree in woodwind performance and jazz studies from North Texas State University. He earned his undergraduate degree in music education from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. He has worked professionally for Woody Herman, Nelson Riddle, Ice Capades and Disney World, and has backed up such names as Dave Grusin, Doc Severinson, Bob Hope, Dionne Warwick and numerous others. Joseph Lukasik is on the music theory and jazz faculties at the University of Colorado at Boulder. In 1993, he received first prize in the Barlow International Composition Competition. Chris Theofanidis' Netherland was commissioned by Worldwide Concurrent Premieres and Commissioning Fund, as a consortium commission. There are two versions of the work, one for piano and one for Orchestra. David Gillingham is Professor of Music Composition at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.

The music of Matthew Schreibeis, an American composer based in Hong Kong, spans orchestral, chamber, and vocal music, and includes a series of works for traditional Korean instruments. His personal musical vision is characterized by vivid color, imagination, and a clear sense of drama. His honors and awards include a Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His music has been performed by noted new music ensembles and he has been awarded residencies at the MacDowell, Yaddo, Copland House and the Camargo Foundation, among others. He is a graduate of Eastman and the University of Pennsylvania. The largest work on this recording, Sandburg Songs, was written for the extraordinary soprano Tony Arnold, who gave the world premiere recording.

As African Americans commemorate 400 years of Afrcans in America, the presence of the Negro Spritual remains a strong symbol and a significant tool through which Africans made their voices heard throughout these years of struggle. This CD is a compilation of many of these Spirituals, releases previously on Albany Records, which still stand strong even in today's world where in many instances it seems as if time has stood stil and the need for these precious gems still toll the bells of freedom. Bass-baritone Oral Moses performs regularly throughout the United States and Europe singing oratorio and recitals with special emphasis on a wide variety of Negro Spirituals and art song repertoire by African-American composers.

M.C. Maguire is a composer/producer who has created a very quirky post-modern hybrid that combines classical, pop, jazz, electro-acoustic, and world music traditions. He works primarily in his studio's multi-track environment combining live recording, sampling, synths, exotic plugins, and digital editing possibilities. The finished product usually consists of a rigid, hierarchical, multi-layered construct, which is mathematically proportioned to reflect the philosophical/psychological thrust of each individual work's raison d'etre. A Teenage Dream for piano & CPU is based on four songs by Katy Perry; while Sade auf Kashmir for cello and CPU is based on the concept of the sonic intertwining of Sade's No Ordinary Love with Led Zeppelin's Kashmir.

In this contemporary reimagining of Wilhelm Müller’s poetry cycle Winterreise — most famously set by Schubert — an everyman at the end of his rope confronts his inner demons in an emotionally charged vocal tour de force. Composer Douglas J. Cuomo is known for his concert, operatic, theatrical, television, and film compositions. His music is influenced by jazz, world music, classical and popular sources, as well as his spiritual practice as a Buddhist. Along with the operas Doubt, and Arjuna’s Dilemma, he has written for the London Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony, Romero Guitar Quartet, Joe Lovano, Denyce Graves, Christine Brewer, Nels Cline, Maya Beiser and others. He composed the theme for Sex & the City and scored over 20 feature films.

David Patterson, Ph.D. Harvard University, names as his teachers Leon Kirchner, Nadia Boulanger and Olivier Messiaen at the Paris Conservatory. He served as chairman of the Music Department for fifteen years at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Poet TenBroeck Davison, great granddaughter of Richard W. Sears, founder of the first mail-order firm, Sears Company, lived and studied on both sides of the Texas border. Having lived in Corpus Christi, her poems evoke images of her adolescent years spent absorbing the flavor of two cultures converging in that southernmost point of the continental United States. Poet James Merrill (1926-1995), the son of Charles Merrill, who was a founder of the stock brokerage firm, Merrill Lynch, published fifteen books of poetry. Last Words was commissioned for "An Evening of Words and Music" at Washington University with James Merrill, who was then poet-in-residence.

Since 2006: The Saxophone Music of Allan Blank, is comprised of recordings of music dating from 2006-2009 by noted composer Allan Blank. These works, in combination with five pieces written for saxophone prior to 2006, qualify Blank as one of the most prolific major American composers for the saxophone. Saxophonist Bill Perconti is a Professor of Music at Lewis-Clark State College. He has been an ardent champion of American composers, and his numerous recordings contain world-premieres. Most of the compositions included on this recording were as a result of correspondence between the composer and Perconti.

The music of Turkish composer Ahmed Adnan Saygun (1907-1991) is often framed as a bridge between East and West. Upheld as a central figure in the musical life of the Turkish Republic, Saygun represents a nationalistic stance based on an embrace of European compositional models combined with an appreciation for Turkish traditional music, particularly folk sources from Anatolia. The distinguished pianist Kathryn Woodard offers a fascinating and sympathetically performed program of his music for that instrument.

Robert Ward provides the following notes: "The Concerto for Violin draws on many strands of my musical background. The first movement is a chaconne based on a 12-tone theme. It is made up of some 27 variations which sometimes demand pyrotechnical display and at others call for intense lyricism or lighthearted playfulness. The slow movement is a "blues" which reflects my war years when I led a swing band as part of my duties as an Army bandleader. The movement just trails off until it is rather rudely interrupted by the Finale. Here again the music is out of my jazz experience and the earlier influence of Gershwin, Copland, and Harris. The movement is nonetheless in a straightforward sonata form within which a fugue is included. The Suite from The Scarlet Letter is a ballet in seven scenes based on the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne's magnificent story proved to be an endless source of inspiration and a great challenge. In planning the work the choreographer and I have tried to accomplish in the "story ballet" the same close interweaving of plot and music that prevails in my opera, "The Crucible," based on the play by Arthur Miller. Each scene involves a principal dramatic climax in Hawthorne's novel and musical ideas are specifically associated with characters or elements of the story."

Three works for solo instruments and orchestra by Laura Schwendinger are presented in world premiere recordings. Esprimere for cello and orchestra was written in 2007 for Matt Haimovitz and premiered by him. Curtis Macomber is the soloist for Charoscuro Azzurro for violin and chamber orchestra and Waking Dream, a single movement work for flute and chamber orchestra was written for flutist Christina Jennings, who gave the premiere. The first composer to win the American Academy in Berlin Prize Fellowship, Laura Schwendinger is on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin Madison and directs their contemporary chamber ensemble. The recipient of numerous prizes, awards and commissions, Ms.. Schwendinger's music has been performed by leading ensembles and artists of our time. The three soloists, all virtuosos of international acclaim, give stunning performances of this music of infinite beauty.

Eric Ewazen writes, "In the Spring of 2006, I was delighted to find out that the extraordinary chamber ensemble, Ibis Camerata, was interested in recording a CD of my music (from the mid-80's through the mid-90's)...they chose works of mine which showcase the melodic, rhythmic and harmonic language I was focusing on at that time...The Ensemble has brought my music to life beautifully and I am very grateful to them for introducing this collection of pieces to you."

Anthony Iannaccone was born in New York City and studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the Eastman School of Music. His principal teachers were Vittorio Giannini, Aaron Copland, and David Diamond. During the 1960's, he supported himself as a part-time teacher at the Manhattan School and Orchestral violinist. His catalogue of approximately fifty published works includes three symphonies, as well as smaller works for Orchestra, several large works for chorus and Orchestra, numerous Chamber pieces, and a variety of works for wind ensemble. Since 1971, he has taught at Eastern Michigan University, where he conducts the Collegium Musicum. Some sense of character and range of Iannaccone's music can be gleaned from a sampling of various descriptions given by authors and critics over the past three decades: "dark but never despairing.. intense lyricism with a distinct personality..." (Stereo Review); "...verdant, and always beautifully Orchestrated..." (The New York Times); "...the music's sonic diversity and ensembling of colors are masterful...(the reviewer) never failing to be enthralled by the insights of its argument and development..." (Fanfare). American music for wind band has been very popular recently and this disc should find a wide audience.

The exceptional clarinetist Sean Osborn gives magnificent performances of these staples of the chamber music repertoire. Sean Osborn has traveled Europe and the US as a soloist and chamber musician, and traveled the world during his 11 years with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He has also performed as guest principal clarinet with the New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and the American Symphony Orchestra. Recently appointed Clarinet Teacher at the University of Washington, Sean is currently based in Seattle, composing, teaching, and touring.

This is a live recording of the world premiere of this opera which took place on February 1, 1996, in Corbett Theater, Cincinnati, Ohio. About himself, Harold Blumenfeld writes: "I was born in Seattle of musical parents, educated at Yale with Hindemith, in Zurich and at Tanglewood, where I trained with Leonard Bernstein and Boris Goldovsky. In the sixties, from my academic base at Washington University, I launched the Opera Theater of St. Louis, forerunner of the present company, focusing on early and contemporary works and training hundreds of young singers in the process. After a 1971 guest stint at Queens College, CUNY and a productive summer at Yaddo, I shifted gears from opera production to composition. There resulted a series of works based upon Rilke and Mandelstam, Blake, Sassoon, and Hart Crane, Verlaine and Baudelaire. Then with a shock, I discovered Arthur Rimbaud." Seasons in Hell is the result of this discovery. Charles Kondek wrote the libretto for the opera. In May 1997 he was awarded the Marc Blitzstein Memorial Award in Music Theater presented by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Blumenfeld says: "In writing our Seasons in Hell, Charles Kondek and I have ventured into largely uncharted territory - a probing of the psyche and inner drives of a genius, and an attempt to convey the full sweep and splendor of his creations. And what creationswhat genius! Arthur Rimbaud remains literature's most astounding, most perplexing prodigy. At 19, after the production of the bulk of his writing (almost entirely unrecognized in his time), he beats the Saison en enfer out of himself in an act of agonized catharsis, programming an imminent and total renunciation of literature. But his self-amputation of poetry is not quite yet to be completed: over the next two years he goes on to pen some of the most transcendent of his Illuminations. At about 22, after having wrought what later would be regarded as an upheaval and renewal of French letters, he renounces it all and embarks upon a life of action. Ultimately, he makes it to Ethiopia, where he trades in coffee and guns. At 36, his second amputation - of a cancerous leg - takes place. Within the year, he dies." Seasons in Hell is a powerful listening experience. It will be especially appreciated by people who enjoy contemporary opera. Full libretto and extensive notes are enclosed.

With works spanning both chamber and orchestral genres, Sebastian Currier's music has been performed at major venues worldwide by acclaimed artists and orchestras. His music has been heralded as "music with a distinctive voice" by the New York Times and "lyrical, colorful, firmly rooted in tradition, but absolutely new" by the Washington Post. Currier has received many prestigious awards including the Grawemeyer Award, Berlin Prize and an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. This recording features his music for violin and piano performed by internationally known violinist Yehonatan Berwick, who plays on a violin by Joseph Guarneri from 1735 and pianist Laura Melton, who is on the faculty at Bowling Green State University and a noted chamber musician and soloist.

The Mirror Visions Ensemble has had the pleasure of working with many living composers during the past eleven years. This CD continues the tradition, offering first (or second) hearings of new works by five American composers. The ensemble's mission is two-fold: comparing multiple settings - or mirrors - of texts, and also encouraging new visions of texts. The focus here is on visions rather than mirrors. The poetry was chosen by the ensemble from the works of poets who are friends or friends of friends (and now new friends). The five composers are old friends who have written for the ensemble on numerous occasions. What does one hope will result from this process of handing texts to composers who then interpret them with their own musical voices? The match of poet to composer is delicate: the composer needs to feel not only inspired by but at one with the poetry, and the poet needs to be willing to be shocked by the stretching, contorting, coloring and layering that the words might undergo. The results are dynamic, unpredictable, and unique, and - one hopes - of immense interest to those who care about sung words. This program consists of : solo songs with piano for soprano, tenor and baritone, as well as vocal duets and trios with piano. The fifteen-movement work by Tom Cipullo to texts of Linda Pastan is one of the few such pieces for multiple voices with piano. This is a genre not easily defined - part song cycle, part cantata, and part theater work without staging (the music powerfully provides the setting, backdrop, lighting, and action). A new, distinctively American art form can be detected here.

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.

The concept for Seek the Eternal began in the late 1980s when a friend of John Schlenck's suggested the idea of an interfaith oratorio. In pondering how to incorporate three different traditions - Christian, Jewish and Vedantic - Schlenck decided to tell one story: "a kind of universal pilgrim's progress, using a collage of texts from the major traditions....texts from the different traditions would flow into each other without interruption, demonstrating the universality of spiritual truth." The work was first performed in conjunction with a Parliament of the World's Religions held in Chicago in 1993. John Schlenck graduated from the Eastman School of Music with a major in composition and moved to New York City. There, he soon discovered his affinity with Indian thought and joined the Vedanta Society of New York. Serving as its music director since 1961, Schlenck has composed many songs and a number of larger works with Vedantic and other spiritual texts. His instrumental works include three symphonies, a clarinet concerto, and numerous chamber and solo compositions. This is his third recording on Albany Records.

Eric Ewazen writes: "As a member of the faculty of The Juilliard School for over 25 years, I was delighted to find out that so many of my former students from my Literature and Materials of Music classes play in the world-class International Sejong Soloists. My Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra was commissioned by the St. Lukes Chamber Ensemble of New York City and premiered by them with soloist Krista Feeney in May, 2000, during my tenure as their composer-in-residence. It is a large-scaled three-movement work exploring the incredible range of expressive possibilities and colors inherent in the violin. Down a River of Time, a concerto for oboe and string orchestra, was a work which percolated for several years before being composed and premiered by the wonderful oboist and my dear friend, Linda Strommen with the American Sinfonietta, conducted by Michael Palmer at the Bellingham Summer Music Festival in Washington State in August, 1999. Sinfonia for Strings is a rich and resonant celebration of the world of string orchestra sonorities. Capable of both great virtuosity and smooth-as-glass legato lyricism, the string orchestra provides the composer with a world of colors and varied musical emotions."

Composer Michael Dellaira and librettist Susan Yankowitz have written Chéri, a musical drama based on the novel by Colette. This recording consists of selections from The Actors Studio Workshop production in 2005. Dellaira chose his favorite musical passages without regard to whether they tell an abridged version of the story but listening to the selections gives one an accurate picture. Dellaira is currently composer-in-residence at The Center for Contemporary Opera and is at work on an opera based on Joseph Conrad's novel, The Secret Agent, with a libretto by J.D. McClatchy.

The works on this recording span 25 years -- from the Sonata for Cello (1982) to unaccompanied minor (2007). Joel Hoffman comments that, "Like so many composers of my generation, I have worked, over these years, with a number of stylistic dialects -- from a hybrid serialism to a tonal/pan-tonal mix to a folk-inspired modal work to a post-minimalist framework. While I'm arguably the least qualified to describe the threads of continuity...I do observe two persistent qualities...a pervading lyricism and a rhythmic vitality." Hoffman is currently Professor of Composition at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music, where he is also Artistic Director of its annual new music festival, MusicX.

It is common practice in scholarly circles to honor an individual or institution with a festschrift, a collection of essays or articles written by close associates, former students, colleagues, or those with interests relevant to the life’s work of the honoree. In that spirit, Videmus (the non-profit musical organization devoted to furthering the music of African American composers and artists) offers this CD as a musical celebration of Dr. Willis Patterson’s commanding achievements in performance, education, and administration. If a composer like William Grant Still is considered the “Dean of African-American composers,” then “Dean” Patterson, as he is affectionately known by many, could certainly be considered “Dean” of a long line of distinguished black performer/educators that stretch back at least to the 19th century. His commitment to the music of African-Americans exemplified by the 1977 Anthology of Art Songs by Black Composers fostered the scholarly research and performance of this literature by many artists including those on this recording and Jessye Norman.

Steinway Artist Yaroslav Senyshyn is a Canadian born pianist of Ukrainian ancestry. He was a prize pupil of Antonina Yaroshevich, who was a contemporary of Vladimir Horowitz at the Kiev Conservatory. Thus Senyshyn was trained in the grand tradition of piano playing. He was featured in a documentary program about great Canadian pianists and is an active recitalist and concerto soloist, having performed with orchestras around the globe. Lauded by critics as a pianist of "enormous power" (The Washington Post) and for his technical fluency, master of the composer's style, and an understanding of the music" (Fanfare), Dr. Senyshyn is Professor of Music and Moral Philosophy at Simon Fraser University. For his third recording on Albany Records, Senyshyn has chosen two of the most loved concertos for piano: Chopin's Concerto No. 2 and Liszt's Concerto No. 2.

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.

Jeremy Nicholas writes: "Phrases that chill the heart: 'I want a volunteer from the audience.' 'Is this your car, sir?' 'Have we shown you our holiday snaps?' Or how about "Tonight's lecture is on the art of writing comedy." Go to that seminar and one thing you know for sure in advance is that you are consigning yourself to an evening devoid of any humor. Dissecting comedy, analyzing jokes or, in this case, comic songs, has all the allure of pulling off the wings of a butterfly to see how it flies. Setting off writing a comic song is rather like being your own crossword compiler, designing the grid, filling in all the squares, setting your own clues. No, it's not, really. It's more like taking a pile of kid's building bricks and making a spectacular skyscraper from them. No, that's not it either. But there are elements of both that are pertinent (a good word for seminars)." In other words, comedy (and comic songwriting) is hard work. Think of the last time you told a joke and it didn't come off. The material was right but maybe the delivery was off. But remember the joy when the response was perfect: not only did they laugh, but you sensed the anticipation: this is going to be funny. And for this album, the anticipation certainly pays off. Anyone who grew up in the 1950's and 1960's will recall the wonderful humor of the works of Tom Lehrer, the classic HMV (Angel in this country) LP's of Michael Flanders and Donald Swann. More recently we've seen how Stephen Sondheim and William Bolcom can easily move back and forth between the serious and the humorous. And just to prove that comedy can be serious business, we have the participation of Marc-Andre Hamelin, one of the most highly regarded concert and recital pianists as accompanist and composer, joined by his wife Jody Karin Applebaum. Her resume includes performances of Bach's Christmas Oratorio and St. Matthew Passion, Handel's Messiah, to contemporary works by Stephen Albert, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Gorecki. Together they have performed in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Canada, England and the Middle East. Together they have recorded music of Britten, Schoenberg, Bolcom, Wolpe, Weill, Satie and Poulenc. Here both they and you have some fun for a change!

Receiving its first commercial recording in 40 years, Sessions'work is a masterpiece, worthy of comparison to the Alban Berg Concerto. Bolle describes his work as "a group of fragments, some tiny, some larger, which are meant to be heard as a sequence...a ritual/processional that is both a public and private matter."

Acclaimed by the San Francisco Chronicle as "one of the great quartets of our times," the Pro Arte Quartet has enjoyed a long and distinguished career as one of the most enduring string quartets in existence. Founded in Brussels in 1912 by violinist Alphonse Annou and violist Germain Prevost, the Pro Arte became the court quartet to Queen Elisabeth of Belgium. Its world reputation soared with a European tour in 1919, earning the group such outstanding acclaim that many composers - including Bartok, Milhaud, and Honegger - composed new works for the Pro Arte. In 1940, stranded in the United States by the outbreak of World War II, the University of Wisconsin-Madison offered the Quartet the position of Artist-in-Residence, which continues to the present day. Current members, David Perry and Suzanne Beia, violins, Sally Chisholm, viola, and Parry Karp, cello, have continued the Pro Arte legacy. The guest artist on this CD, Samuel Rhodes, has been a member of both the Juilliard String Quartet and the faculty of the Juilliard School since 1969. His Quartet was written while he was studying for his Master of Fine Arts degree at Princeton (with Roger Sessions) shortly before he joined the Juilliard String Quartet. Sessions's influence is very much felt in the piece, especially in the first movement.

The works for clarinet/piano duo on this recording were composed by five distinguished women working in the United States. Four of the pieces date from the later decades of the 20th century and one from mid-century. None of the pieces has been issued in commercial recording before now. The five pieces were chosen because each conveys something intimate and important to the performers (Jessica Lindsey, clarinet and Christian Bohnenstengel, piano). Each has an element that draws the listener closer to catch each inflection, every intended meaning. Dr. Jessica Lindsey has established herself as a dynamic performer and pedagogue, pursuing a career that is equally devoted to both spheres. Her reputation as a clarinetist in both chamber and orchestral settings has seen her perform throughout the United States, and as far afield as China and New Zealand. On the faculty of the University of North Carolina Charlotte, Lindsey studied at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Pianist Christian Bohnenstengel's performances have taken him all over the U.S., to South America and to Europe.

Composers since the 16th century have reveled in writing sets of variations, exploring the wealth of possibilities in a pre-composed theme, often a hymn-tune. The pipe organ is the perfect candidate for presenting these variations not only because of its connection to the church and hymn singing but because of the myriad variety of colors and textures it offers. Canadian-born Maragaret Kvamme's unique program shows off the organ as the ideal medium for this kind of music. Ms. Kvamme, first-prize winner of the 1993 Naples International Organ Festival Competition, has performed extensively throughout the Bay Area, in Michigan, New York, Arizona, and Ontario, Canada. She has appeared on the "Distinguished Women at the Console" Series in Akron, Ohio. Ms. Kvamme performed this recording on the Felgemaker Organ Opus 506 built in 1889, Holy Cross Church, Santa Cruz, California.

Composer David Wolfson enjoys a particularly eclectic and varied compositional career, which has included chamber music, musical theatre and opera. He studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Hunter College and his chamber and solo works have been performed through the United States and Europe. His work Story Salad, a series of stage revues for children, toured the U.S. for 13 consecutive years and was seen by more than a million children, teachers and parents. He has received awards and commissions from the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet The Composer, the Puffin Foundation and the Manhattan Cultural Arts Fund. This first recording devoted to his music includes a work for solo piano and a cello sonata.