This album features the three great Brahms Sonatas for Violin and Piano, and the Scherzo from F-A-E Sonata for Violin and Piano in C Minor, WoO 2. This is the complete Brahms output for Violin and Piano. Christoph Schickedanz, born in Darmstadt in 1969, received attention as of the most recognized violinists of his generation in Germany. Honors at various competitions in Europe and the US prepared his way to a multi-facetted concert career. He has been concertizing in all over Europe, Northern America and Asia. Beyond the standard repertoire of solo and chamber music, Mr. Schickedanz has especially dedicated himself to the performance of unjustifiably neglected or forgotten composers. He can refer to numerous first recordings and was also involved in the publication of various first editions. His discography with more than 20 albums shows a wide range from the solo to the octet repertoire and has repeatedly attracted special notice by both the audience and the critics. Japanese pianist Chiharu Iinuma has been increasingly in high demand as a teacher, coach and ensemble pianist. A founding member of the Ridge Trio, the Chamber Ensemble Bloomington and the Duo Gillham-Iinuma, for many years she was the studio pianist for Joseph Gingold, Janos Starker, Franco Gulli, Neli Shkolnikova, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Miriam Fried, Yuval Yaron, James Campbell and IU String Academy at Indiana University's Jacobs School.

Classical Music

Here we have a program of three Baroque masterpieces. These are beautifully performed on a modern guitar by Spanish guitarist Jose Luis Martinez

My three violin and piano duos were written for musicians I admire. While each duo has a different set of musical materials, all of them share the idea of arranging a series of contrasting episodes to project a coherent musical form. (Robert Morris) Cited by the New York Concert Review as providing a "riveting and dynamic performance" at their 2013 concert in Carnegie Hall, the critically acclaimed Irrera Brothers Duo has captivated audiences throughout the United States and abroad, and have been hailed by world-renowned violinist and pedagogue Zvi Zeitlin as 'two gifted boys". The brothers have also performed at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Spivey Hall, the Eastman Theatre, and internationally throughout Europe and Central America. In addition to their duo collaboration, Joseph and John are also celebrated soloists.

This new release from Centaur is the Mendelssohn Piano Trio’s seventh volume in their series of the complete piano trios of Haydn. This volume explores Haydn’s Trio in F Major, Trio in D Major, Trio in G Major, and Trio in E-flat Minor. The Mendelssohn Piano Trio is violinist Peter Sirotin, cellist Fiona Thompson, and pianist Ya-Ting Chang. “The Mendelssohn Trio’s performance emphasized, in turn, portentousness, sophistication and playfulness.” (Washington Post)

The second volume in violinist Tomas Cotik and pianist Tao Lin's Complete Works for Violin and Piano of Franz Schubert, recorded in 2013 at Gusman Concert Hall in Coral Gables, FL, features the duo exploring his set of three Sonatas, D. 384 in D, D. 385 in a, and D. 408 in g, composed in 1816 and published posthumously as his op. 137/1-3. The first volume in this series, released in 2012, earned rave reviews, including a nomination for 2012 recording of the year by Music Web International, and was broadcast across the country by American Public Media.

This album features two great works. The Mendelssohn Concerto receives a strong, idiomatic performance. The Chausson was written for violin and piano with string quaratet, but Levon Ambartsumian has expanded the string quartet with his arrangement for the strings of a chamber orchestra. It makes for a wonderful, larger-scale work of what is already an impressive piece. Evgeny Rivkin was born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, receiving his early training and Bachelor of Music from the Nizhny Novgorod College of Music. He earned his Master of Music from the Moscow Conservatory and his Doctor of Musical Arts from the Moscow Conservatory. Dr. Rivkin has won several awards for his playing, including top prizes in the Bavarian Radio Musik Competition in Munich, the International Tchaikovsky Competition held in Moscow, the USSR National Piano Competition of St. Petersburg, and the Russian National Piano Competition held in Moscow. In 1998 he won the First prize in the 1998 International McMahon Piano Competition held in Oklahoma. Levon Ambartsumian is Franklin Professor of Violin at the University of Georgia Hugh Hodgson School of Music. Prior to coming to UGA in 1995, he was a Visiting Professor at Indiana University School of Music, replacing legendary American Violin Teacher Joseph Gingold. He also taught at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in 1978 where he taught for 15 years.

Born and raised in Canada, baritone Stephen Lancaster delights in engaging with audiences, performing in concert, opera, and recital. + He was declared winner & audience favorite in the 2013 Nico Castel Int’l Mastersinger Competition at Weill Recital Hall, NYC. + Active in sacred music as a singer, organist and choral conductor, he currently serves as Choir Director and Associate Organist at St. David of Wales Episcopal Church in Elkhart, IN. + With Martin Katz, piano, this French art song Centaur release includes commissioned songs by Canadian composer J. Scott Brubacher.

Classical Music

Alexander Meshibovsky was born in Russia and graduated from the Kharkov Conservatory. He has performed throughout the former Soviet Union, as well as throughout Europe and the U.S. On this release he displays his broad repertoire capabilities as he performs works by Claude Debussy, Cesar Franck, and original compositions. In 1979, Mr. Meshibovsky immigrated to the United States, to work with Jascha Heifetz. In New York, he has appeared at Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, New York University, The Bruno Walter Auditorium, and at Lehman College. His extensive repertoire includes nearly 50 violin concertos from baroque to contemporary, early and modern Russian works, and his own compositions, arrangements, and transcriptions. Mr. Meshibovsky has served for many years as Professor of Violin at East Tennessee State University and the University of West Virginia, and is currently on the faculty of the Music Department at Lehman College, Columbia University Teachers College, and Long Island University.

• This is a beautiful collection of songs for soprano and piano by American women composers. • These songs are a winning combination of lyricism and accessibility. • Ms. Freeman-Miller is an active recitalist and Associate Professor of Voice at Drake University, U.S.A.

Barbara Strozzi was an Italian singer and composer in the 1600s. Period vocal and instrumental ensemble Cecilia's Circle has performed this music for three decades. These are passionate, evocative songs, which are receiving here a worthy revival. Cecilia's Circle has been committed since it's inception in 1991 to bringing new life to the long-buried brilliance of many women composers, and to finding meaningful, elevating ways of integrating their works into today's concert repertoire. Beyond this pursuit, Cecilia's Circle (named for the Patron Saint of Music who is celebrated especially in the exultant odes of Henry Purcell and G.F. Handel) has turned it's attention frequently to the dramatic depiction of female figures found in works of renowned male composers of the Baroque era. Indeed, many of these probing portraits offer us as bold an insight into, and as vivid an image of women throughout the centuries as if the women portrayed had composed their own musical renderings. In this sense, the circle is one of inclusion, one of exploring and celebrating the roles of women across the musical languages of earlier eras.

Classical Music

Composer/pianist Christos Tsitsaros, currently a Professor at the University of Illinois, was born in Cyprus. His compositions are deeply influenced by the Mediterranean landscape and the rich imagery found in Greek and Cypriot mythology. This album includes some of his best solo and chamber works. Christos Tsitsaros began his musical studies at the Greek Academy of Music in his native country. Upon completing his secondary education, he moved to Poland, where he studied at the Musical Academy of L�zd and later at the Fr�d�ric Chopin Academy of Warsaw. There, he was admitted in the class of the world-known Chopinologist Jan Ekier. In 1981, he won first prize at the Gina Bachauer Institution Competition in Athens, which enabled him to continue his musical journey in Paris. While in Paris, he apprenticed with renown pianist Aldo Ciccolin and graduated from the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris, obtaining the Dimpl�me Sup�rieur d' Ex�cution unanimously. In 1986, after being granted a scholarship from the A. G. Leventis Foundation, he moved the the United States, where he pursued further artistic development at the coveted Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. There, he had the chance to study with the legendary Gy�rgy Seb�k, and received an Artist Diploma and a Masters in Music degree (1989.) Subsequently, he entered the School of Music of the University of Illinois where he attained a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance (1993.)

• This album features works that all are musical descriptions of Brazil. Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s Grand Triumphal Fantasy on the Brazilian National Anthem is heard here in an arrangement by Mr. Henrique, who excels in this literature.