Violinist Olivia de Prato releases her second solo album on New Focus, Panorama, exploring the multi-dimensionality of expression and identity. Composers Missy Mazzoli, Jen Shyu, Angelica Negron, Miya Masoaka, and Samantha Fernando contribute pieces for solo violin with and without electronics that probe questions of dislocation and return.
In the discussion on women and classical music, perhaps no other instrument draws such a strong association with feminine stereotypes as the harp. Once the instrument of choice for respectable young ladies, it was considered suitable for the domestic sphere and the world of private salons. And yet, as the harp made it's way out of the home and into the concert hall, it's publicity was championed by male performers, playing the music of male composers. Often overlooked are the women-performers and composers alike-who revolutionized the instrument and gave it a solo voice. Birds of Paradise celebrates the artistic voices of women as both performers and creators. This album showcases living composers Reena Esmail and Angelica Negron and legendary harpist and composer Henriette Renie. Featured works include Renie's Trio, the first major work written for this combination of instruments, alongside the world premiere recording of Negron's Ave del paraiso and the first recording of Esmail's Saans as arranged for harp, violin, and cello. Listeners are invited to experience this dynamic sound world, full of color and warmth, created and performed by women.
Flutist Roberta Michel releases Hush, a collection of new works for solo flute and with electronics by Victoria Cheah, Angelica Negron, Jen Baker, Mert Morali, and Jane Rigler that are the result of close collaborations. Michel brings her wide ranging virtuosity to all of the pieces, from acrobatic passagework to deep timbral excavation.
PEDACITO DE TIERRA is a deeply personal work led by GRAMMY-nominated saxophonist Jose Antonio Zayas Caban, rooted in his vision to honor the stories of the Puerto Rican diaspora in the Twin Cities. While grounded in local voices, the piece resonates far beyond Minnesota - speaking to the experiences of Puerto Ricans across the United States and echoing themes shared by immigrant communities everywhere: displacement and belonging, memory and identity, longing and resilience. Composed by Angelica Negron and performed by Zayas Caban alongside saxophonist Ryan Smith and pianist Casey Rafn, the work layers oral histories, electronics, and chamber instrumentation to explore the complexity of cultural identity. Shaped by the voices of Puerto Rican storytellers, PEDACITO DE TIERRA reflects Jose's commitment to lifting up community narratives through music that is as nuanced and resilient as the people it represents.
The superb flute, harp, viola trio, Hat Trick, returns to Bridge with a fascinating program of recent works coupled with a classic. The trio, April Clayton, flute; Kristi Shade, harp; and David Wallace, viola, perform new music by Thea Musgrave, Daniel Dorff, Jessica Meyer, David Bruce, and Angelica Negron alongside Sir Arnold Bax's 1916 "Elegiac Trio".
The ostensible follow-up to So Percussion co-founder and composer Jason Treuting's ambitious work Nine Numbers, Go Placidly with Haste is a multi-movement sonic meditation that actually bears a more distinct connection to Treuting's early work Amid the Noise (2006) - which began as a soundtrack, then morphed into So Percussion's third album, and from there into a communal music-making project that can occur with a flexible number of musicians in almost any combination. Go Placidly takes up that thread and weaves it into a vivid tapestry of moods, styles and genres, from the oddly folk-inflected strains of "1927" (featuring Irish singer and Afro Celt Sound System mainstay Iarla o Lionaird) to the Eno-esque keyboards and electronics of "White Diamond," the frenetic and angular "Build Up," the mournful and stately "Slow Moving Chords" (with singer-songwriter Sam Amidon), the groove-chasing "Four Lines" (with composer and singer Angelica Negron) and plenty more. By turns whimsical, expansive and exploratory, this is new music in the most thrilling and adventurous sense of the word.
