New Arts Trio at Chautauqua

Colina: Three Cabinets of Wonder

Stravinsky: Petrushka and The Rite of Spring for Two Pianos

Canadian pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico now takes listeners on a musical excursion into the works of largely neglected women composers in her new album Global Sirens. The release features music by fifteen composers from the United States, Canada, Russia, South Africa, Germany, Italy, Australia, and France, written between the mid 1900s and the present. As Petrowska Quilico describes it, the selections represent "only a fraction of the scope and breadth of works that have been rarely played or forgotten, but which deserve to be heard and enjoyed." Traditional, impressionist, 12-tone, minimalist, folk, ragtime, and romantic treasures are reflected in a kaleidoscope of musical styles. "From waltzes, rags, a composition for the left hand alone, and other quirky and edgy works, women show their enormous strength and wealth of compositional creativity," says the pianist.

From the Mountain Top

Red

Chitarra Giocosa

Requinauts is the largest single work I have ever attempted, both in scale, emotional depth and musical forces. + To structure the work I used four sections of the Catholic Liturgy; these movements were the pillars around which I set to music the poetry of Rumi, Dylan Thomas, W.H. Auden and more. + My title is a word constructed from the Greek root ‘nauts’; a traveler or explorer; consequently it means searcher of peace, harmony or repose. + This work is my attempt to comprehend the frightening notion of death, a meditation that may provide a bit of solace and consolation. (Michael Colina)

With this release, the Amara Piano Quartet follows up it's successful debut album, "American Piano Quartets," with it's first foray into the standard repertoire. The Faure C minor Piano Quartet and it's less well-known cousin the G minor Quartet are among the unquestioned masterpieces for piano quartet. The Amara brings it's unique perspective as one of the world's few regularly constituted piano quartets to this important repertoire. The Amara Piano Quartet is the resident chamber music ensemble at Iowa State University. It's members include Boro Martinic, violin; Jonathan Sturm, viola; George Work, cello; and Mei-Hsuan Huang, piano. Innovation joins tradition as the Amara Piano Quartet rises anew from the brilliant history that defined it's predecessor, the Ames Piano Quartet. The ensemble chose the name "Amara" to send a message that is new yet classic, that combines a sense of mystery and timelessness with a beautiful sound. It is a name that, in the great literature and languages of the past, had associations with mythic paradise, with immortality and the eternal, and with something beloved. Like the new name suggests, the quartet will continue to perform for it's audiences the immortal, beloved music of the past while it looks also to commission new compositions to become the masterpieces of the future.

On this new release, Ensemble TrioPolis blends the distinct temperament, stylistic influence, creative spirit, and artistic vision of three cosmopolitan musicians: German violinist Felix Olschofka, American clarinetist Kimberly Cole Luevano, and Greek pianist Anatolia Ioannides. Commissioning new works by award-winning composers from the US and abroad and forging innovative, interdisciplinary collaborations across the performing and visual arts are the driving forces behind Ensemble TrioPolis. Through these collaborations, the group explores, and helps to create new sound spectra both at the cutting edge of experimental intermedia and in more traditional forms. For this, their debut release, the ensemble has chosen pieces by Costas Dafnis, Sungji Hong, Kirsten Broberg, Andrew May, Richard DeRosa, Joseph Martin Waters, and Benjamin Sabey.

Grammy-nominated musician Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra debuts her organ compositions on two exquisite instruments handmade by Richards, Fowkes and Co. Organ Builders. Listen to the optimal match of her Triptychs on Genevans Psalms with the singing Dutch Principals and brilliant North German Renaissance reeds on the Church of the Covenant modified meantone organ in Cleveland. Enjoy the opulent feast of colors, affects, and global styles (Africa to Argentina) spanning four centuries, from the soulful Ciaconna and Fuga to the dazzling Pentecost Phantasmagoria Ruiter-Feenstra performs on the stunning Richards, Fowkes organ at Pinnacle Presbyterian in Scottsdale, AZ. Compare the grandeur of the two contrasting instruments when you hear her majestic Festival Processional on Ode to Joy featuring Beethoven's beloved tune from Symphony No. 9 on both organs as album bookends.

This new release is Volume One in a series which will explore the life of renowned pianist Rebecca Penneys. She writes of this release: “My passion has been about living a life in music through teaching and performing. As I experience my eighth decade, the dvd project gives me an opportunity to present various composers and personal comments on subjects that are very near and dear to me. These are my gifts to young pianists and piano teachers, and to a future I will not see or hear. I feel inspired exploring relationships between motion and emotion with sound, the voice of the piano, as the primary carrier of emotion against a backdrop of different performance traditions. Each [release] has a particular emphasis that I hope future generations of pianists and piano lovers will cherish. On [volume] one, I perform some of my favorite works by Brahms, Debussy and De Falla and I also describe vision, mission and legacy themes of the Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival.

Trios for Clarinet, Viola and Piano

Sierra: Clarinet Works

Spillville and Gilead are two tiny Iowa towns - one actual and one fictional - located in the heartland of the USA. Spillville was the actual summer respite of Antonin Dvorak in 1893. Gilead is the fictional home of a militant supporter of the abolitionist movement in the 1860's. Composer Harvey Sollberger retired to his native Iowa after a time in New York, Indiana and California, and found himself attracted to Iowa's culture and heritage. The two works on this disc reflect his love and respect for the Midwest. This is yet another significantly historic and artful contribution to the discography of virtuoso players, Red Cedar Chamber Music.