This is the second volume of Michael Kallstrom's flute chamber work. They offer varied timbres, interesting orchestrations, thoughtful melodies, bold harmonies, and interesting new cross-rhythms. Heidi Pintner has made performances of Kallstrom's music a specialty for her.

Classical Music

"Composer" Emily Howell is actually a computer program by David Cope. Emily writes first-rate classical music………written by a computer program!

Classical Music

Classical Music

This is Volume 7 in Centaur's recording of the complete organ works by Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937), performed by Joby Bell. All works are recorded on classic American organs; hence the title "American Classic Widor." Most importantly, these are superlative performances of an important body of organ literature. Joby Bell brings to his performances a contagious affability and a keen sensitivity toward increasing an audience's appreciation for organ music. His recital programming demonstrates a varied and interesting repertoire, always enhanced by illuminating program notes designed to embrace all audiences. Bell is featured on several recordings. Born in 1968, Joby Bell attended high school at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he studied piano with Marian Hahn and Robert MacDonald. He earned the Bachelor of Music degree in organ and piano from Appalachian State University and the Master of Music and Doctor of musical Arts degrees in organ from Rice University.

This selection of Posthumous Songs covers the period 1889-1909, with one song from 1933. Here one senses Zemlinsky's earliest development and years of musical study, as he tests his skills on some of the finest German poets. That he was fully up to the task is immediately evident upon listening. The American baritone, Steven Kimbrough, studied at the University of Birmingham, Alabama, and at Princeton Theological Seminary (graduated in 1962). He had further studies in Italy. Kimbrough is well known as a recital and concert singer through many appearances at New York's Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and with symphonies in the USA and abroad. He is the foremost interpreter of the "turn-of-the-century" school of Viennese composers (most of whom were effaced by Hitler's Third Reich), as is demonstrated by his many highly praised recordings. He has presented in the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and elsewhere a recital of their songs under the title "Forbidden Composers."

Classical Music

During the mid-19th Century there was a debate as to who would in effect be the next Paganini. This album includes works by some of the major contenders, as well as Edson Scheid's own arrangement of Mozart's Rondo from Duo in G Major for violin and viola, KV 423. Edson Scheid has been praised for his "polished playing" (The Strad), for being "more than equipped to deal with the virtuosic challenges" (Seen and Heard International), for being "clearly gifted" (The New York Times), and "both musically and technically one of the most assured and accomplished of today's younger period violinists" (The Boston Musical Intelligencer). His performance of Strauss's song Morgen at Carnegie Hall alongside Joyce DiDonato and Il Pomo d'Oro was described as follows: "The concertmaster, Edson Scheid, proved a worthy foil as violin soloist" (The New York Times). A native of Brazil, Edson Scheid is based in New York City and frequently performs with such ensembles as Les Arts Florissants (France), Il Pomo d'Oro (Italy), the Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Juilliard415, NOVUS NY, New York Baroque Incorporated, the Aston Magna Music Festival, the Clarion Orchestra, and the American Baroque Orchestra, an ensemble for which he serves as concertmaster.

As is well known, Liszt wrote transcriptions of all nine Beethoven Symphonies. Here Frederic Chiu gives brilliant performances of Nos. 5 and 7. With a vibrant concert schedule, a legacy of 27 albums, and a stream of accolades from around the globe, pianist Frederic Chiu occupies a special place in the world of classical music. His non-traditional approach including interdisciplinary collaborations, integration of new technologies and emphasis on audience engagement distinguish Mr. Chiu as a maverick and innovator, a 21st Century artist.

The Schubert Impromptus Op. 90 and Sonata in B-flat Major are two of the greatest of Schubert's piano works. Winner of major competitions, Alexander Kobrin gives magisterial performances of these great works. Called the "Van Cliburn of today" by the BBC, pianist Alexander Kobrin has placed himself at the forefront of today's performing musicians. His prize-winning performances have been praised for their brilliant technique, musicality, and emotional engagement with the audience. The New York Times has written that Mr. Kobrin was a "fastidious guide" to Schumann's "otherworldly visions, pointing out hunters, flowers, haunted corners and friendly bowers, all captured in richly characterized vignettes." "This was a performance that will be revered and remembered as a landmark of the regeneration of exceptional classical music in Central New York."-critic wrote after Mr. Kobrin's performance of Second Piano Concerto by Johannes Brahms with Syracuse Symphony in Syracuse, NY.

Kraft has filled his life and the lives of others with music through his prodigious career as composer, educator, writer on musical topics, and as an author of numerous books on music theory. The majority of his work is chamber music and he composes for orchestra, piano, vocal, band and electronic. This recording offers a fine cross-section of his music.

This CD Is the Sixth Centaur Records Release in Which Michael Tunnell Played a Featured Role. Sadly, Mr. Tunell Died Far Too Soon in Late 2014. This Album, a Testament to His Artistry, Was Recorded Between June 2012 - March 2014 and Features a Total of Ten Contemporary Works for Which Mr. Tunnell Played the Corno Da Caccia, or Circular Flugelhorn. Michael Was One of the Players Engaged By Director Steven Spielberg to Play Civil War Trumpets in a Scene Reenacting President Abraham Lincoln's Visit to Celebrate the Union Victory at Petersburg, Va. In the Movie Lincoln.

Here, pianist Joanne Chang performs a group of her favorite works. All are done from the perspective of Joanne as a New Yorker. Described for her captivating and poetic musical interpretations, Malaysian pianist, Joanne Chang has performed and taught internationally in Asia, North America, and Europe. Joanne has been featured on WQXR’s Young Artist Showcase (New York), WFMT’s Fiesta Latin America (Chicago), International Menuhin Music Academy (Switzerland), BFM’s Front Row Podcast (Kuala Lumpur), Indiana University’s Latin American Music Center (Bloomington), Sphinx Connect (Detroit), and the National Youth Orchestra of China (Beijing), among others. As a pedagogue, Joanne is faculty member at the Indiana University Young Pianists Academy and Camp Encore/Coda (Maine). She also held teaching positions at Indiana University and Florida State University. At IU, Joanne served as Associate Instructor in Piano and program assistant to the Secondary Piano and Accompanying Departments. Joanne is president/founder of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Collegiate Chapter at IU, established Fall 2019.

Hubert Howe is an important contemporary composer of computer music. The works featured on this album are Inharmonic Fantasies Nos. 3, 4, 5, and 8, and Harmonic Fantasies Nos 3 and 4. Hubert Howe was educated at Princeton University, where he studied with J. K. Randall, Godfrey Winham and Milton Babbitt, and from which he received the A.B., M.F.A. and Ph.D. degrees. He was one of the first researchers in computer music, and became Professor of Music and Director of the Electronic Music studios at Queens College of the City University of New York. He also taught at the Juilliard School for 20 years. In 1988-89 he held the Endowed Chair in Music at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. From 1989 to 1998, 2001 to 2002, and Fall 2007, he was Director of Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College of the City University of New York. He has been a member of the American Composers Alliance since 1974 and has served as President from 2002 to 2011. He is a member of the New York Composers Circle and has served as Executive Director since 2013. In 2009, he founded the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, and he continues as Director. Recordings of his computer music (Overtone Music, CPS-8678, Filtered Music, CPS-8719, and Temperamental Music and Created Sounds, CPS- 8771) have been released by Capstone Records, and Clusters has been released by Ravello Records.

This release features two of the greatest classical-era works for Violin, Piano and Orchestra, in superb performances. Born and raised in Foggia, Italy, Antonio Pompa-Baldi won the Cleveland International Piano Competition in 1999 and embarked on a career that continues to extend across five continents. He also won a silver medal at the 2001 Van Cliburn Competition, as well as a bronze medal at the 1998 Marguerite Long Competition in Paris. The New York Times described his playing as “meltingly beautiful.” Pompa-Baldi founded the Todi International Music Masters Festival, of which he is artistic director and faculty member, and sits on the juries of the most prestigious piano competitions in the world. Violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv has quickly earned a reputation for performing with “distinctive charm and subtle profundity” (Daily Freeman, New York) and a “crystal clear and noble sound” (Culture and Life, Ukraine). Known for her work as a soloist and chamber musician, Solomiya Ivakhiv has performed at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, CBC Glenn Gould Studio, Curtis Institute Field Concert Hall, Italian Academy in New York City, Pickman Hall in Cambridge, MA, San Jose Chamber Music Society, Old First Concerts in San Francisco, Astoria Music Festival (Portland), Tchaikovsky Hall in Kyiv, and at UConn’s Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts.

This is Volume 8 in Centaur's recording of the complete Pieces de Clavecin of Francois Couperin, performed on harpsichord by Mark Kroll. This cycle, gradually nearing its completion, will be a landmark in recordings of works by Couperin, one of the greatest French composers of the Baroque period. Mark Kroll has performed on four continents as a harpsichordist and fortepianist, in both solo recital and as a collaborative chamber musician. Highlights include an appearance as the official guest of the city of Barcelona; featured soloist in Germany’s Regensburg Early Music Festival, France’s Festival Ambronay and the Bordeaux Hummel Festival; performances and lectures in Beijing and Shanghai; two concerts for the Czech Republic’s Prague Spring Festival; and recitals at Lisbon’s Gulbenkian Foundation, Rome’s Conservatorio Santa Caecilia and Associazione Musicale Romana, Poland’s Dni Bachowski, and Slovenija’s Radovljica Festival.

Old and New Worlds is the result of an international collaboration between Ars Veritas (Gothenburg, Sweden) and Schola Cantorum (Miami University, Oxford, Ohio). It features great choral works of the past and the present. Ensemble Ars Veritas started in 2010 at the University of Stage and Music in Gothenburg. Jakob Patriksson led the work on creating an ensemble focusing on early church music and the sacred music it later inspired. One of the hallmarks of Ars Veritas is the concerts that gradually illustrate the evolution of Western European church music: from the sacred unanimous Gregorian music to the first completely independent polyphonic works.

This is a program featuring some of Beethoven's greatest piano works, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of his Birth. A native of Ukraine, Sophia Agranovich is an internationally acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, and educator. Sophia Agranovich is “a bold, daring pianist in the tradition of the Golden Age Romantics…A tigress of the keyboard” – Fanfare. Her performances are captivating audiences by the “orison of uncommon beauty” – Audiophile, “the extraordinary dramatic urgency”, “the ideal balance she achieves between the intellectual and the emotional” – Fanfare, “interpretation that dares to be different”, “magnificent shading and superior musicianship” – American Record Guide. Her previous releases for Centaur have been met with wide critical acclaim.

This is a program of 20th Century trumpet music by some of the greatest composers of the first half of the 20th Century. Roderick MacDonald, trumpet, and Mikyung Kim, piano, bring these great works fully to life in mesmerizing performances. Roderick MacDonald was born outside Providence, Rhode Island. Since 2014 he has served as Music Director of the New England Symphony Orchestra, and is an Associate Professor of Music at the State University of New York in Fredonia. Pianist Mikyung Kim has performed across the globe as a collaborative pianist and soloist. An advocate for music in higher education, she has also held faculty positions at New York University, Montclair State University, and Concordia University in Austin (also as adjunct violin professor).

The J.S. Bach Goldberg Variations certainly need no introduction, as they have long been viewed as being among the greatest works of the entire keyboard literature. Baroque specialist James Richman delivers this masterpiece in sensitive, compelling performances. James Richman is Artistic Director/Conductor of Concert Royal and the Dallas Bach Society. He is a prominent harpsichordist and fortepianist, as well as one of today’s leading conductors of Baroque music and opera. The first musician since Leonard Bernstein to graduate Harvard, Juilliard, and the Curtis Institute of Music, James Richman studied conducting with Max Rudolf and Herbert Blomstedt, piano with Mieczyslaw Horszowski, Rosina Lhevinne and Rudolf Serkin, and harpsichord with Albert Fuller and Kenneth Gilbert. He holds a degree in the History of Science magna cum laude from Harvard College.

This is Volume 5 in Centaur's traversal of the complete organ works of Widor, performed by Joby Bell. The works in this series are performed on five magnificent Aeolian-Skinner and E.M. Skinner instruments; hence, the "American Classic" label. Since 2004, professor Joby Bell has served on the faculty of the Hayes School of Music, where he teaches organ and church music studies. His church music teaching emphasizes the practical knowledge needed for a solid undergraduate foundation toward successful work and further studies in sacred music. His organ teaching specializes in practice techniques, memorization, service playing, choral accompanying, and maintaining grace under pressure – lessons always best taught by example.

On this album Margaret Donaghue Flavin transcribes some of Bach's greatest music for solo clarinet. Classics Today raved, "Her main strength lies in her ability to completely disappear in the role, letting the music emerge with all of it's natural grace and refinement."

The Etudes of Frederic Chopin certainly need no introduction. Italian pianist Sebastian Di Bin plays these magnificent works with wonderful elan. Sebastian Di Bin was born in Udine. He is considered internationally one of the greatest pianists of his generation. He formally debuted at 11 years old with Ljubic’s Slovenicum Orchestra at a concert in Udine’s Parliament Hall. He has won numerous awards including the Golden Price First Prize at the San Jose International Piano Competition in California and the Fourth Prize at the prestigious Twelfth UNISA International Piano Competition in Pretoria in South Africa. His previous album for Centaur, released in 2015, received worldwide critical acclaim.

Pianist Michael Adcock has been hailed for his prodigious technique and praised by the Washington Post for an “unusually fresh and arresting approach to the piano.” He enjoys a versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician, and pre-concert lecturer. He has won many prestigious awards, including the 1998 Lili Boulanger Memorial Award, and prizes at the 1996 Washington International Competition and the Kosciusko Foundation Chopin Competitions in Chicago and New York. He has degrees from Oberlin College-Conservatory and Peabody Conservatory. This release is a showcase of transcriptions for piano, featuring works by Sergei Prokofiev, Robert Schumann, George Gershwin, Georges Bizet, and Camille Saint-Saens.