Cameron Greider is a guitarist, producer and composer who has worked with Joan Baez, Chris Cornell, Natalie Merchant, Sean Lennon, Freedy Johnston, Rufus Wainwright, P.M. Dawn and many others. He started on classical guitar at age 12, but soon figured out that by putting a microphone inside the instrument and hooking it up to the family stereo, he could rattle the windows of their Washington D.C. house. In 1988 he moved to New York to study at the New School Jazz and Contemporary Music program, and soon found himself playing gigs with local singer-songwriters. In 1993 he auditioned for his first tour, with alternative hip-hop group P.M. Dawn, and the next week he was playing with them on the Tonight Show. He would go on to play and co-write on their next few records.

Writing for strings led to an interest in classical music, which soon became an obsession. He went back to school at the Mannes conservatory to study music theory, piano, composition, and conducting. He enjoys writing for groups from string quartets to full orchestra and has contributed arrangements to film scores as well as pop songs. He also arranges classical pieces for his electric guitar duo with Jack Petruzzelli, High Low Duo. Jack Petruzzelli is a seasoned touring and recording musician. As a multi-instrumental performer, producer and songwriter, he has had the privilege of working with artists like Patti Smith, Ian Hunter, Joan Osborne, Rufus Wainwright and Sara Bareilles, to name a few. In the studio, Jack has collaborated with everyone from platinum artists to unknown sensations. He co-produced Joan Osborne's album Bring It On Home, which was nominated for Best Blues album of the year at the 2012 Grammy Awards.

Icelandic cellist, singer, and composer Gyða Valtysdóttir, a founder of the band múm and 2019 winner of the prestigious Nordic Council Music Prize, releases Epicycle II. Gyða Valtýsdóttir came to prominence with electronic experimentalists múm, the lauded Icelandic group leading the charge in the country’s fertile underground scene in the early 00s, rightfully gaining international recognition. She left the band to pursue her studies as a cellist; gaining a twofold Master’s degree from Musik Akademie, Basel, both as a classical player and a free-improvisational one. Since then she has journeyed with a colorful palette of collaborators, including The Kronos Quartet, Josephine Foster, Damien Rice, Colin Stetson, Jónsi (of Sigur Ros fame), Skúli Sverrisson, Ólöf Arnalds, Ben Frost, Aaron & Bryce Dessner (from The National) and visual-artist Ragnar Kjartansson. To name but a few.

REVIEWS:

Some of the musicians, like her fellow art-pop renegades Ólöf Arnalds and Jónsi, emphasize her crystalline, eldritch voice. Others, including Anna Thorvaldsdottir and Daníel Bjarnason, deploy her cello in yearning lines and voluptuous waves. Altogether, the album offers otherworldly transport.

-- The New Yorker

Epicycle II is a wonderful experience and a tantalizing look into the future of experimental music collaboration.

-- San Francisco Classical Voice

Epicycle II is her crowning achievement to date.

-- A Closer Listen

From atmospheric micro-polyphony to heart-rending moments of electronic intimacy, the music is interesting and powerfully drawn.

-- Music City Review

A deeply cinematic score at times, this album is often transporting with great lift, giving the listener long opportunities to soar, bird-like, over the Icelandic landscape and beyond, for the most part leaving us safely and gently deposited on the earthly shore.

-- The Whole Note

Lisa Friend leads this collection of original works and transcriptions for flute and guitars, joined by Craig Ogden and the Aquarelle Guitar Quartet. The wide-ranging programme includes Fauré’s Pavane and Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise. Lisa Friend (Flautist) has appeared as a soloist with the Philharmonia Orchestra, City of Prague Philharmonic, Virtuosi Pragenses Chamber Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Oxford Philharmonic and has toured throughout much of Europe, Asia and the USA. Lisa has recorded as a solo/chamber artist for Silva Screen, Universal, Chandos, Champs Hill and Signum Records. Her previous album 'Essence' has been aired on Classic FM, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio London, WQXR Classical Radio, New York and WFMT Radio, Chicago.

Krzysztof Meisinger writes of his new release: “When I was asked to write an introduction to my début album for Chandos, I wondered for a long time what it should be about. My artistic path? The key to the program selection for the album? Or maybe my subjective description of the pieces I have recorded? I decided to explain in a few words my relationship with the guitar – a difficult relationship, full of passion, but also of doubts. It all started with delight. The guitar has always been a magical instrument to me. While playing, the musician is in direct contact with the string and the sound. The players, these ‘magicians’, whose recordings fascinated me at the beginning of my musical education were Andrés Segovia and Julian Bream. Thanks to them, I understood that the guitar is the instrument of my life, and that it is to its kind that I want to devote my artistic energies.

"A little time later, I started to notice some imperfections, which made me ask different questions. Why is the guitar repertoire so small, when you compare it to that of other concert instruments? Why is the guitar not able to convey all those emotions which I want to express? It took me some time looking before I came upon the answer. And the answer was this: to turn all those ‘disadvantages’ into virtues. After all, a guitar cannot be pretentious. It is what it is, a guitar –an intimate, sublime, beautiful instrument... It is the most honest mirror of the musician. It reaches the deepest corners of the soul, and allows both the performer and the listener to touch heaven in a nasty world.”

REVIEW:

Someone will eventually write a book about how and why so many excellent guitarists emerged from Eastern Europe, a region in whose music the guitar played only a minor role. This album, the Chandos debut of Krzysztof Meisinger, is one of the best so far.

The title, Elogio de la Guitarra (or "Praise of the Guitar"), makes it sound like a spiritual essay, but in fact, this is a piece of virtuoso display. None of Meisinger's selections is even close to being a chestnut, and fans will welcome these commanding performances... Chandos backs Meisinger with excellent sound, picking up the physicality of the guitarist's performances but not loading them down with extra-musical noise. An exciting, impressive debut.

-- AllMusic.com (James Manheim)

Izhar Elias has produced several successful and imaginative albums for Brilliant Classics. None of them have confirmed to a ‘Spanish guitar’ stereotype but all have engaged in various original ways with the developing heritage of the instrument during the 19th century, from ‘Paisiello in Vienna’ (BC95301) to ‘Beethoven and the Guitar’ (BC94631) to Giuliani’s astonishing transcription of Rossini’s grand tragedy Semiramide (BC93902). His latest recording brings the classical guitar up to date with works by composers from four different countries; within them may be heard influences from classical music, avant-garde, Caribbean music, Spanish folklore, flamenco, Arabic music, blues, Argentinean tango and even trip-hop and heavy metal: provocative testament to the world’s most versatile instrument. The Guernica Suite by Pujol (b.1959) focuses on different aspects of Picasso’s painting in six movements, with a tentatively positive conclusion. The Triptych of Roberto Sierra (b.1953) evokes some nocturnal sounds from his native Puerto Rico, including the tropical tree frog as well as a night on the tiles. The three Danzas Concertantes pulse and glide with the rhythms of Leo Brouwer’s native Cuba, offset by some astringent harmonies that place the guitar’s usual role as purveyor of folkloristic colour under threat. Finally there is the Schattenspiel Suite by Florian Magnus Maier (b.1973), who also plays electric Moog guitar on this recording. Maier pursues a diverse career as a composer, guitarist and vocalist with bands including Alkaloid, Dark Fortress and Noneuclid; this tripartite suite inspired by shadows is his best-known work in the classical tradition, and for this recording he has made a new arrangement for two guitars and string quartet. There is something for everyone on this album: it’s essential listening for guitar-music enthusiasts who want to broaden their horizons.

Among the most significant composers of guitar duos in the early 19th century, Antoine De Lhoyer was born in September 1768 in Clermont-Ferrand. His musical talents manifested themselves from early on, and he trained in Paris. His teacher Vidal paid tribute to him as ‘the finest guitarist in Europe’. However, at the age of 20, de Lhoyer embarked on a military career as a member of the King’s Guards, shortly before the French Revolution. Life in France rapidly becoming uncongenial for someone with his loyalties, he left France in a hurry and eventually settled in Hamburg, where his compositions were first published at the turn of the 19th century. De Lhoyer’s travels were by no means over, and over the following decades he took up posts as a professional music teacher and performer in St Petersburg, Paris, Corsica, Aix-en-Provence and Alger, the new capital of the French colony in north Africa. Eventually returning to the French capital, he died there in 1852, at the age of 84. The extant duos on this album were composed between 1814 and 1826, and they comprise a substantial proportion of his total output. One would expect the style of his music to reflect the lively, cosmopolitan nature of his career, and so they do, often cast in three- and four-movement sonata forms with picturesque interpolations such as the ‘hunt’ movement of Op.35 No.2 and the graceful Sicilienne of Op.35 No.5. The eight-movement Fantasie Concertante Op.33 is like a Mozartian serenade, with a superbly flowing Andante con variazioni directly succeeded by a brief but tranquil Adagio.

STARA is Halldór Smárason’s debut album. It was recorded in Halldór’s hometown of Ísafjörður, in the Westfjords region in the northwestern part of Iceland. Featuring works from different stages in the composer’s life, ranging from his student years in New York to this day as a family man and freelance composer, STARA shows Halldór’s development of a characteristic style and unique sense of narrative. All the works on the album are inspired by personal experiences and are often dedicated to people close to the composer himself. STARA features Halldór’s three string quartets: draw + play, Stara, and BLAKTA; the guitar solo piece Skúlptúr 1; and the chamber works _a_at_na and stop breathing. Halldór’s music has been described as atmospheric yet aggressive, characterized by a simmering energy just beneath the surface that erupts from time to time. His compositional voice is highly original and personal. In each composition, Halldór strives for a distinct approach, which is guided by the specifics of the composition (the occasions, the space, the instruments, the performer, etc.). As a result, his sonic repertoire is extremely rich. He often includes extra-musical and music-theatrical aspects, which create highly distinct artistic experiences. Additionally, Halldór has been acknowledged for high attention to detail in regard to sound and notation. STARA is intended to be an insightful portrait of the composer, introducing Halldór’s poetic sonic world.

Giuseppe Rosetta (1901-1985) studied in Rome under Respighi but soon returned to his Piedmontese birthplace of Vercelli. There he remained, leading and enriching the local musical culture as an organist, choir conductor and music teacher. He spurned fame and dedicated himself to his vocation and to God. His beautifully crafted music is accordingly modest in expressive ambition: elegant, reflective, at times melancholic, generally characterized by introspective, meditative qualities – nothing brilliant or demonstrative. Very little of it has been recorded, making this new album a valuable contribution to a wider appreciation of postwar Italian music. Rosetta taught composition to Angelo Gilardino, who eventually encouraged him to write guitar music, resulting in the Preludi per GIlardino of 1970. These are beautifully and idiomatically written for the instrument after close consultation with the guitarist. Also from 1970, the Canti della Pianura (Songs of the Plain) is a personal evocation of the countryside of the Po Valley where Rosetta lived and worked. The four movements correspond to times of day: the dawn (Mattutino), the afternoon (Meridiana), the evening (Vespertina) and the night (Serenata). The Fantasia dates from 1979, but Rosetta’s conservative idiom recalls the language of his teacher Respighi and contemporaries such as Casella and Pizzetti: he wrote out of time, vividly evoking a lost era of Romanticism on an instrument that sings naturally of nostalgia and regret. As a student of Gilardino, Gian Luca Barbero has become intimately familiar with the private musical world of Giuseppe Rosetta, and is himself a guitar teacher of renown in Italy. The present release marks his debut on Brilliant Classics within the label’s ever-growing library of guitar music.

Played by Jeroen van Veen, the solo-piano collection (95129) of themes from Yann Tiersen’s film scores is a Brilliant Classics best seller. Now also available, some of Tiersen’s best-known melodies arranged for guitar by George Tossikian, who has given many successful concerts of this repertoire. Tiersen shot to worldwide fame with his quirky, haunting score for the Oscar-winning Amélie (2001), but by that point he had gained considerable experience composing soundtracks for short films and incidental music for plays. Several of these pieces ended up on his first album, Valse des Monstres (1995); they also featured intricate arrangements incorporating various instruments. Borrowing from French folk music, chanson, musette waltz, and street music, as well as rock, avant-garde, and classical and minimalist influences, Tiersen’s deceptively simple style has a classical base in the music of Chopin, Satie, Philip Glass and Michael Nyman. His gentle melodies lends themselves to the intimate language of the guitar, and Tossikian has selected pieces from throughout Tiersen’s career, focusing on these two albums but also including the title track La Plage. Since the days of Segovia, guitarists have practised the art of transcription, and the Greek guitarist George Tossikian continues that tradition with this album. In pieces scored for solo piano or violin, he has aimed for close fidelity, whereas in the ensemble numbers he has taken a freer, more creative approach in order to recreate the colors of Tiersen’s score using guitar techniques such as natural harmonics and tremolo. The result is no less delightful or captivating than the originals.

For his new recital disc, the acclaimed Finnish guitarist Ismo Eskelinen had the aim of creating a programme that works like a story: ‘a modern guitar album that lends itself to continuous listening from beginning to end’. The pieces that he has selected are united by the fact that, with the exception of Tan Dun, Eskelinen has collaborated closely with all the composers. In the liner notes to the album he expresses his admiration for how intuitively they all understood the essence of the guitar, even though none of them is a guitarist. ‘Everyone has found a unique way to bring his own musical style to the guitar, and each of the composers is clearly recognizable.’ Opening the album are Kromos by Sebastian Fagerlund and Solo XI by Kalevi Aho, two pieces that in technical terms come close to the limits of what is possible on the guitar, but with a completely convincing musical logic. Olli Mustonen’s Sonata No. 2 contains drama but also lyricism, qualities which are emphasized in Tan Dun’s multi-movement collage Seven Desires with inspiration from the different traditions and characteristics of Spain’s flamenco guitar and China’s pipa (lute). Jukka Tiensuu is among the pioneers of modern Finnish guitar music and wrote his first work for the instrument as early as 1974. His Daydreams from 2016 is composed for guitar and electronics, but the sound world is strongly guitaristic, as the electronic part is modified from fragments played by Eskelinen on the guitar. Sometimes the use of electronics produces echo effects alongside the live guitar, and sometimes the sound image expands into that of a guitar trio. The very brief closing number is an arrangement, by Eskelinen himself, of Timo Alakotila’s calm and soothing Psalm.

Camino is guitarist Sean Shibe’s first PENTATONE album, an introspective programme exploring French-Spanish musical borders, a pilgrimage leading from Ravel’s Pavane pour une Infante défunte, Satie’s Gymnopédie No. 1 and Gnossiennes 1 and 3, Poulenc’s Sarabande, De Falla’s Miller’s Dance and Homaje, pour le Tombeau de Debussy and José’s Pavana triste all the way to Mompou’s Canços i dansas 6 and 10, as well as his Suite compostelana.

Shibe has deliberately granted Mompou a central role on this album, as his music demonstrates that melancholy, aimlessness, and a whole host of other feelings are not things to be avoided or fixed or solved, but experiences to be felt deeply: not with sad nostalgia, but with genuine wonder and excitement at what this means for the future. In that respect, Camino also documents Shibe’s personal quest to overcome the challenges of a time dominated by COVID-19, and to ultimately see the world anew.

Multi-award-winning guitarist Sean Shibe brings a fresh and innovative approach to the traditional classical guitar, while also exploring contemporary music and repertoire for electric guitar. Camino is the first fruit of an exclusive collaboration with PENTATONE.

REVIEW:

Guitarist Sean Shibe has been known for daring programming, and an album of Spanish guitar music might seem a retreat to normalcy, but this is not the case. Shibe devises a program that brings in a wide variety of effects and moods and executes it all flawlessly. The program is both constantly shifting and entirely absorbing, and any stereotypes of Spanish music the listener may have will be gone by its end.

-- AllMusic.com (James Manheim)

Rodrigo’s music for solo guitar is not extensive but represents an important pillar of the repertoire, ranging from vignettes to sonatas over a six-decade period. The 1933 Toccata was rediscovered in 2005 and has since provided an ambitiously virtuosic vehicle for today’s guitarists. Rodrigo flecked his works with elements of fantasy, flamenco and bird song while Un tiempo fue Itálica famosa, one of his very greatest works in the genre, is superbly impassioned. The tender Pastoral, originally for piano, is here transcribed for guitar by Jérémy Jouve whose first volume in this series (8.570286) received a three-star review (“The young French guitarist plays brilliantly”) in the Penguin Guide.

Alexandre Tansman’s guitar music was almost exclusively created as the result of his friendship with the legendary Spanish guitarist Andres Segovia. The true extent of this catalogue has only recently become apparent, with unknown works emerging from archive sources. Performed after careful research into the original manuscripts, Andrea De Vitis’s programme brings together pieces that reference Tansman’s favorite musicians from history, in particular Bach and Chopin- masterfully intertwining personal affections with sophisticated techniques to create some of the most important guitar repertoire of the 20th century.