Catalog

Sinfonia No. 5, a new work completed in 2016 by the distinguished composer George Walker, is in one continuous movement. On this world premiere recording, two versions are presented. The work has four quotes of varying lengths inserted in the score with the first version containing five brief speaking parts for soprano, tenor, two baritones, and bass. The second version does not contain the spoken text. Goerge Walker is the recipient of seven honorary doctorate degrees as well as a Pulitzer Prize for his work, Lilacs for Voice and Orchestra. His extensive discography includes recordings of his chamber, vocal, instrumental and orchestral music. This is the fifth volume of his orchestral music to appear on Albany Records.

Flutist Julie Thornton and horn player Michael Thornton have recorded an intriguing disc of music for their instruments including three contemporary works with three by Franz Doppler. Their collaborators include Susan Grace, piano; Paul Basler, piano; and Yumi Hwang-Williams, violin. Julie Thornton is a member of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and on the faculty at the Lamont School of Music. She has performed extensively with the New York Philharmonic, the Saint Louis Symphony, the Oregon Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Houston Symphony. She studied at Eastman and Northwestern University as well as Shepherd School of Music. The winnere of numerous competitions, she can be heard on the London, Teldec, Naxos, and Koch International labels. Michael Thornton enjoys a distinguished and varied careeer as an orchestral performer, chamber musician, soloist and pedagogue and has performed on six continents. He is principal horn with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Colorado Symphony. He has been a featured performer at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Mainly Mozart, Spoleto, and Moab Music, among many others. He is on the faculty of the University of Colorado at Boulder.

The first composer to win the Berlin Prize, Laura Schwendinger is professor of composition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her music has been performed by all the leading new music artists and ensembles around the world and she has received numerous awards and commissions including those from the Guggenheim, Koussevitzky and Fromm Foundations. Her second recording for Albany Records features four works for quartets: two for the traditional string quartet; one for mezzo soprano and three strings; and one for piano quartet. The music is performed by the acclaimed JACK Quartet, mezzo-soprano Jamie Van Eyck, and pianist Christopher Taylor.

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

Zvonimir Nagy is a Croatian-born, American composer, performer, and music scholar based in Pittsburgh. He studied at Northwestern University, Texas Christian University, and the Academy of Music in Zagreb, Croatia. He is the recipient of composition awards and grants including the Seattle Symphony Composition Prize, the Iron Composer Award and the Croatian Music Institute Award. He is on the faculty at Duquesne University. This recording features chamber works for varying size ensembles ranging from a work for solo flute to a work for four cellos and one for piano, accordion, and electronics.

Cited by the American Academy of Arts and Letters as a composer who "has that rarest of inventive gifts, a personal voice," Steven Burke is being recognized as one of the leading voices of his generation. His music has won praise for its emotional power and mastery. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence, the University of Wisconsin, Yale and Cornell, his teachers included Chester Bicardi, Martin Bresnick, Jacob Druckman, Lukas Foss, Roberto Sierra, and Steven Stucky. The recipient of numerous awards, Burke's music has been performed by ensembles such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Eastman Wind Ensemble and the New Millennium Ensemble. This recording of his chamber music is performed by the di.vi.sion piano trio, an ensemble formed in 2001. The ensemble is committed to programming current music and regularly commissions new works. Their previous recording on Albany Records featured the music of Merrill Clark.

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

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

The esteemed Mexican/American composer Daniel Catán (1949-2011) is best known for his opera Florencia en el Amazonas, which was premiered by the Houston Grand Opera in 1996. His first opera, Rappaccini's Daughter, was the first opera by a Mexican composer to be premiered in the United States. Catán enjoyed an international career and is probably best known for his operas and works for voice, for which he had a special affinity. This recording includes one of the arias from Florencia as well as a work for flute and harp; the Antonieta Songs, and Mariposa de Obsidiana, a work for voice, orchestra and chorus, based on a prose-poem by Octavio Paz. The performers include Cynthia Clayton, who has performed with the New York City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Ft. Worth Opera and many others. She is on the faculty at the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston. Clayton is joined by Mexican mezzo-soprano Cecilia Duarte; flutist Salpy Kerkonian; harpist Andre Puente- Catán; baritone Hector Vásquez and the Texas Music Festival Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Franz Anton Krager.

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

This tribute to the American composer-percussionist Michael Manion (1952-2012) captures a live 2009 concert held in his honor at the University of Illinois. Presented by the University of Illinois Percussion Ensemble–conducted by its director, William Moersch, and student conductors Adam Walton and Mark Eichenberger—the concert also featured the premiere of Stephen Lett’s Junta–and of Robert Fleisher’s Maniondala, originally composed for Michael Manion. 

This broad spectrum of music written between 1927 and 2009 includes some of the earliest percussion ensemble compositions—by Alexander Tcherepnin, Amadeo Roldán, Henry Cowell, Dmitri Shostakovich, and John Cage & Lou Harrison. Three 21st-century works receiving their first commercially-released recordings here include Fleisher’s Maniondala (for solo malletKAT), Stephen Lett’s Junta (for three percussionists), and Michael Manion’s Long Roll II (for percussion quartet). 

The University of Illinois Percussion Ensemble was established in 1950 and specializes in the performance of traditional and contemporary repertoire for small and large groups. Soloist Gregory Beyer is a Fulbright Scholar, composer, educator, and “prodigiously talented percussionist” (Chicago Classical Review).

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.

The renowned saxophonist Dale Underwood offers a unique program of music by Brazilian composers for saxophone and orchestra. Currently on the faculty at the Frost School of Music, Underwood has been an active performer and educator for five decades, developing a world-renowned reputation. He has performed all across the United States and many countries around the world. Dubbed "the Heifetz of the alto saxophone" by the Washington Post, he has contributed to the expansion of the saxophone repertoire and establishing the saxophone as a classical instrument and helped raise the performance standard.

Composer Bernard Hoffer first heard jazz pianist Takaaki Otomo at a restaurant in New York and was impressed by his musicality, dynamic sensitivity, and beautiful harmonic sense. With bass player Noriko Ueda and drummer Jared Schonig, Takaaki selected five originals, four jazz standards plus one Broadway show tune and two novelties from Gustav Holst's The Planets for this recording. Beginning his training as a classical pianist Takaaki switched to jazz when he was a teenager and won first prize in a jazz competition in Japan in 2007. He moved to New York City in 2014. Originally from Japan Noriko Ueda began playing the electric bass, then switching to upright bass at age 18. She is a graduation of the Berklee College of Music where she majored in jazz composition. She has her own trio and quartet and has performed at the Blue Note Jazz Club. She won the Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize in 2002. Hailing from Los Angeles, drummer Jared Schonig studied at Eastman where he won seven Downbeat Student Music Awards. A favorite among vocalists, Schonig tours with Grammy Award-winners Kurt Ellling and The New York Voices. He is in demand as a drummer for studio recordings and session work.

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

The title of this recording explains what it is: West Meets East—clarinet music by Western composers influenced by Chinese culture. Clarinetist Jun Qian, himself Chinese-American, has long been fascinated with cross-culturalinfluences, as this CD of world premiere recordings so aptly demonstrates. He established the East Meets West Project in 2010 to commission and record new compositions for clarinet that are inspired by Asian cultures and that combine Chinese musical elements with Western art music. This is Qian's third recording for Albany Records, the first two concentrating on Chinese composers influenced by Western culture. A member of the faculty at Baylor University, Jun Qian enjoys an international career as a soloist, recitalist and educator. He studied at Baylor University and the Eastman School of Music.

Volkmar Zimmermann and Kristian Gantriis are both members of the internationally acclaimed Corona Guitar Kvartet and now they have joined forces as an independent ensemble, the Gantriis-Zimmermann Guitar Duo and this recording is the result of their collaboration. The Duo has assembled an enticingly eclectic collection of brief pieces from around the world — Argentine tangos; Danish songs; Spanish dances; and two works of new music. The recording is packed with infectious new sounds from an ageless and age-old instrumental ensemble, and the results are contagious listening experiences that make us as ask for more.

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

A major new release of David Del Tredici's chamber works. One of the most admired and acclaimed composers of his generation, Del Tredici's music is impossible to describe without superlatives. His work is a brilliant splash of emotional color in a contemporary music landscape where monochromaticism is common. This 2-CD set includes five works composed between 2001 and 2013-- a piano trio, string quartet, variations for bass trombone, a duo for violin and bass trombone and Bullycide, a major work for chamber ensemble, inspired by the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard in 1998. The performers are the elite of the new music world and include Del Tredici's nephew, the phenomenal bass trombonist Felix Del Tredici.

Supremely lyrical, the vocal compositions of Michael Rickelton flow organically in careful counterpoint with the texts upon which they are based. The three cycles featured on this disc generate the emotion, tone, and discourse that make each work unique, calling to mind the tradition of Lieder and art song. An experienced composer of solo, chamber, and orchestral works, Michael Rickelton has a particularaly strong and critically acclaimed affinity for the voice as this recording so beautifully demonstrates. Rickelton studied at Lipscomb University, the École Normale de Musique, and Peabody Conservatory. He is on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory, the Johns Hopkins University, and Towson University.

World premiere recordings by the renowned composer Aaron Jay Kernis, performed by the stunning soprano Talise Trevigne with the Albany Symphony conducted by David Alan Miller, make this one of 2017's most distinctive releases. Winner of the 2002 Grawemeyer Award, the 1998 Pulitzer Prize, and the 2011 Nemmers Award, Aaron Jay Kernis is one of America's most performed and honored composers. His music appears on concert programs worldwide and he has been commissioned by America's preeminent performing organizations and artists. Vocal music and singing have been profoundly important to Kernis and breath, lyricism and line have held primacy for him as a composer. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the three song cycles on this recording that span 20 years of his writing. Talise Trevigne and the Albany Symphony are at the center of these premiere recordings.

Cuban born composer Ileana Pérez Velázquez has had her music heard in concerts and international festivals all over the world. Awarded a commission from the Fromm Music Foundation, she has written works for numerous performers and ensembles that include a Who's Who of musicians in the field of new music. Ms. Velázquez studied in Havana as well as at Dartmouth and Indiana University. She is on the faculty at Williams College. Her music appears on the Albany, Innova, and Urlicht AV labels. There are four works on this recording, which show a creator's posture facing innovation, and the relationship between humans and the totality of creation. Velázquez's music invites us to meditate on the universal problem of existence. Her music is frequently imbued with natural phenomena, culture, and the relationship established by humans with their environment. Nunc, a new music ensemble founded in 2007, performs on two of these works -- joined on the first by Nunc's director violinist Miranda Cuckson. The renowned Momenta Quartet is heard on the string quartet Alma de Guije.

Distinguished composer Adolphus Hailstork studied at Michigan State University, the Manhattan School of Music, Howard University, and the American Institute at Fontainebleau. He has written numerous works for chorus, solo voice, piano, organ, chamber ensembles, band, and orchestra. His music has been performed by orchestras around the country and he has received commissions from performing organizations such as the Cincinnati Opera, the Houston Choral Society, and the Atlanta Festival, among many others. He is on the faculty at Old Dominion University. This recording, his fifth for Albany Records, concentrates on music for strings and includes a trio as well as works for string quartet. The Ambrosia Quartet (Simlon Lapointe and Mayu Cipriano, violin; Beverly Kane Baker, viola; and Rebecca Gilmore, cello) are all members of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and have been performing as a quartet for more than a decade both in Virginia and around the United States.

Reflections On The Firebird contains four commissioned works that celebrate the fifth anniversary of The Firebird sculpture, a 17 foot sculpture by Niki De Saint Phalle that is in front of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art in Charlotte, North Carolina. The world premiere of these works took place at a concert at the Bechtler Museum in 2015, performed by the Bechtler Ensemble, a group of musicians who present multi-disciplinary programs to concert halls, museums and educational institutions. The ensemble's focus is the connection between the visual arts and music and typically they pair music and art from the same period. The contrasting styles of each of the four works emphasize each composer's reaction to The Firebird sculpture.

Baritone Randall Scarlata and pianist Laura Ward pored over dozens of scores in planning this recording. Central to their project was a focus on American composers, and they wanted a personal connection with both the texts and their musical interpretations. Two cycles kept rising to the top: Benjamin Boyle's Le passage des rêves, and Robert Maggio's Forgiving Our Fathers. While the styles of these two compositions were markedly different, the performers were drawn to the gift for narrative the works share and their color palettes that evoke other times and places. The other works, by Charles Ives, Samuel Barber, and Elliott Carter, were chosen to complement these two cycles. Known for his versatility and consummate musicianship, Randall Scarlata's repertoire spans five centuries and 16 languages. A sought-after interpreter of new music, he has given world premieres of works by many well-known composers including George Crumb, Ned Rorem, Lori Laitman, and Samuel Adler, among many others. His extensive discography includes recordings on the Chandos, Naxos, CRI, Gasparo, Arabesque, Bridge, Albany, and Sono Luminus labels. Pianist Laura Ward is Artistic Director of Lyric Fest, a unique vocal recital series in Philadelphia. As a distinguished collaborative pianist she is known for both her technical ability and vast knowledge of repertoire and styles.

Jacques Offenbach's mini opéra bouffe L'île de Tulipatan was premiered in September 1868 in Paris and was wildly successful. The hilarious plot, set on a South Seas island, involves cross-dressing and gender confusions, and features a tuneful score. It travelled to Germany and Austria the year following its premier and to the U.K. three seasons later. This charming operetta was recorded live at Radio France in the late 1950s and again in the 1980s, both French-language. The present English translation by Gregg Opelka and Jack Helbig was created in 2003. This recording, from the Light Opera of New York's Spring 2017 live New York City production, is the first for the work in English. The entire Offenbach score is heard with Opelka's lyrics, along with a slightly truncated version of Helbig's snappy spoken dialogue.

The Jano Duo (Naomi Seidman, flute and Jonathan Dexter, cello) was formed in 2012 to play works written or arranged for flute and cello. The duo has performed across the country and continues to commission and perform new works for their instruments. This recording reflects their commitment to music of our time with works by Efrain Amaya, Cherise Leiter, Lonnie Hevia, Matt Doran, Ángel Villoldo, and a commissioned work by Stephen Hopkins. Naomi Seidman is recognized as an accomplished solo performer, chamber musician, and educator. On the faculty at Pennsylvania State University School of Music, she has participated in numerous festivals and has presented master classes around the country, appeared as soloist with orchestras; and is actively involved with the National Flute Association. She is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and Yale. Cellist, composer, and sound engineer Jonathan Dexter has been featured on SONY Masterworks & Columbia Records recorings with singer Megan Hilty; film sountracks; and tv series. He composed, performed, and recorded the original score to short film Recess, an official selection of the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. A graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory, Franz Liszt Academy and University of Texas at Austin, he conducts the Central Pennsylvania Youth Chamber Orchestra.

Assem3ly is a dynamic trio championing chamber music of our time for flute, piano, and percussion. Comprised of flutist Lindsey Goodman, pianist Anne Waltner, and percussionist Scott Christian, Assem3ly commissions and performs new works from established and emerging composers and this recording is typical of their programming. Distinguished composer Joseph Schwantner's Taking Charge opens the recording, followed by Bolamkin, a work by John Allemeier. Ty Alan Emerson's Caliban Ascendent precedes the final work on the recording by Randall Woolf: Between Me, Myself, And The Lamp Post. The performances sparkle with intensity and commitment. A recording of music for an unusual, but very effective grouping of instruments.

Born out of a 2015 music festival at Rice University focusing on classical, contemporary, and cross-cultural music, this recording offers an interesting set of compositions, performed by the Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra, that embody 21st century interculturality in distinctive ways. Crossings: Contemporary Music for Chinese Instruments features works by six composers who came into contact with Chinese cultural traditions and responded compositionally to that contact in different ways. Two composers (Shih-Hui Chen and Lei Liang) were born in Taiwan and China. The remaining four composers are American-born and non-Chinese, yet each has had varying degrees of engagement with traditional Chinese music. Thus, the recording offers a glimpse into what has become a global network of composers. The Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra is a group from Taiwan whose members perform new music on Chinese instruments. However, in almost every work, the silk and bamboo instruments of the ensemble are joined by additional sonority offering a rich and varied new expression, which is the essence of this recording.

Born in Kharkov, USSR, Alexander Meshibovsky began violin lessons at the age of five. He studied at the Special School of Music for Gifted Children and graduated from the Kharkov Conservatory. After graduation, he was invited to be represented by te Russian Concert Agency, later becoming represented by the Moscow Concert Agency, under whose auspices he toured the USSR performing as a recitalist and soloist. He has studied with both renowned violinists Adolph Lestchinsky, Boris Goldstein and Jascha Heifitz. Since leaving Russia, he has continued his careeer performing with major European and American orchestras and has performed as a recitalist in Germany, Austria, France, and Norway. As a composer he has concentrated on works for violin and this debut recording of his music receives virtuoso performances from him and his colleague, pianist Raisa Kagramanova.

The focal work on this recording of chamber works by David Patterson is #Ferguson. Patterson lived in Ferguson, attending high school there. #Ferguson is a suite of seven scenes contrasting the innocence of his boyhood with a city that has been changed forever. Other compositions on the recording include a work for solo harp, two works for Native American flute; a work for solo piano; and a choral work. Petterson is a professor and former department chair at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholars Award and the Chancellors Distinguished Teaching Award. A student of Nadia Boulanger and Olivier Messiaen in Paris, he received his PhD from Harvard. His music appears on the Vienna Modern Masters and Albany Records labels.

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