Catalog

Two colleagues from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, oboist John Dee and bassoonist Timothy McGovern, join pianist Cara Chowning in a program of music for winds and piano. The composers hail from the U.K., Germany, Italy, Canada and the U.S. The program includes two trios for oboe, bassoon and piano; two works for oboe and piano and two works for bassoon and piano. All three performers have enjoyed active performing and academic careers. Dee served as principal oboe of the Florida Philharmonic and Florida Opera and McGovern is principal bassoon of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra as well as the bassoonist for the Prairie Winds Woodwind Quintet. In addition to her performance schedule, Chowning was music director of Opera Cleveland's Great Works Outreach Department.

Composer by character and performer by temperament, James Scott Balentine brings a complex mix of multicultural and eclectic experiences to his music. Professor of Music at the University of Texas at San Antonio, Balentine has received awards, grants and commissions from the Barlow Endowment, the Opera Guild of San Antonio, and many chamber ensembles and soloists. For this recording, clarinetist Robert Walzel has assembled works for clarinet and piano; clarinet and bassoon; and clarinet ensemble. Most of these works have received performances at the annual ClarinetFest conferences that take place around the world. Performer Robert Walzel has been featured at music festivals and other venues around the world for more than 25 years and was principal clarinet of the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra before becoming Dean of the School of Music at the University of Kansas.

During the past several years, the Corona Guitar Kvartet (Per Dybro Sorensen, Volkmar Zimmermann, Kristian Gantriis and Mikkel Andersen) has specialized in forging personal relationships with composers of varying styles, and of performing their works. The selections on this, their sixth CD, reflect the diversity of contemporary music styles performed by the Kvartet and most of it was written especially for them by composers taken with the the Kvartet's openness to differing musical visions, its willingness to play composers whose music its members admire, and its dedication to understanding each work on its own terms. The composers include Charles Norman Mason and Dorothy Hindman, faculty members at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music; Edward Green, a faculty member at the Manhattan School of Music; Franco Sbacco, a faculty member at the State Conservatory of Music Santa Cecilia of Rome; and Fred Frith, a faculty member at Mills College.

A stellar lineup of new music ensembles and performers, including the Brentano and Manhattan String Quartets and the percussion ensemble Talujon, are featured on this new disc of chamber works by noted composer Eric Moe. Called "music of winning exuberance," by the New York Times, this disc includes works for string quartet; for percussion ensemble; solo percussion; soprano and string quartet; and a work for viola and cello. Moe, a graduate of Princeton and the University of California at Berkeley, is the recipient of numerous awards and commissions, including the Lakond Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Recordings of his music appear on the Naxos, Koch, New World and Albany Records labels. He is currently on the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh.

Composer Paul Salerni is on the faculty at Lehigh University where he teaches composition and directs the new music ensemble. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard and is a leading expert on the music of Earl Kim as well as being a dedicated educator. His music, described by the New York Times as "impressive" and "playful," has been performed throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe and China. He is the recipient of numerous awards and commissions: his opera Tony Caruso's Final Broadcast won the National Opera Association's Chamber Opera competition and was premiered in 2008. This recording, which contains his chamber music written over the past ten years, reflects his belief that "music should make you want to dance, sing, cry, laugh. It should move you physically and emotionally." Through chamber ensembles, Salerni has taken advantage of the possibilities for music to touch and be touched.

Russian-born pianist Rose Shlyam Grace has collaborated with flutist Katherine Fink, euphonium player Ed Morse, and pianist Kristie Born to record six works by contemporary American composers — all of which have been written since 2000. The works include two solo piano pieces by Gregory Fritze and M. Shawn Hundley; two works for euphonium and piano by Gregory Fritze; a sonata for flute and piano by Philip Wharton; and a piece for two pianos by Zack Browning. Ms. Grace has concertized throughout the U.S. as a soloist and chamber music recitalist. She is a graduate of Oberlin, the University of Chicago and Eastman and is on the faculty at Bethune-Cookman University as well as teaching at Daytona State College.

Entering its 30th season, the American Horn Quartet continues to be unique in the field of brass chamber music. Their exuberant performances have brought audiences all over the world to their feet. The individual members of the AHQ are all very successful soloists in their own right — four Americans who work and reside in Europe. The AHQ has more than 500 concerts and masterclasses to its credit and has produced 10 compact discs. This disc, a collection of gems that the AHQ has performed over the years, is appropriately titled En-Cor!

Soprano Mary Elizabeth Southworth, flutist Danielle Hundley, clarinetist Marianne Breneman, and pianist Philip Amalong, formed the ensemble Conundrum in 2005. The group's name suggests both their unusual ensemble and also their openness and need to experiment with adventurous programming. After more than a decade of delighting audiences with their discoveries of repertoire for this ensemble and an active commissioning program, they have gathered the best of this music together for this their first recording. The result is From the Diamond Grid: first recordings of seven new works written or re-scored for the ensemble, plus one old favorite of theirs, which was modified for their instrumentation.

Composer Ingrid Arauco comments that "The word vistas conjures up a panorama of vivid images; however, it also signifies a broad perspective encompassing many experiences over time. The works on this album, written over a 13-year period, comprise a series of strong musical images embracing a variety of styles. Yet together they project a unified artistic vision." A faculty member at Haverford College, Ms. Arauco's music has been performed by many distinguished musical organizations including the Atlanta Symphony, the Colorado Quartet and the Network for New Music. She is the recipient of numerous honors including awards from the American Guild of Organists. This program, performed by some of the best-known instrumentalists in the U.S., shows Arauco's music to be engaging and compelling.

Alec Wilder was a major figure in the New York music world, equally at home writing for ballet and opera, or composing songs for Tommy Dorsey, authoring concertos or pop standards for Frank Sinatra. He was a composer who managed to bridge the worlds of serious and popular music, jazz and classical, the concert hall and the dance hall, maintaining credibility in all these areas. This second recording of Wilder's music for brass by Charles Tibbetts includes two suites for horn, tuba and piano; a world premiere recording of Wilder's Suite for Clarinet, Horn and Piano and a Jazz Suite for Four Horns, Harpsichord, Guitar, Bass and Drums.

Six pieces of chamber music by Anna Weesner (one solo, two duos, two trios, and one large-spirited piece scored for six musicians) make up this recording. The works were composed over a span of 10 years between 1999 and 2008. Anna Weesner is on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a Pew Fellowship in the Arts. Described as animated and full of surprising turns, her music has been performed by the leading contemporary music ensembles.

This recording of five works for Japanese instruments by American composer Donald Reid Womack, places him in the vanguard of intercultural composition. Japanese instruments have been a major part of Womack's musical world since 2003 when he was asked to write a composition for the Asia Ensemble. His music for Japanese and other Asian instruments finds a balance in the connections that exist between his background as an American and the rich sounds that are available to the composer through these instruments. A faculty member at the University of Hawaii, his music has been performed and broadcast extensively throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, Oceania and South America.

Double Entendre, an ensemble of double reeds, consists of oboists/English hornists Karisa Antonio, Sarah Davol, Kathryn K. Englehardt, Marsha Heller, Nancy Ranger, Christa Robinson, Elizabeth K. Scott, and Sherry Sylar and bassoonists Susanne Chen, Keith Kriendler, Atsuko Sato, and Dirk Wels. Based in New York City, Double Entendre Music Ensemble is a collective of like-minded musicians devoted to adventurous exploration of the double reed repertoire. This recording is the culmination of a multi-year project to commission, perform and record repertoire for these instruments.

SOLI Chamber Ensemble, which includes Stephanie Kay, clarinet; David Mollenauer, cello; Ertan Torgul, violin; and Carolyn True, piano, was founded in 1994 and has been shattering stereotypes for classical music since then. This award-winning ensemble (recipient of the 2013 CMA/ASCAP award for Adverturous Programming, presents concerts featuring underappreciated giants of the modern and contemporary classical repertoire, plus they annually commission new works by emerging and established composers. Their dynamic performances are heard on this disc of four world premiere recordings — all commissioned by SOLI. The music on this recording includes Timothy Kramer's Cycles & Myths, written in 1996; Robert Xavier Rodríguez's Música, por un tiempo (2008); David Heuser's Catching Updrafts; and Alexandra Gardner's Crows.

Composer Allen Anderson, a member of the faculty at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, has been the recipient of numerous awards, honors, and commissions, including the Goddard Lieberson Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2005. The five works of his music on this recording were written between 1996 and 2008 and display Anderson's preoccupation with discursive line, counterpoint and their dramatic entanglement in the enactment of abstract narrative. Works for string trio, for solo piano, and for solo cello are joined by a work for saxophone quartet and one for a large chamber ensemble. The music is performed by noted performers of contemporary music including Curtis Macomber, Charles Curtis, Aleck Karis, David Russell, Thomas Warburton, the Rasa Saxophone Quartet, and the Empyrean Ensemble.

David Owens, pianist and composer, has long experience as an organist, conductor and accompanist as well. He has appeared as soloist, in addition to working as a collaborative artist with hundreds of singers and instrumentalists. A graduate of Eastman, where he studied composition, his compositions have been played and sung by chamber ensembles, orchestras, choruses, and soloists throughout the United States. Owens is also a widely read music journalist, having received the Deems Taylor Award for Distinguished Music Criticism. This recording, devoted to his chamber music, includes an older work written in 1985 (Fantasy on a Celtic Carol), as well as two recent works (Sonata for Two Pianos, written in 2010 and Raking the Snow, written in 2008).

Alvin Singleton studied at New York University, Yale and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He served as Composer-in-Residence with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and is the recipient of many fellowships and awards. Singleton was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2014 and recordings of his music appear on the Albany Records, ACA Digital, Elektra/Nonesuch, Telarc and Innova labels. His music is soulful, with an understated simplicity that glows with warmth and is honest and self-assured. This recording of his chamber music includes four works for solo instruments in a series titled Argoru (an African word meaning play), as well as a work for clarinet, violin and piano; a work for winds; and a work for solo piano titled In My Own Skin.

Among the oldest of all musical instruments, the harp remains an under-utilized instrument in contemporary compositions. Composer David S. Lefkowitz thrives on pondering the nature of the harp and exploring the harp's unique limitations in new and imaginative ways. The music presented on this recording includes prize-winning compositions, commissions, as well as music written for the composer's friends and spans 20 years of Lefkowitz's compositional efforts. A graduate of Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania and Eastman, Lefkowitz has won international acclaim, having works performed in Europe, Asia, Russia, and throughout North and South America. He is a two-time winner of the Fukui Harp Music Awards Competition as well as having received awards from the National Association of Composers, the Society of New Music's Brian M. Israel Prize and the ALEA III International Competition, among many others. This is the second recording of his music to appear on Albany Records.

Albany Records continues its series devoted to the music of Pulitzer Prize winning composer Charles Wuorinen with this disc, which includes the world premiere recordings of two major chamber works from 2008, as well as new recordings of two Wuorinen classics. The music is performed by several of the finest Wuorinen specialsts: the New York New Music Ensemble; violinist Mark Steinberg; pianist Alan Feinberg; and percussionist George Nickson. In the notes, Frank J. Oteri writes that "At this point in his career, his [Wuorinen's] chamber music output must now be one of the most extensive ever created by an American composer." The four works are performed in descending order of the number of musicians involved: quartet, trio, duo and solo percussion, although the final work is every bit as multilayered as the earlier works, giving the impression of a work for chamber ensemble.

Born in 1950, composer Tom Flaherty is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including Meet the Composer, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. His music is performed throughout Europe and North America by some of the best known contemporary music ensembles in the United States A graduate of Brandeis, SUNY Stony Brook and the University of Southern California, he currently is on the faculty at Pomona College. An accomplished cellist as well as composer, Flaherty's compositions reflect his love of this instrument. The music on this recording was written over a seven year span and was inspired by his friends, colleagues and family. His compositions juxtapose simple things in interesting ways. Colliding meters, tempos, modes and levels of dissonance permeate his recent music but the performer's experience remains at the forefront.

These three sonatas for violin and piano, all of them from the last five years of Schumann's life, have always been curiously little known and underplayed. While the first sonata is the best known of the three, it is not uncommon to come across musicians who are not familiar with the second and third sonatas, with many assuming that there are only two sonatas. The structures of these sonatas may not be the most readily comprehensible, however the musical inspiration Schumann displays is hauntingly original, rewarding for the performer and listener alike and deserving to be as much a part of the canon as the more frequently performed Brahms sonatas. Acclaimed artists, violinist Jennifer Frautschi and pianist John Blacklow, give compelling performances of these sonatas. Performing together since 1995, they were selected by Carnegie Hall for its Distinctive Debuts series and have performed at world famous venues in Europe as part of the European Concert Hall Organization's Rising Stars series.

The five works on the first disc are by two of the sons of J.S. Bach, and all are examples of what were known at the time as trios. Yet they are a diverse group, reflecting not only the distinct styles of their two composers by also the various types of sonatas written by them. The works on the second disc illuminate the crucial role played by C.P.E. Bach in the shift from the Baroque to the Rococo style and the tremendous artistic value of his work. On the faculty at Duke University, flutist Rebecca Troxler specializes in the music of J.S. Bach's sons and other Rococo composers and this repertoire shows off her warm tone, stylish phrasing and brilliant technique. A graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts and Juilliard, she was a founding member of Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the North Carolina Baroque Orchestra. Her colleagues are all noted specialists in Baroque music.

The three pieces on this compact disc are the results of a collaborative effort between composer John Allemeier and dancer/choreographer E.E. Balcos, who together created an evening-length, dance-theater work based on three murder ballads — folksongs that describe homicides and their aftermaths. As both artists live and work in North Carolina, they fittingly focused their collaboration on murder ballads from that state. Poor Ellen is based on a balled that recounts the 1892 shooting of Ellen Smith by her lover, while Pieces of Silver was inspired by a murder ballad about Frankie Silver who killed her husband with an ax. Deep Water (Omie Wise) tells the story of how Jon Lewis drowned Omie Wise in 1807. Described as "rapturous" by American Record Guide, John Allemeier's music has been programmed at festivals around the world, including Europe, Russia, South Korea, and Brazil as well as in the U.S. A graduate of the University of Iowa, Allemeier also studied at Northwestern University and Augustana College with additional work in Germany and the Czech Republic. He teaches music theory and composition at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Members of the Divan Consort, a Los Angeles based ensemble present a program of music by composers from Turkey, China, Armenia, South America and the United States. Reflecting the ethnic and national backgrounds of the performers in the ensemble, the Divan Consort is committed to enhancing diversity in music, exposing music by composers from underdeveloped countries to audiences in the U.S. and Europe, as well as performing landmark compositions of the 20th and 21st centuries. Pianist and founder of the Divan Consort, Füreya Ünal, hails from Turkey, while clarinetist Virginia Figueiredo is Portuguese; violinist Mira Khomik from the Ukraine; cellist Maksim Velichkin from Uzbekistan; percussionist Yuri Inoo from Japan; and flutist Pamela Martchev from the United States.

This recording is a result of the collaborative cross-relations that exist between the musicians and composers on the disc, and their enthusiasm for each other's work. Violist Jonathan Bagg, composers Scott Lindroth and Stephen Jaffee are colleagues at Duke University, while flutist Laura Gilbert and Bagg were co-directors of the Monadnock Music Festival. While Miriam Gideon's playful and probing Creature to Creature was not written for these players, it seemed to add a different, powerful voice that was aesthetically consonant with the other works on the CD. Gilbert and Bagg are joined by harpist Stacey Shames, pianist Donald Berman, guitarist Daniel Lippel and mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Shammash for performances that evoke the character of these wonderful recent compositions.

The Palisades Virtuosi (Margaret Swinchoski, flute, Donald Mokrynski, clarinet, Ron Levy, piano) have an admirable and well-earned reputation as "The Commissioners" because of their ongoing program of commissioning and premiering works for their ensemble from American composers. This recording, the fifth in their series of New American Masterpieces, features new works from seven distinguished composers whose music displays an array of styles, while exhibiting richness and depth. In all, the Palisades Virtuosi have commissioned and premiered almost 70 new works, giving performances throughout the northeastern United States. Palisades Virtuosi have been appointed "Visiting Artists" at Bergen Community College in New Jersey.

Composer Bevan Manson has received commissions for both classical and jazz music from numerous ensembles including the Sierra Chamber Society and the San Francisco Symphony. He is a founding member of the Los Angeles composers' group Improvisatory Minds, an organization that provides a platform for concert music written by composers who have jazz as an extensive part of their musical backgrounds. A noted jazz pianist, Manson was director of UC Jazz at Cal Berkeleyand has served on the faculties of New England Conservatory, Berklee College and the Thelonious Monk Institute. This recording, the first devoted entirely to his music, combines his classical and jazz roots in a unique style that is complex but very tuneful.

Compositional clarity of purpose amid a counterpoint of ideas and materials brings together this generous collection of Jeffrey Mumford's music, all of which are heard in thoughtful and sensitive performances. A native of Washington, D.C., composer Jeffrey Mumford has received numerous fellowships, grants, awards and commissions including the Academy Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts & Letters. Formerly on the faculty at Oberlin College, he is now Distinguished Professor of Music at Lorain County Community College. Mumford was in residence at the National Gallery of Art in 2013 and some of the works on this 2-CD recording come out of this residency.

The Buckley Chamber Players, named in honor of its home venue, Amherst College's Buckley Recital Hall, was founded in 2008. Its members are on the faculty at Amherst and Smith College and the University of Massachusetts. Playing a varied repertoire, it is dedicated to a close collaboration with composers who write works for the ensemble. This recording is representative of their concerts, and includes three works written for them, two of them by composers on the faculty at Amherst (Eric Sawyer and Lewis Spratlan).

Captivated by the sound of the native American flute, virtuoso flutist James Pellerite has virtually single-handedly reinvented the playing of the instrument by commissioning dozens of composers to write for it. The resulting new works have challenged Pellerite to develop new techniques for the instrument. His legacy is therefore both an entire body of literature for the instrument and the development of techniques necessary to perform the music. Former principal flutist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Pellerite has also had a long and distinguished career as Professor of Flute at Indiana University. This recording showcases the native American flute in a range of contemporary styles by eight composers, performed by the man who re-imagined the instrument.

To celebrate their 100th anniversary, the Pro Arte Quartet commissioned works from four distinguished American composers (Walter Mays, Paul Schoenfield, William Bolcom and John Harbison), which were given their world premiere performances in 2011-2012. The Pro Arte Quartet was founded in 1911-12 by teenage prodigies who were students at the Brussels Conservatory. Stranded in the USA in 1940 by the outbreak of World War II, the Quartet became established at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where they became the first professional string quartet in residence at an American university. In all, the Quartet has commissioned more than 100 new works so it was fitting that the centerpiece of their centennial celebration include commissions, performances and recordings of these new works.

Ross Bauer's music is intensely lyrical, powerfully dramatic, harmonically rich and variegated, beautifully proportioned, rhythmically agile and dynamic, vibrantly hued, and emotionally and expressively generous. The stellar performances on this disc will bear this out for the listener. Bauer is a consummate composer, deeply committed to writing music exhibiting not only the utmost skill and integrity, but also the desire to connect with his listeners. On the faculty at the University of California, Davis, Bauer's music appears on the Albany, GM, Centaur and New World record labels. He received a 2005 Academy Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Walter Hinrichsen Award.