Catalog

Don Walker's esthetic stems from the example of Charles Ives. Like Ives, Walker prefers to embrace all styles, as long as they produce music that is original, expressive, and involving for the listener. Many of the works on this recording date from the 1980s. During this time, Walker was often influenced by the Post Modern esthetic, which seemed to be taking over from Serialism and Chance Music. The music is lyrical, tonal, and often manifests jazz and world music influences. This is Walker's fourth recording for Albany Records.

Composer/pianist Grigor Khachatryan is an Armenian-American who was born and raised in the post-Soviet Union Armenia. He was taught from childhood that life holds no meaning without freedom. Both of his piano sonatas are based on stories that honor men and women who have given their lives to preserve human freedom and elevate the value of human life. Khachatryan came to the United States as a teenager, living in Bedford, Indiana where he finished high school, taking piano lessons at Indiana University at the same time. He went on to do his undergraduate and graduate work there, completing a Doctorate degree in Piano Performance. A winner of many awards and competitions, Khachatryan is active as a concert artist and composer. He is on the faculty at Concordia College, Moorhead.

This recording of works for strings by women composers includes two works for string trio by Victoria Bond and Julie Mandel; a work for solo cello and two works for violin duo by Rain Worthington; and a composition for violin and cello by Adrienne Albert. The performers include Anna Cromwell, assistant professor of violin and viola and the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point; Lisa Nelson, who is instructional professor of viola, violin, and string pedagogy at Illinois Wesleyan University; and Mira Frisch, associate professor of cello and director of string chamber music at the university of North Carolina at Charlotte. Both Anna Cromwell and Mira Frisch appear on Albany Records performing as a violin/cello duo.

This live recording of the Atlanta Music Festival 2016 comprises a unique combination of music, literature, and history, addressing the African American journey from slavery to an as yet unachieved dream of a "more perfect union." Beginning with Atlanta school children singing Lift Every Voice and Sing, the CD proceeds with music and spoken dialogue extolling "liberty and justice for all" through the words of Barack Obama, James Dickey, Robert Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Langston Hughes. Of special note are the performances of the beloved Jessye Norman singing songs by Duke Ellington and spirituals. The Atlanta Music Festival has its origins in the Atlanta Colored Music Festival, begun in 1910, four years after the Atlanta race riots, by Rev. Henry Hugh Proctor to promote racial reconciliation through the arts.

This recording covers more than 60 years of compositions and contains some of the very best French music for bassoon and piano. All but two of the composers were born in France and the two that were not (Tansman and Mihalovici) were profoundly influenced by French music and lived the majority of their lives in France. Bassooist Timothy McGovern is on the faculty at the University of Illinois, in addition to serviing as principal basson of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Illinois Chamber Orchestra, Champaign-Urbana Sympony Orchestra, as well as being a member of the Prairie Winds Woodwind Quintet. The receipient of numerous awards and honors, McGovern's discography includes more than 30 recordings of orchestral, chamber music, and solo repertoire. Pianist Cara Chowning is on the faculty at Ball State University and has a very active career as a pianist and music director.

This recording emerged from a series of personal Scottish connections of tenor Justin Vickers; his Scottish heritage; his collaboration with Scottish pianist Geoffrey Duce; and his scholarly work with Jennifer Oates on the composer Hamish MacCunn. The first recording of MacCunn's Cycle of Six Love-Lyrics, is paired with a selection of his other songs, along with works by Scottish composer Judith Weir, and Britten's cycles set to the poetry of Robert Burns. Justin Vickers has a distinguished career as a recitalist, opera singer, chamber musician, and educator. He is on the faculty of Illinois State University, Normal. His collaborator Gretchen Church is on the faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University at Bloomington. Pianist Geoffrey Duce is on the faculty at Illinois State University.

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.

The Atlanta Chamber Winds is the premiere ensemble of its type in the Southeastern United States. Founded by Robert J. Ambrose in 2006, the group comprises many of the finest professional wind players in Atlanta. The ensemble is committed to promoting and recording lesser-known works for the chamber wind medium, as demonstrated by this recording of 20th and 21st century works by composers Robert Spittal, Leslie Bassett, Tim Jansa, Esther W. Ballou, Daniel Pinkham, and Ezra Laderman. The compositions range from an octet for winds to a double woodwind quintet, to a wind sextet and a wind trio.

This is a recording of five cantatas written by 20th century Latvian composers, some of whom grew up outside of Latvia, while othrs lived under the Soviet regime. From the forced emigration of 1944 up until 1988, when the Iron Curtain started to collapse, composers living outside Latvia were omitted from the music history books of the Soviet Union. They were treated as invisible, despite the fact that for more than 40 years they created a significant number of important works. After Latvia regained its independence, there was an opportunity to introduce these works to Latvian audiences. The music on this recording was written beteen 1960 and 1980, at a time when Latvians around the world, although in foreign lands, felt open and free, but Latvians living in their homeland felt oppressed and morally humiliated. In addition to the four cantatas composed by Latvians living outside Latvia, the work of Imants Kalnins, who was living in Latvia, is included as it was composed at a time when the stirrings of overcoming the Soviet Union were in the air.

Across the Ages features cello works written by the prolific American composer Alan Hovhaness (1911-200). Inspired by elements of ancient Armenian, Japanese, and Indian music, the collection of works reflects Hovhaness' renowned ability to synthesize different musical traditions. Utilizing the cello's rich and expressive nature, Hovhaness' music reveals the timeless connection we have to past civilizations, to nature, and to one another. Cellist Christina Gullans is an avid performer with an interest in music semiology. A former member of the Boston String Quartet, she has participated in numerous festivals, including Aspen, Spoleto, and Music Without Borders. She plays an American cello made by Charles Albert in 1886.

Let Evening Come: American Songs Old and New collects the songs of three American composers, stretching across time and a variety of styles. The early 20th-century pianist Frank La Forge was an accompanist to the greatest singers of his era, but also found time to write beautiful and effective art songs for his collaborators to perform in concert. Robert Spillman is a modern counterpart to La Forge, having worked for years as a pianist and opera conductor before returning to composition in retirement. His songs lie at the heart of this disc, capturing the inspiration of an intriguing group of poets. From the nature-inspired ruminations of Sara Teasdale and Jane Kenyon to the comic world of Alice N. Persons, Spillman's songs are moving, and in some cases, sly and amusing. Well-known opera and song composer Lori Laitman is represented by two stirring arias from her 2016 opera The Scarlet Letter.

Scott Sandberg performs a concert of works for tenor saxophone and piano ranging from new works by Catherine McMichael, to music by French and American composers written in the 1970s and 1980s. Sandberg is on the faculty at the University of North Dakota and maintains an active schedule as a performer, clinician, and adjudicator. He has toured China three times, including performing as a featured soloist with the East China Normal University Orchestra and is a regular performer at the North American Saxophone Alliance Conferences and International Saxophone Symposiums. He is a graduate of the University of North Dakota and the University of Iowa. He has presented clinics at the North Dakota Music Educators Association, the Northeast Texas Saxophone Symposium, and numerous universities and high schools.

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.

With this recording, soprano Michelle Murray Fiertek presents a collection of songs lovingly grown in the American tradition, which audibly draw influence from domestic genres like folk and musical theatre. The diverse selection of poetry channels American landscapes, both great and small, and these images illustrate not only America's unique topography, but also a steadfast cultural appreciation of its singularity. Ms. Fiertek is an active performer and teacher of wide-ranging musical styles. An accomplished recitalist, Fiertek specializes in Spanish and American art song. A member of the faculty at The Hartt School and Manchester Community College, she also serves as executive director of the Hartford Opera Theater. Her collaborator, pianist Michael Korman, performs in opera productions and recitals as well as coaching classical singers and directng music at a church.

Violins of Hope is an artistic and educational project composed of instruments that were owned by Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust. Violins in the collection were played in the concentration camps and ghettos, providing a source of comfort for some and a means of survival for others. Above all, the instruments represented strength and optimism for the future during mankind's darkest hour. The project was founded by Amnon and Avshalom Weinstein, Israeli luthiers who collect and refurbish the instruments and bring them to communities around the world. Violinist Niv Ashkenazi was invited to join other musicians performing on instruments from this collection and now holds one of the instruments on a long-term loan. This violin, made between 1900-1929 in Eastern Europe or Germany, was used by Ashkenazi for this recording. Ashkenazi has chosen Jewish repertoire from throughout the lifetime of the violin. Like the instruments in the Violins of Hope collection, most of these composers were affected by the Holocaust. Virtuoso violinist Niv Ashkenazi has captivated audiences with his heartfelt musicianship and emotional performances. An accomplished soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician, he has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School. Pianist Matthew Graybil has performed throughout the United States and Canada since making his orchestral debut at age 14. The recipient of numerous awards and prizes, he is a graduate of The Juilliard School.

Lucinda y las Flores de la Nochebuena is a children's opera with music by Evan Mack and libretto by Joshua McGuire. The concept was conceived at a National Opera Association Convention when Mack, McGuire, and director Anthony Radford agreed that operas for children were missing from new American opera. Subsequently California State University at Fresno commissioned a 45 minute opera that could tour schools and be performed in opera houses. The result is Lucinda y las Flores de la Nochebuena -- a multicultural Christmas opera for all ages. Since its premiere in Fresno, Lucinda has been produced all over the United States and seen by more than 20,000 children. Composer Evan Mack, a member of the faculty at Skidmore College, has devoted much of his compositional life to opera and song. Mack was named 2018 Professional of the Year by Musical America and was a composing fellow at the John Duffy Composers Institute. Librettist Joshua McGuire has collaborated with Evan Mack on numerous operas. He was commissioned in 2015 to write a libretto for Washington National Opera's American Opera Initiative. His is an author as well as being on the faculty at Vanderbilt University.

Composer/performer Kurt Rohde is artistic advisor with the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble and the Composers Conference, as well as a curator at the Center for New Music. A professor at University of California-Davis, Rohde received the Rome and Berlin Prizes as well as awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Barlow, Fromm, Hanson, and Koussevitzky Foundations. The sequence of poems Rohde chose for the first work on the recording (It wasn't a dream ) are by Diane Seuss and is written for soprano (Charlotte Mundy), tenor (Andrew Fuchs), and piano four hands (Michael Brofman and Miori Sugiyama). The second work, Treatises for an Unrecovered Past is for string quartet and was inspired by music treatises and is performed by the Lydian Quartet.

French composer Charles-Marie Widor is best known for his works for organ, but he also wrote operas, a sizable body of ballet music, and various other vocal and orchestral works. This recording highlights some of his forgotten songs, performed by soprano Rebecca Wascoe Hays, bass Allen Saunders, soprano Nicole Leupp Hanig, and pianist Susan McDaniel. Ms. Hays, who champions American composers in her performances, is on the faculty at Texas Tech University and is artistic director of Music in the Marche, an opera training program for young singers located in Mondavio, Italy. Saunders, in addition to his active performance schedule, is on the faculty at Northern Arizona University School of Music. Ms. Hanig has performed in the U.S., as well as Europe and Japan, and now is artistic director of Opera on the Bluff and on the faculty at the University of Portland. McDaniel, also on the faculty at the University of Portland, has appeared widely as a solo and collaborative pianist.

Two works honoring Earth Day comprise this distinctive recording. The first, by composer John Harmon, is a symphonic setting of the words of John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Earth Day Founder Sen. Gaylord Nelson with descendants of these men as narrators. The second, Hymn to the Earth by Edward Joseph Collins, is a secular cantata for soloists, choir, and orchestra, praising Mother Earth and the beauty of the four seasons using text set by the composer. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Earth Day's founding in 1970, this recording was undertaken by a non-profit: Earth/Art Resources as part of their educational and cultural mission to foster Earth Day values.

This is Lynn Klock's third recording for Albany Records — with music on all three discs written for him. Klock's commitment to enriching the repertoire for saxophone is unparalleled, having premiered more than 100 works. For this recording composers Clifton J. Noble, Jr., Emanuel Rubin, Paul Kinsman, Salvatore Macchia, and Catherine McMichael have written compositions for saxophone ranging from saxophone alone to a chamber work for saxophone, horn, percussion, violin, and contrabass. Retired from the faculty at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Professor Emeritus Lynn Klock continues to appear as a soloist, clinician, and teacher throughout the U.S. and abroad. His colleagues on this recording include composer/pianists Clifton J. Noble, Jr.; Paul Kinsman; and Catherine McMichael; as well as Laura Klock, horn; Elizabeth Chang, violin; Salvatore Macchia, contrabass; Michael Compitello, percussion; and Scott Bailey, piano.

Christopher Theofanidis' music has been performed by many of the world's leading performing arts organizations, from the London Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic to the San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and the American Ballet Theatre. A two-time Grammy nominee, Theofanidis is currently on the faculties of Yale University and the Aspen Music Festival. This recording of two of his concertos is performed by the Albany Symphony conducted by David Alan Miller, which is known for its commissioning and performances of music by American composers. Chee-Yun, violin soloist is a winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions and has performed with many of the world's foremost orchestras. Viola soloist Richard O'Neill is the newly appointed violist of the Takács Quartet. An EMMY Award winner, two time Grammy nominee and Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, he has appeared as soloist with the world's top orchestras.

This recording of duos by American composer Ketty Nez span a ten year period, reflecting an ongoing fascination on the part of the composer with different ways of exploring musical responses to folk songs and instrumental melodies of the southern Balkans. Nez is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Eastman, Curtis, and Bryn Mawr. She also participated in the year-long computer course at IRCAM and worked with Louis Andriessen in Amsterdam, co-founding the international contemporary music collective Concerten Tot and Met. Her music has been performed in festivals around the world. Ms. Nez joined the faculty at Boston University in 2005, directing the Time's Arrow new music ensemble for four years.

This recording of music by John Harbison and James Primosch contrasts their piano music with compositions for voice, with a major work for each by each of these esteemed composers. Harbison, a faculty member at MIT, has enjoyed a long and distinguished career. His more than 300 compositions have been performer around the world by premiere musical organizations and soloists. James Primosch serves on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, and his discography includes more than 25 recordings of his compositions. Noted for her "dazzling, virtuoso singing" Lucy Fitz Gibbon is a dynamic musician whose repertoire spans the Renaissance to the present. She has performed at prestigious venues in the United States, Canada, and England and is on the faculty at Bard College. Pianist Ryan MacEvoy McCullough has an impressive career as soloist, lieder and chamber music collaborator, and recording artist. His discography includes many world premiere recordings and has taught piano and courses in electronic composition at Cornell University.

Chinese-born American composer Lei Liang is the recipient of numerous awards and commissions including the Rome Prize and the Grawemeyer Award. On the faculty at the University of California, San Diego, Liang studied at the New England Conservatory and Harvard. Inheritance, his chamber opera with libretto by Matt Donovan draws attention to the hopelessness associated with gun violence in the United States, exploring the psychological effect on one of the heirs to the fortune made by the Winchester rifle, Sarah Winchester. The role of Sarah Winchester is performed by the extraordinary soprano Susan Narucki, who has presented more than 150 world premieres in opera, concert and recording. The opera is cast for three female voices, a male voice, and a chamber ensemble conducted by Steven Schick.

This 2-CD set features performances by the renowned Boston Musica Viva of large chamber works by Bernard Hoffer. Born in Switzerland, Hoffer came to the U.S. in 1941, studying at Eastman He was an arranger and pianist for the U.S. Army Field Band of Washington, DC for several years. He came to New York in 1962 where he worked as a freelance musician, composer, conductor, and arranger, writing extensively for films, television, and commercials for which he received several Clio Awards and Emmy nominations. This is the fifth recording of his music for Albany Records. Founded by Richard Pittman in 1969, Boston Musica Viva was the first professional ensemble in Boston devoted to contemporary music and is distinguished today as the oldest new music ensemble in the U.S. Boston Musica Viva enjoys an international reputation for innovation and excellence and has performed more than 750 works by 320 composers.

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

Sonata for Orchestra is a large, unfinished tonal work that Godfrey Winham was working on just before he died in 1975 at the age of 40. The first two movements were completed but the third had just been begun at the time of his death. This is a world premiere recording. The Composition for Orchestra was written in 1953 as a musical example of his thesis, Composition with Arrays. Winham was studying with Roger Sessions at the time of this work. The Piano Concerto by Roger Sessions is one of three he concertos he wrote and exemplifies the qualities that have made Sessions one of America's foremost composers: rhythmic vitality, orchestral brillance, dramatic power, and great melodic beauty. Pianist Barry David Salwen enjoys an international career as a concert pianist. Additionally he is a long time faculty member of the University of North Carolina Wilmington. He was the first to record the complete solo piano music of Roger Sessions, which appears on Albany Records. Conductor Joel Suben is known for championing new works by American and European composers, having led first performances and commercial recordings of some 500 works. His discography is extensive and appears on the Naxos, Albany, New World, Centaur, CRI, and Parnassus labels.

Composer and conductor Robert Pound's numerous compositions include orchestral works for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Columbus Symphony Orchestra and chamber works for ensembles including the Corigliano Quartet and Deviant Septet. A graduate of the University of North Texas and The Juilliard School, Pound was music director of the West Shore Symphony Orchestra. He is on the faculty at Dickinson College where he teaches composition and conducts the orchestra. This recording features three of his song cycles, which were commissioned in coordination with the awarding of The Stellfox Prize to the poets Maxin Kumin, Seamus Heaney, and Paul Muldoon, whose texts Pound set. Performed by tenor William Ferguson and baritone Jonathan Hays with pianist Craig Ketter, these song cycles pay magnify, reinforce and elaborate the affect of the poetry and its meaning.

Beethoven's ten Sonatas for Piano and Violin are performed on historic instruments by Jerilyn Jorgensen and Cullan Bryant. Instruments include an unsigned Viennese style piano from c. 1795, a Joseph Brodmann; and a Bösendorfer c. 1828-1832, among others. The violin is an Andrea Carolus Leeb from 1797 and a variety of bows from the period including one by Francois Xavier Tourte are used. Pianist Cullan Bryant is among the most active chamber and collaborative pianists in New York City, performing more than 50 concerts a year. His prizes and awards include the Leschetizky International Competition, Miami Arts Competition, and the Memphis Beethoven Competition, among many others. Violinist Jerilyn Jorgensen is a member of the faculty at Colorado College. She was first violinist of the Da Vinci Quartet, which performed throughout the United States to critical acclaim. She is a graduate of Eastman and Juilliard. Both Bryant and Jorgensen have recordings on the Naxos label.

Flutist Erin Murphy and pianist Kirstin Ihde embarked on this recording project as doctoral candidates at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They chose works by Grier and Galbraith because they are both living American composers and works by French composers Boulanger, Tailleferre and Bonis in order to expand the diversity in programming repertoire as well as introducing new audiences to this music. Short miniatures juxtapose lengthier sonatas; darker, more introspective moods contrast with brighter and more energetic offerings in these six compositions. Erin frequently performs with orchestras, in chamber music collaborations, and as a soloist throughout the U.S. and abroad. Dr. Murphy is on the faculty at Oklahoma State University and her articles have been published in flute journals as well as the Journal of the International Alliance for Women in Music. Pianist Kirstin Ihde is on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. In addition to her extensive work as a collaborative pianist, she serves as pianist for the Interlochen Trumpet Institute.

The esteemed American composer Ezra Laderman (1924-2015) composed more than 300 works, which were performed by major orchestras, chamber ensembles, and soloists throughout the United States. His music incorporated a lyrical style into a contemporary context, using tonal material in combination with atonal, polytonal, or aleatoric elements, while seeking out unusual formal structures for his music. This recording contains the first recordings of Laderman's music composed between 2002 and 2013 and complements the nine recordings of his music on Albany Records. Laderman's many honors include three Guggenheim fellowships and the Rome Prize. He was Dean of the Yale School of Music from 1989 to 1995 and served as Director of the Music Program for the National Endowment of the Arts, and President of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, among many other prestigious appointments.

The Gramercy Trio (Sharan Leventhal, violin; Jonathan Miller, cello; Randall Hodgkinson, piano) tours the country presenting concerts and residencies, with programs that include standard repertoire and new works. Their performances are met with critical acclaim with the New York Times calling their performances "distinctive and memorable beautifully wrought and sensitively balanced." Their recordings can be heard on the Newport Classic, Naxos, Parma, and Albany record labels. The three trios performed on this recording are all world premieres. Written in 2012, Schuller's trio is one of his last works; Nicholas Underhill's trio was written in 2005 and came out of a long association with Randall Hodgkinson; and Matthew Aucoin's trio is the most recent composition, having been written in 2015 at the invitation of Jonathan Miller. The Gramercy Trio has made an impressive addition to the piano trio repertoire with these works by three generations of American composers.