Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Only the most ardent devotees or historians of late Classical-era cello performers may know of Jean Balthasar Tricklir (1750-1813), a prominent, highly-regarded French cellist in his day who traveled Europe with a cache of his own compositions in tow to play. The young Russian-born cellist Fedor Amosov (b. 1988), already known for a previous Centaur release of works he arranged written by another obscure French cellist of the same era, Jean-Baptiste Bréval (1753-1823), has here arranged Tricklir’s Six Sonatas for Cello and Basso Continuo, played by himself and pianist Alexander Kostritsa.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Dance is the new album from pianist Stephen Beus. “Mesmerizing… explosive… intelligent… he belongs on the world stage” (Salt Lake Tribune). In the space of four months, American pianist Stephen Beus won first prize in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, first place in the Vendome Prize International Competition (Lisbon) and he was awarded the Max I. Allen Fellowship of the American Pianists Association (Indianapolis). As a result of winning the Juilliard School Concerto Competition Mr. Beus made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Juilliard Orchestra and James DePreist, playing Prokofiev Concerto No. 3. He has also performed as guest soloist with the Gulbenkian Symphony (Lisbon), Oxford Philomusica, the Tivoli Symphony (Copenhagen), the Tbilisi National Opera Orchestra, the Northwest Sinfonietta (Seattle), the Royal Philharmonic of Morocco (Casablanca), the Vaasa Symphony Orchestra (Finland) as well as with the Hamburg, Indianapolis, Nashville, Santa Fe, Utah, Fort Worth, Tucson, Yakima, Bellevue, Salt Lake, Eastern Sierra, Corvallis, Jacksonville, Texarkana and Walla Walla Symphonies.

The great pianist Artur Schnabel was also a significant composer. This album features his seldom-heard Sonata for Solo Violin, a massive piece lasting over 45 minutes. The other work is the Franz Schubert Fantasy for Violin and Piano in C Major, D. 934. Recently named concertmaster of Mexico’s premier orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional, violinist, conductor, and composer William Harvey has appeared as violin soloist at Carnegie Hall with the New York Youth Symphony and has performed concerti with orchestras in Argentina, the Philippines, Mexico, and the United States. For 4 years, he served as the Violin and Viola Teacher at Afghanistan National Institute of Music. He also founded the Afghan Youth Orchestra. Frederic Chiu's intriguing piano-playing and teaching springs from a diverse set of experiences and interests: his Asian/American/European background, his musical training, and an early and ongoing exploration of artificial intelligence and human psychology, especially the body-mind-heart connection. He has over 25 albums in his discography.

This is an album of works by contemporary composer Brian Buch composed between 2017 and 2018. Much of the music is inspired by the composer's own poetry and Gregorian polyphony: "a music that seems to defy a sense of time." Brian Buch received his Doctorate in Music Composition from Boston University and his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Composition with an emphasis in Piano Performance from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Brian teaches at Berklee College of Music, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New England Conservatory, and privately teaches composition, classical and jazz piano, music theory, and a unique ear-training system discovered by Alla Cohen in developing perfect pitch.

This is a program of great French works, in arrangements for double bass and piano by Henry Chen. Henry Chen and Lucas Wong, piano, turn in wonderful performances. These are great additions to the very limited double bass literature. A versatile bassist, Han-Jui (Henry) Chen has performed in North America, Europe, South Africa, Asia, and his native Taiwan. He enjoys performing as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral bassist. Henry was appointed to the faculty at Central Conservatory of Music in Fall of 2018. He previously taught double bass at Soochow University during 2014-2018, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2013, and Ball State University during 2011-2012. Henry also taught regularly in many international festivals such as Lan-Yang International Double Bass Summer Camp, Biarritz International Bass Academy, Chicago Bass Festival at Ravinia, and Illinois Summer Youth Music.

Polychrome is an album of Unaccompanied Solos for Flute and Clarinet by ten contemporary composers. All of these works have been composed in recent years. Lizzy Darling is principal piccolo of the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra. She enjoys an active freelance career, performing frequently with such ensembles as the Billings Symphony and Chorale, West Virginia Symphony, Fort Smith Symphony (AR), Lima Symphony Orchestra (OH), Johnstown Symphony Orchestra (PA), Media Theatre Orchestra (PA), and the Ohio Valley Symphony. In 2018, Lizzy recorded her debut solo album 'Sounds of Cincinnati' alongside Dr. Mikey Arbula, Clarinetist with The United States Army Field Band. An advocate of new music, Lizzy has commissioned and premiered works by Daniel Harrison, Julien Monick, Josh Oxford, Steven Darling, Richard Wetzel, Elaine G. Ross, and Laura Harrison.