Catalog

Tenor Jos Milton relocated to Oxford, Mississippi to teach at the University of Mississippi in 2011. Since moving to his new home, he has become curious and fascinated by the sheer volume of culture that flows from the South. The creation of Southern poetry and literature thrives today and these vibrant writings prove ideal sources for transference to contemporary classical song. The songs on this recording all contain some pertinent connection or thread to this Southern theme. James Sclater's songs are set to texts by Ovid Vickers, a well-known Mississippi writer, teacher, and folklorist. Price Walden's song cycle reflects the experiences of his young life -- growing up in Mississippi and attending the Free Will Baptist Church. Dan Locklair's texts are words of three Southern African-American women transcribed by Emily Herring Wilson, while John Musto's Shadow of the Blues draws on the inspiring words of Langston Hughes, who serves as a voice of hope in African-American culture. A graduate of Trinity University, University of Massachusetts and Peabody, Jos Milton enjoys an active career as a recitalist, chamber musician, and opera singer, in addition to his work as an educator. His collaborator, Melinda Coffee Armstead has performed as recitalist and chamber musician in the U.S., Canada, England, France, and Israel.

Conductor Mark Mandarano and the Sinfonietta of Riverdale offer live performances of American music recorded at their annual series of concerts. The program ranges from America's past to present with luminaries from the past (Walter Piston) to the present time with three generations represented by John Corigliano, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Byron Adams, and Oliver Caplan. A survey that shows us where we have been, where we are, and where we are headed. The Sinfonietta's reputation for fine musicianship and stimulating programming has been recognized by the public and the press. The ensemble has performed the music of world-renowned composers and has a history of commissioned works, one of which (Lunastella) is offered on this recording. Founded in 2008 by artistic director and conductor Mark Mandarano, the Sinfonietta's recordings also appear on the Arabesque label. In addition to the Sinfonietta, Mandarano has served as principal guest conductor of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and has led performances of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, and Nürnberger Symphoniker, among others. He is a graduate of Cornell and the Peabody Conservatory music and is director of instrumental music at Macalaster College.

Passing Through is the third recording devoted to composer Gernot Wolfgang's chamber music compositions. Ever since Wolfgang became interested in contemporary classical music, the prospect of integrating grooves from musical styles such as jazz, rock & roll, pop, world music and electronica into his concert works has intrigued him. The works on this CD contain such grooves as the means of providing forward propulsion, generating additional energy, and also simply for the fun of it. Gernot Wolfgang has been described by Gramophone as a composer with a "winning sonic arsenal," while jazz legend Dave Brubeck characterized his music as being of "unconventional beauty." Born in Austria, Gernot Wolfgang holds degrees from Berklee College of Music, the University of Music in Graz, and the University of Southern California. The recipient of numerous commissions, his music has been performed by major orchestras in the U.S. and Europe. He has taught at the University of Music in Graz and given masterclasses at UCLA, Texas Tech University, University of Music in Vienna and Instrumenta Verano in Oaxaca. He also works as an orchestrator in the film and TV music industry. A stellar group of Los-Angeles based musicians perform on this disc, including Judith Farmer, bassoon; oboist Jennifer Johnson; pianists Joanne Pearce Martin and Robert Thies; and the Eclipse and New Hollywood String Quartets.

This collection of American art song honors two intensely personal yet universal aspects of the human experience: love and loss. The composers featured here each treat a different facet of life -- from earthly joy, to contemplation of the divine, to heady courtship, to the agony of bereavement -- but each provides testament that poetry and music, the fruits of the creative impulse, are death's very antithesis. The centerpiece of this recording, Scott Wheeler's Songs to Fill the Void, is the result of a collaboration between poet-vocalist Robert Barefield and the composer. Barefield's intimate poetry commemorates his beloved partner, Stephen Mazujian, who died in 2014, while they were vacationing in Cambodia. Baritone Robert Barefield has performed as soloist with organizations throughout the U.S. and in Europe. He has appeared with numerous opera companies and with orchestras as an oratorio soloist. An accomplished recitalist, his wide-ranging repertoire includes premiere performances of works by contemporary composers. He is on the faculty at The Hartt School. Pianist Carolyn Hague has been an active member of the musical community in Vienna, Austria for more than 30 years. She currently heads the Master's program in Lied und Oratorio at the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien.

The fifth recording on Albany Records devoted to the music of Allen Shawn features his compositions for cello and includes works for cello duo, cello quartet, and cello and piano. Shawn attributes this recording to the influence of hearing cellist Maxine Neuman perform and her enthusiasm for contemporary music. Neuman participated in the world premiere performances of all of the works on the recording and all but one were composed specifically for her. Born in 1948, Allen Shawn grew up in a literary family. He has been on the faculty at Bennington College for 30 years. He is also an active pianist and the author of four books. He has been a recipient of both a Goddard Lieberson Fellowship, and an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

In 1941, the Nazis began deporting Jews to a concentration camp in Theresienstadt (former Czechoslovakia). An unusually high number of artists and musicians were deported there, and the camp was intended to demonstrate to the world, after a visit by the International Red Cross, how well the Jews were being treated by Hitler's regime. The musicians living in Theresienstadt composed hundreds of vocal and instrumental works, as music was their means of coping with the uncertainty and constant fear that marked life in the camp. This recording offers songs written by inmates of Theresienstadt: Adolf Strauss, Viktor Ullman, Carlo Taube, Ilse Weber, Gideon Klein, and James Simon, all of whom perished in the camps. Composer Norbert Glanzberg, a Polish Jew who survived World War II by hiding in unoccupied France until 1944, composed hits for Edith Piaf, Yves Montand, and Maurice Chevalier, before launching a successful film music career after the war. In his later life, inspired by a collection entitled, "Death is a Master of Germany," writings of both Jewish victims and non-Jewish resistance fighters in the camps. Glanzberg went on to compose his "Holocaust Lieder" in memory of those who perished.

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.

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.

The Negro Spiritual is still vibrant, popular and well-loved all over the world. The Georgia Spiritual Ensemble was formed to maintain the tradition of the Spiritual and to pass on to young singers the awesome power and beauty that is inherent in each melody. The George Spiritual Ensemble also wants to demonstrate through their performances the unyielding faith of the Africans who created these songs. The Spirituals became their voice of protest and their voice of endurance, strength, and courage.

Soprano Rebecca Wascoe Hays is an avid promoter of contemporary American composers and her enthusiasm is evident in this recording of music by the esteemed composer Libby Larsen. Wascoe Hays has chosen two major works (The Magdalene and De Toda La Eternidad) interspersed with two arias from Larsen's operas and two songs. The Magdalene is a setting of Chapter 33 verses 1-12, 14-18 and 30-35 from the Pistis Sophia, a Gnostic text that comes from the third century. De Toda La Eternidad is a song cycle sung by a lover caught in an agonizing suspension of time — a time in which the lover perceives everything from beginning to end, even before the affair begins. Ms. Wascoe Hays has twice been a winner of the Gerda Lissner Foundation Award and has been recognized as a finalist or semi-finalist in many international competitions. She is on the faculties of Texas Tech University and Music in the Marche. Her collaborator, pianist Jeffrey Peterson, has appeared in recitals and master classes on five continents. His concert and recital appearances have taken him around the world.

Composer Erik Lindgren describes the music on this recording as chamber music for the Now Generation. The compositions span a ten-year period of creativity that concludes with the celebration of his 60th birthday. His post-fifty musical life took on a noticeable shift in priorities -- notably his return to writing acoustic music and the influence that Piazzolla and Ginastera had on his aesthetic focus. Every piece on this recording tells a custom-tailored story, and is a unique little microcosm all unto itself. The sense of fun, playfulness and entertainment radiates from each of them. Lindgren studied at Tufts University, the Guildhall School of Music, and the University of Iowa. He is the founder of Sounds Interesting Productions, a commercial recording studio and music production company. He also is a founding member of the new music ensemble Birdsongs of the Mesozoic. His catalog includes more than six dozen works, ranging from solo piano pieces to chamber music to orchestral compositions.

Born in 1941, composer Don Walker attended Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, where he completed his PhD and was the recipient of the Ladd Prix de Paris in Musical Composition in 1966-1968. He also received degrees in library science and history. Walker taught at Sonoma State University as well as at the University of South Florida, and Oregon State; was a church organist; and worked as archivist at the University of the Pacific where he was project archivist for the beginnings of the Dave Brubeck Collection. Walker has written symphonies, operas, chamber music, solo instrumental music and vocal works. He has always loved and had an affinity for Emily Dickinson's poetry, valuing its fresh insights, unique imagery, and depth of feeling. Walker has created a number of cycles of songs using her poetry, most of them focused on nature, love, religion, and death and this recording features these songs. Soprano Ann Moss is a graduate of the Longy School of Music and the San Francisco Conservatory. A champion of contemporary vocal music, she has commissioned and premiered more than 80 art songs, vocal chamber music, and operatic roles. She is joined on this recording by pianist Karen Rosenak, a long-time member of the Empyrean Ensemble and a founding member of Earplay, a San Francisco-based new music ensemble.

This recording celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Pro Arte Quartet -- the oldest string quartet continuously in existence and the first university-ensemble residency in the United States -- plus the dramatic story of how a prominent European quartet became an American one. Founded in Belgium in 1912, the Pro Arte Quartet became stranded while on tour in Madison, Wisconsin in 1940 when the Nazis invaded their country. The University of Wisconsin offered this quartet in exile a permanent home at the university, where it has remained ever since. Six new chamber works were commissioned to celebrate this occasion -- now all available on compact disc. This disc contains String Quartet No. 3 by Benoît Mernier (b. 1964), the leading Belgian composer of his generation and Pierre Jalbert's (b. 1967) work for clarinet and string quartet. Jalbert is the recipient of many awards, including the BBC Masterprize and teaches composition at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. Mernier, also the recipient of commissions and awards, is also a virtuoso organist. He was inducted into the Royal Academy of Belgium in 2007.

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.

Bonhoeffer was conceived as a concert work in a theatrical context by composer Thomas Lloyd. Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) was one of the most influential Christian theologians of the 20th Century. He returned to Germany from the United States to become an active leader of the Confessing Church, which actively resisted the capitulation of the establishment Lutheran and Catholic churches to the fascist leadership of Adolf Hilter. He was involved in the unsuccessful plot to assassinate Hitler and suffered imprisonment and death, being hanged at Flossenbürg Concentration Camp a few weeks before Germany's surrender. He fell in love with Maria von Wedemeyer and was engaged to her shortly before his arrest. The text for Bonhoeffer is adapted from the writings of both Bonhoeffer and von Wedemeyer. Thomas Lloyd is on the faculty at Haverford College; the artistic director of the Bucks County Choral Society; and director of music at the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral. His music has been performed by many choirs — professional, collegiate, community, and high school. The Crossing is a professional chamber choir based in Philadelphia conducted by Donald Nally and dedicated to the commissioning and performance of new music. They have collaborated with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; the International Contemporary Ensemble, Bang on a Can, and the American Composers Orchestra, among many others. They premiered John Luther Adams' Sila: the breath of the world in collaboration with the Mostly Mozart Festival in 2014. Their discography includes six recordings and they have been hailed in reviews as "superb" (New York Times) and "ardently angelic" (The Los Angeles Times). Under conductor Donald Nally's leadership, The Crossing has commissioned and premiered more than 50 works for chorus.

The conception of this recording, Veiled Light, was inspired by the desire to advance the male choral art through superb repertoire written in the 21st century. This innovative and ambitious recording features 13 works by living composers, capturing a wide range of artistry and musical emotions with great spirit, sensitivity, and sincerity. Five works were specifically written for the Miami University Men's Glee Club in its mission to promote and foster the creation and development of new choral works for male choir. Founded in 1907, the Miami University Men's Glee Club has maintained a tradition of musical excellence throughout its storied history. For more than a century, the Glee Club has presented concerts to countless audiences on their campus, around the state, nation, and world. They have toured internationally, performing in Belgium, England, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, and Wales. Conductor Jeremy D. Jones has led the Glee Club in performances at the American Choral Directors Association Central Division Conference as well as several Intercollegiate Men's Choruses National Seminars. The Glee Club was awarded first place and overall grand champion awards at the Concours Européen de Chant Choral in Luxembourg in 2014.

Jerome Kern's 1920 Broadway hit, a Rags-to-Riches "Cinderella" musical, was created for Ziegfeld Follies star Marilyn Miller with book and lyrics by Guy Bolton, P.G. Wodehouse and others, is offered in a CD premiere recording, featuring the cast and ensemble of Light Opera of New York with Gerald Steichen, conductor.

This 2-CD set honors the life and career of Charles Bestor with a selection of his late chamber music. Bestor (1924-2016) studied at Yale with Paul Hindemith after returning from service in World War II; then at Juilliard where he was a student of Vincent Persichetti and Peter Mennin. Bestor worked as a jazz arranger to supplement his income as a composer but turned to teaching. He taught at the University of Colorado; Juilliard; was Dean of the College of Music of Willamette University; but his longest tenure (35 years) was as Head of the Departments of Music and Dance at the University of Massachusetts. He continued to compose, tending toward shorter works because of time constraints. The compositions on this recording include song cycles; a suite for saxophone and piano; a cello sonata; a work for chamber ensemble; and a work for narrator and piano.

This recording contains a representative collection of composer Gary Smart's small chamber music works. Strings, winds, percussion, and piano are used in various groupings -- some traditional, some not. Smart's tendncy is to make use of American rhythms and stylistic genstures, but other influences can be heard as well. Quite a diverse set of compositions, but the majority of them center on the clarinet, inspired by the composer's friendship with Guy Yehuda. A unique musician -- composer-pianist Gary Smart writes music that reflects an abiding interest in Americana, world musics and jazz, as well as the Western classical tradition. This is the fifth recording of his music to appear on the Albany Records label.

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.

The Albany Symphony, conducted by David Alan Miller, gives world premiere performances of two commissioned works by the distinguished American composer Michael Torke. Torke's music has been called "some of the most optimistic, joyful and thoroughly uplifting music to appear in recent years." (Gramophone) Hailed as a "master orchestrator whose shimmering timbral palette makes him the Ravel of his generation" (New York Times), Michael Torke has created a substantial body of works in virtually every genre. Torke has served as Composer In Residence for the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and has founded Ecstatic Records. The two works on this recording include a concerto for piano and orchestra titled Three Manhattan Bridges. Torke uses bridges as a metaphor for connecting to an earlier stance that music once had of a direct relationship with its audience. The second work, titled Winter's Tale is a concerto for cello and orchestra. Though not based on Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, it is inspired by lines from the play.

The New York New Music Ensemble's recording presents three of Lukas Foss's three best chamber works in reverse chronological order of composition. The recording opens with Tashi (1986), working its way backwards through Solo Observed (1982), and concludes with Echoi (1961-63). This presentation allows listeners to enjoy a musical narrative that begins at the end, with a work that represents the culmination of more than 40 years of compositional inquiry. The significance of Tashi's assimilation of stylistic elements is then understood retrospectively through the other two works, each more strongly associated with forward-looking compositional techniques than the last. Foss himself, who as a conductor was known for his innovative programming, would undoubtedly have appreciated this approach to the recording of his music. These three works provide an effective overview of Foss's eclectic compositional style and insight into his aesthetic and expressive motivation. The acclaimed New York New Music Ensemble has commissioned, performed, recorded, taught, and fiercely advocated for the music of our time, achieving international acclaim in its endeavors. The NYNME has more than 25 recordings to its credit and has commissioned and premiered more than 130 works by some of America's most distinguished composers.

This recording of Gregg Smith's works for voice and instruments honors the life and work of this incomparable choral conductor and composer. Smith, who died in July, 2016, was one of the most influential leaders of the American choral movement and championed the music of American composers throughout his long career. His professional chorus, the Gregg Smith Singers, is world-renowned. Gregg Smith himself was also an important American composer, whose works deserve to be better known. The soprano Eileen Clark, who first met Smith more than 25 years ago, has spent several years going through manuscripts and deciding which of his works for voice and instrument to include on this recording. They are all major works that belong in the canon of American art song. Ms. Clark, a member of the Gregg Smith Singers, has an impressive list of performances with opera companies and festivals throughout the United States. Her singing has been described by the New York Times as "a knockout" for her interpretation of Gershwin and Porter, and "shining, confident" for her rendering of Krenek's Kantate. She is joined by colleagues Thomas Schmidt, piano; Ari Streisfeld, violin; and Evan Ziporyn, clarinet.

When the planning for this set of recordings first began, the driving concept was to revive interest in the American choral repertoire of the middle of the 20th century as represented by recordings made by the Gregg Smith Singers. With the death of Gregg Smith on July 12, 2016, these recordings also serve as a memorial to the career of a man whose devotion to choral music in general, and especially American choral music "of every time and place," was greater than that of almost any other of his generation. Smith had an uncanny gift for seeking out and nourishing the talent of lesser-known American choral composers—both young and old—showcasing their works through concerts and recordings. Gregg Smith was founder and conductor of the Gregg Smith Singers; conductor of the Long Island Symphonic Choral Association; and composer-in-residence for Saint Peter's Lutheran Church in New York, as well as being an accomplished, prolific composer. No other conductor did as much to raise the standards of choral singing in the second half of the 20th century, or was as influential on other American choral conductors and composers. The full array of mid-twentieth century American choral music is presented here—all coming from the archives of the Gregg Smith Singers.

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.

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.

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

Composer Paul Salerni was introduced to the poetry of Dana Gioia by his wife, who also insisted that he set it to music. That setting and all of the subsequent work that he and Gioia have done together have been key to Salerni's compositional voice. This recording presents three works of his and Gioia's that contemplate various aspects of love (filial, familial, marital, aesthetic, erotic, agapic, greedy, etc.). The string quartet included in this recording is more abstract, but a no less meaningful expression of love by Salerni for his family. Salerni, who studied at Harvard, is on the faculty at Lehigh University. His songs and chamber music are widely performed to critical acclaim. The music on this, his second recording for Albany Records, truly sings and dances.

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.

Iranian-American composer Reza Vali has a unique and very personal ethos in that his artistic output attempts to understand the dialogue between the ancients and the moderns. It addresses his conviction that what has been historically and artistically camouflaged can be revealed. Since 2000, Vali has been composing exclusively within the demanding palette of Persian polyphony. The works on this recording include a works for microtonal trumpet and orchestra; songs using Persian folksongs as their inspiration; a work originally written for Persian wind instruments and ensemble, scored for clarinet and ensemble here; and a work for Persian Ney, Kamanche, and orchestra. A member of the faculty at Carnegie Mellon, Vali studied in Iran, at the Academy of Music in Vienna, and the University of Pittsburgh. The recipient of numerous awards and commissions, his music has been performed by some of the most notable orchestras and ensembles in the United States, including the Seattle Symphony, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Da Capo Chamber Players, and the Kronos Quartet, among many others. This is his fourth recording for Albany Records.

The seventh volume in the New Music From Bowling Green features works by Chinese composers Shen Yiwen and Xiaogang Ye; German composer Martin Herchenröder and American composers Braxton Blake and Ingram Marshall. The music includes music for orchestra (First Orchestral Essay and Winter 1; concertos (Concerto for Two Guitars and Concerto for Clarinet); and a work for orchestra and tape (Bright Kingdoms). As with all the recordings in this series, the composers have recorded their thoughts about their works.

Bruno Skulte (1905-1976) was a talented composer as well as a dynamic conductor and organist. He drew most of his inspiration from the culture of his Latvian homeland even though he lived in Germany and the United States. Skulte left Latvia for Germany when the Soviets invaded in World War II, along with thousands of other Latvian refuges. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1949 and lived the rest of his life there. He was the organist and choir conductor for the Latvian Lutheran Church of New York as well as two other Latvian choirs. He carried on the tradition of Latvian song festivals with hundreds and even several thousand singers on stage. While he never stopped composing, his works were not heard in Latvia during the Soviet occupation as they were deemed too "Latvian." His choral music is sonorous, lyrical, emotional, at times dramatic, and always sincere. The Latvian coloring is created mostly by the lyrics. Skulte used lyrics that seemed to express Latvian sensitivities: love of nature, love of country and other virtues taught by the dainas, the ancient Latvian folk poems. He died in New York, never having been able to revisit his beloved Latvia.