Japanese pianist Mari Asakawa has made a beautiful album of the works of Carter and Babbitt. She has the full measure of these works, this album presents these superb pieces in the best possible light. Mari began her piano studies in Japan at the age of five, and in 1980 moved to the United States. At the age of 15, she won the Westchester Competition, performing the Grieg concerto, followed by a performance of the Bach concerto at Alice Tully Hall. She earned a Bachelor's degree at the Julliard School, where she studied with Georgy Sandor, and received a Masters of Music at Yale University. In 1998, she moved to Italy, continuing her studies with Bruno Mezzena at the Accademia Musicale Pescarese, earning a diploma of the highest honor. Most recently, she was appointed to a teaching position at the Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music, where she teaches piano performance.

This new release features a wonderful programme of art songs from Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil, sung by soprano Carrie deLapp-Culver accompanied by pianist Brian Dykstra. Carrie deLapp Culver, soprano, is an Associate Professor and Director of Vocal Studies at The College of Wooster. She received degrees from the University of Missouri and the University of Northern Colorado in Voice Performance and Pedagogy. An active performer, she has presented recitals of Spanish-language art songs across the United States and in Barcelona, Madrid and Guadarrama, Spain. She has published articles on this repertoire and has produced a recording, Sonidos Sureños, with pianist Brian Dykstra for the Centaur Label. Her performance credits include solo roles in many concert works such as the Poulenc Gloria, Mozart’s Exultate Jubilate and Requiem Mass, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and with the El Paso Opera and the Colorado Gilbert and Sullivan Festival. She has also performed with the Cleveland Chamber Choir and the Cleveland and Atlanta Symphony Chamber Choruses. With colleagues Denise Krain and Peter Mowrey, she performs with Modern Muse, whose chamber music performances highlight contemporary music for soprano, flute and piano.

Born in China in 1953, Chen Yi is a prolific composer who blends Chinese and Western traditions, transcending cultural and musical boundaries. Kennesaw State plays sections from Chinese Folk Songs, Vol. 1 and Vol. 3. Recorded from 2010-2014 in Morgan Concert Hall at Kennesaw State University, featuring the orchestra, chamber ensembles and wind ensemble.

Selmer Paris endorsed artist Cory Barnfield enjoys a busy and successful career. His playing has been described as: “having a warm and expressive sound that speaks melodies easily with complete control of the full range of his instrument. There is a unique intimacy to his playing that is a delight to the listener. His fingers are precise, and rapidly allowing the music to flow unimpeded to the listener’s imagination no matter how difficult or easy. His articulation on saxophone is superb.” (Saxophone Journal) He frequently performs with the Kentucky Opera and the Louisville Symphony Orchestra, and his recordings can be heard on multiple labels. He is a champion of new music and has commissioned several pieces from composers. One such work is included on this album: Peter Felice’s “Shadows of Paris.”

Memos is loosely related to a series of five essays by Italo Calvino, titled Six Memos for the Next Millennium. Composer Erik Lund found this work to be a fascinating read, and he felt that meaningful analogies could be made to sound and music. Erik Lund composes music as analogies and commentaries. As such, his works are usually born of ideas and sources that are not inherently musical, where he takes as his task the process of transforming these ideas into the sound domain. The result has been music which has been described as “dramatic and gripping” (Martin Adams, Irish Times). Erik Lund is professor of music composition at the University of Illinois, a composer of acoustic and electroacoustic music, and an active performer of both composed and improvised music. His compositions have won the League of Composers, International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) and ASCAP composition competitions, and he has received grants for his work from the Musik Biennale-Berlin Festival, Meet the Composer, ASCAP, the Illinois Arts Council, and the Research Board of the University of Illinois.

This album features two true masterpieces of the 20th Century for violin and piano, beautifully performed by Wanchi Huang, violin, and Robert Koenig, piano. Wanchi has been praised numerous times ("... her incisive technique and an exceptionally rich and beautiful tone... " Phil's Classical Reviews, Audio Video Club of Atlanta, November 2015) for her recordings and performances in chamber music, solo recitals, and as a soloist with orchestras throughout North America and Asia, including the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and numerous music festivals in the world. Pianist Robert Koenig has established a reputation as a much sought-after collaborative pianist and chamber musician. He performs regularly in major centers throughout the world with many of this generation's most renowned musicians. Recent engagements have included performances at Carnegie Hall in New York, The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Louvre Museum in Paris, and Royal Festival Hall in London.

Baroque harpsichordist, chamber musician and professor of music at University of Illinois School of Music, Charlotte Mattax Moersch's 5th release takes us into Jean Henry D'Anglebert's Pieces de Clavecin (Pieces for Keyboard) composed in 1689. While D'Anglebert may not be as well known today as some of his Baroque brethren, in his day he was considered amongst the more notable composers of the harpsichord and Moersch's playing reveals why.

Long based in the United States, Greek composer Dinos Constantinides has written a large volume of works for a wide variety of ensembles and solo instruments. His piano works are wonderful, probing works that are immediately accessible. The music of Greek born composer Dinos Constantinides (Boyd Professor of Composition) has been performed throughout the world. He is the recipient of many grants, commissions and awards, including first prizes in the 1981 Brooklyn College International Chamber Competition, the 1985 First Midwest Chamber Opera Conference, and the 1997 Delius composition Contest Grand Prize. He also received the 1985 American New Music consortium Distinguished Service Award, the 1989 Glen Award of l'Ensemble of New York, several Meet the Composer grants and numerous ASCAP Standard Awards. In 1994 he was honored with a Distinguished Teacher White House commission on Presidential Scholars

This is a truly first-rate recording of the three Brahms Sonatas for Violin and Piano. This album has the added bonus of the Scherzo in C minor from the Brahms F-A-E Sonata for Violin & Piano, WoO2. Federico Agostini is a violinist renowned as a soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. He has appeared in various international music festivals in Europe, the United States, and Japan and has performed chamber music with many distinguished artists, including Bruno Giuranna, Jaime Laredo, Joseph Silverstein, and Janos Starker as well as with members of the American, Emerson, Fine Arts, Tokyo, and Guarneri quartets. Derek Han is without a doubt among the leading American pianists of his generation. Though he was originally identified with the concertos of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven he possesses a vast repertory that includes the concertos of Mendelssohn, Chopin, and MacDowell, as well as individual concertos by Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, and Shostakovich, in addition to a large body of solo and chamber works. Han's style is original though fairly straightforward in it's lucid tones, spirited character, and technical fluidity and accuracy.

This is the third volume of Centaur's integral edition of the complete Pieces de Clavecin of Francois Couperin, performed on harpsichord by Mark Kroll, who has made a specialty of this literature. Mark Kroll has been acclaimed as one of the world’s leading harpsichordists and fortepianists. During a career spanning more than fifty years, he has performed on four continents, winning critical praise for his expressive playing and virtuosity. He has appeared with noted soloists and ensembles, played under the batons of conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Sir Simon Rattle, James Levine, Kurt Masur and Charles Dutoit, and has served as harpsichordist for the Boston Symphony since 1979.

On this new release, Lilia Boyadjieva presents a programme of works by J. S. Bach, including his famous Goldberg Variations. Born and educated in Sofia, Bulgaria, Lilia Boyadijeva completed her studies at the Moscow Conservatory "P. I. Tchaikovsky," with Professor T. D. Gutman. Her awards at international piano competitions include prizes at Senigallia (Italy - 1979), Vianna da Motta (Portugal - 1983), Maria Callas (Greece - 1985) and more. Lilia Boyadjieva pursues a brilliant soloist career mainly in Europe. Invited by prestigious Festivals (Montpellier, Auvers-sur-Oise, Sofia, Athens, Dublin) she performs in recitals as a soloist, with orchestras and with chamber music ensembles in various countries. Radio and television organizations in different countries often broadcast her concerts. Very appreciated for her teaching abilities, she has taught at the Sofia Musical Academy, in Athens and Paris (CNR, Schola Cantorum). She gives numerous master classes in Greece, France and the U.S.

WILDLIFE PACIFIC RIMBOMBO A

DUO CONCERTANT ARABESQUE MEN

LORCA MUSICA PER CELLO SOLO F

The late Brahms piano works are truly a remarkable body of compositions. Russian pianist Mikhail Volchok, now on the faculty at the University of Maryland, infuses these works with both the delicacy and grandeur that they encompass.

A four-work recital of significant modern-era works for solo violin. Violinist Daniel Stepner is first violinist of the Lydian String Quartet. Teaches at both Brandeis and Harvard Universities. Formerly concertmaster, Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra, for more than twenty years, under Christopher Hogwood and Grant Llewellyn.

The Bach Partitas need no introduction, and this is a superlative recording performed on piano by Shoshana Telner. Canadian pianist Shoshana Telner has performed across Canada and abroad. Described as an “authentic musician with a sparkling technique” (Le Droit) and “full of fire and warmth” (the New York Times), Shoshana has a passion for engaging audiences with exciting performances. She made her solo orchestral début with the National Arts Centre Orchestra at the age of 16 and has since performed as soloist with several orchestras including the Québec Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Classical Orchestra, and the National Academy Orchestra. Shoshana received a Bachelor’s degree on full scholarship from Boston University, a Master’s degree from the Juilliard School in New York, and a Doctorate in performance from McGill University. She has taught piano and coached ensembles at McGill University, the University of Ottawa, Wilfrid Laurier University, and currently teaches piano at McMaster University. She frequently gives masterclasses, adjudicates competitions, and examines for the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Rebecca Rust, cello, and Friedrich Edelmann, bassoon, have played together in duos, trios and larger chamber music groups for over 30 years. From their home base in Germany, this huband-and-wife team performs in America, Europe and Japan including radio and TV productions. Praised by Carlo Maria Giulini for her "exceptional musicality," the American cellist Rebecca Rust, a native of California, received her first piano lessons with her mother at the age of five and began cello lessons with Margaret Rowell. Rowell said: "Rebecca Rust is one of the most talented cellists that I have had the pleasure of teaching. Blessed with a beautiful ear and facility, she has used these gifts as tools to dig deep into the music itself, thereby giving her listeners a profound musical experience. Rebecca Rust is a brilliant cellist." Friedrich Edelmann grew up in Kaiserslautern, Germany. He studied with Alfred Rinderspacher, Klaus Thunemann, and Milan Turkovic. In 1977 he became the Principal Bassoonist of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. They are joined on this recording by pianist Scott Faigen.

This breathtaking DVD and aural meditation on Antarctica, with original score, was produced by photographer/videographer Brooks de Wetter-Smith.

Classical Music

Classical Music

This release features a program of Cantatas by Clerambault and Rameau, two of the greatest of all French Baroque composers. American Tenor Zachary Wilder joins with Les Bostonades, a world-class period instrument ensemble based in Boston. American tenor Zachary Wilder is recognized for his work in repertoire from the 17th and 18th centuries and is sought after on both the concert and operatic stages on both sides of the Atlantic. Having studied at the Eastman School of Music and at the Moores School of Music, University of Houston, Zachary subsequently moved to Boston after the beginning of his ongoing collaboration with the Boston Early Music Festival and a summer of studies as a Tanglewood Music Fellow. Zachary's discography comprises several recordings with the Boston Early Music Festival, including their Grammy Award winning La Descente d'Orph�e aux Enfers as Tantalus. The period-instrument ensemble Les Bostonades has been sharing chamber music with Boston area audiences since it's founding in 2005. The ensemble features Baroque music specialists who have studied and performed all over the world, who collaborate in Boston's vibrant early music scene, bringing spirited and polished performances to their listeners. The ensemble's performances have been described as "the most engaging chamber music playing... [a] generous, voluptuous sound... well delineated, [and with] a poignancy of emotion."

Handel’’s one act opera-ballet Terpsichore (1734) is followed by the ballets sequences from his 1735 opera seria, Ariodante. Leading baroque conductor James Richman founded the NYC-based Concert Royal in 1974 and remains its Artistic Director. About soprano Ava Pine: “…perfect balance of passion and intellect…a voice of natural beauty and flexibility” – D Magazine (Dallas, TX) About mezzo Kirsten Sollek: …an appealingly rich alto” – NYTimes; “…elemental tone quality.” - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Classical Music

Dinos Constantinides, the LSU Boyd Professor of Composition, Director of the prestigious LSU Festival of Contemporary Music for 22 years, and Music Director of the Louisiana Sinfonietta presents a collection of his compositions that feature Constantinides' Grecian ancestral influences interwoven through the broad range of idioms he has composed within.