This repertoire spans almost eighty years of classical composers' excursions into blues, folk, hip-hop, jazz, musical theater, samba, tango, techno and other genres. Each piece goes beyond mere stylistic imitation, cultivating an authentic expressivity within a transcribed musical language rooted in the Americas. ___Alexander Crosett

This is a great modern jazz album, with all original compositions by Jorge Variego

Masks under the Mask is an album of some of the greatest piano works by Robert Schumann. The pianist, Ham Can, comments: In this album, I have included six sets of character pieces, ranging from his early "Papillons, Op. 2," inspired by the idea of a masked ball, to one of his later, more chromatic works, "Drei Fantasiestucke.

This is an album of great American Piano works, spanning a century. Evan Mitchell plays these works with great aplomb.

Statement from the Composer: Musical composition is the revelation of one's innermost being. Writing for voice is one of the most meaningful forms of musical expression. Most of my writing is based on personal experiences in my life: memorializing a friend, the death of a child, a celebration of friendship, or other joyful occasions. My philosophy of vocal repertoire is the marriage of voice and piano, an equal partnership. Text is of ultimate importance. Text determines the mood, melody, style, and in the end, the accompaniment. It is my prayer that my music in some small way will be meaningful to those who hear and bring these texts to life.

This album features three first-rate, greatly underperformed, Italian Sonatas for Violin and Piano. Respighi, Martucci, and Rota are all three wonderful composers, and it shows clearly in these works. Italian artists Fabrizio Falasca and Antonio Pompa-Baldi infuse these three great works with the life they deserve.

This album offers a great program of works for piano trio from the 20th and 21st centuries.

This album features four absolutely first-rate 21st Century American trumpet sonatas, wonderfully performed by Brennan Rudy, with pianist Jessica McKee.

Brian Buch says about this album: I often compose pieces in collections of works. Composed between 2016 and 2018, the music on this CD predominantly features music from a collection I call Maze of Infinite Forms. Inspired by the writings of the Indian polymath Rabindranath Tagore, these pieces extract insanity from the ordinary - often presenting a simple idea in the current of chaos. This music lives on the edge of certainty - embracing while at times fearful of sudden descent into madness.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Canadian pianist Richard Raymond performs four favorite Beethoven piano sonatas, including the Moonlight, Appassionata, and Pathetique. A prize-winner in multiple competitions, Raymond has performed with the Montreal and Toronto Symphonies, and many others. He has also performed as a soloist in numerous countries, as well as playing chamber music.

This is an album of first-rate contemporary chamber works, composed over a period of two decades by American composer David Post.

Charlotte Mattax Moersch performs major keyboard works by Bach, that are now usually performed on harpsichord, on the lautenwerk. The lautenwerk is sometimes referred to as a lute harpsichord; it is a harpsichord-like instrument with a major exception; the strings are gut, giving it a far more mellow sound. Bach often performed his own works on a lautenwerk.

This is the second volume in what will be the complete piano works of Nikolai Medtner. Frank Huang has identified strongly with the works of Medtner, and it shows in this superb album.