The turn of the 18th century was an exciting time for music publishing in Northern Europe. Music printers in England and the Netherlands were turning out copious sheaves of fine music for amateurs and connoisseurs alike, often surpassing in production quality even what was coming out of France and Italy. This was, on the one hand, due to the sheer readability of music printed from engraved copper and pewter plates instead of moveable type, and on the other to the craze for concertos as well as solo and trio sonatas by famed Italian masters.

The Ten Sonatas for 2 violas da gamba and continuo by a “Mr Carolo” fall into this last category. Although his name sounds Italian, our Mr Carolo is a real mystery, and no one really knows who the elusive composer was or who (else) may have written these ten sonatas for bass instruments. Indeed, the title page of the original undated printing by the Amsterdam firm of Estienne Roger bears no given name but does expand on the instruments that can be used, stating the works are equally suited to two bassoons or basses de violon.

-From the liner notes by Jacques-André Houle

The Rosebud String Quartet was formed in 2013 at the inaugural Rosebud Chamber Music Festival, an annual summer chamber music showcase in rural Alberta. Comprised of principal players from the Edmonton Symphony and the orchestras of the Canadian Opera Company and National Ballet of Canada, the RSQ is one of Canada’s most dynamic ensembles with a unique voice and a deep love for the music of Haydn. This recording brings together three great, late works by the acknowledged masters of Viennese classicism, Mozart and Haydn, and on it displays the Rosebud String Quartet's remarkable chemistry and depth.

Society, musical conventions, and tastes inevitably change and develop over time, but the shared human experiences that artists draw upon do not. The two overarching ideas that Lara Deutsch and Phil Chiu used as inspiration for this album are dreams and journeys. Dreamy music is often associated with relaxation and easy-listening -- but don’t be fooled; this music has wickedly fast and thrilling sounds that capture the chaotic nature of dreams as well! Described in La Presse as “a pianist-painter who transforms each musical idea into a beautiful array of colors,” Philip Chiu is acclaimed for his brilliant pianism, sensitive listening, and a presence that eschews the hermit-pianist image in favor of openness, authenticity, and connection. Named one of 2020’s Rising Stars by BBC Music Magazine, flutist Lara Deutsch is a versatile soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player known for her engaging warmth and ability to connect with audiences. Recipient of the $125,000 Prix Goyer for collaborative artists in 2019-2020, she is happiest when performing chamber music with her favorite musical partners.

This album is a curated and narrative collection of twelve Canadian piano solos about the moon, outer space, and the night and highlights both their folkloric name and more importantly the Mi'kmaw names. This album features all Canadian content by a Canadian artist and is contemporary classical music chosen for its relationship to our environment, for the prosperity of Canadian works and composers in a manner that is accessible to a wide-ranging audience. Having a universal scope in theme helps in my goal of drawing newer and younger listeners to Canadian composed classical contemporary music. It is designed to offer introspection, to provoke thought and appeal to those looking for a musical meditative journey through calmness but with a wide emotional scope. O Mistress Moon-Canadian Edition has a therapeutic bent to its sound scape with the intention of helping to ease stress during the current world pandemic.

Halifax-based record label Leaf Music is pleased to announce the release of cellist Robert DeMaine and pianist Peter Takács’s double album of Beethoven’s complete works for piano and cello. Set to be released July 8 2022, this stunning collection showcases Beethoven’s unprecedented textures and formal innovations found in his sonatas for cello and piano. DeMaine is a master of Beethoven’s conversational tone and technical flourishes, playing with “lapidary technical precision, and a persuasive identification with the idiom of the music at hand,” While Takács showcases the composer’s experiments in harmony and form with his noted ability to communicate musical interpretations.

Bach's Goldberg Variations stands among the most profound works in the Western canon-an inexhaustible exploration of harmony, structure, and human expression. Originally written for harpsichord, this timeless masterpiece has inspired countless interpretations across instruments and generations. In this remarkable new arrangement by Caitlin Broms-Jacobs for oboe, English horn, and bassoon, the Tacamis Trio reimagines Bach's contrapuntal writing through the warm and expressive voices of the double reed family. Formed within the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the Tacamis Trio [Caitlin Broms-Jacobs (oboe/arranger), Tracy Wright (English horn), and Allen Harrington (bassoon)] brings over a decade of shared artistry and ensemble unity to this recording. Their performance unites warmth and transparency, allowing each voice to emerge naturally within Bach's intricate counterpoint. This project, conceived during the stillness of the pandemic, grew from a period of isolation into a celebration of collaboration and renewal. Through the process of arranging and performing the work, the trio uncovered fresh dimensions of colour and dialogue in Bach's music, affirming it's boundless adaptability and emotional reach. Goldberg Variations for double reeds is at once a homage and a discovery-a return home through sound, guided by friendship, resilience, and Bach's enduring genius. About the Artists Caitlin Broms-Jacobs is principal oboist of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, praised for her "gorgeous singing tone" and "sensitive musicality" (Winnipeg Free Press). She performs widely across Canada as a soloist and chamber musician and is one half of the oboe-piano duo Fierbois. Tracy Wright is the English hornist of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and a longtime member of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Known for her expressive sound and collaborative artistry, she appears regularly in chamber, orchestral, and new-music performances across the Prairies. Allen Harrington is professor of woodwinds at the University of Manitoba's Desautels Faculty of Music, where he teaches bassoon and saxophone. A versatile performer, he appears frequently as a soloist and chamber musician and serves as principal bassoonist with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra.

Ménestrel-the Canadian early music ensemble of soprano-violinist Janelle Lucyk and tenor-lutenist Kerry Bursey-mix ancient repertoire with Canadian oral folk traditions. In an age defined by acceleration and artifice, their debut album, Ménestrel, reaches backward, not to escape the modern world, but to examine it's emotional roots. They gather songs drawn from several centuries and traditions, from the luminous melancholy of John Dowland to the ardent intimacy of Barbara Strozzi, from the refined contours of French Renaissance chanson to the rugged sincerity of Celtic and English folk ballads. The name ménestrel refers to the medieval minstrel, a musician who moved between written and oral traditions and carried songs across regions and generations. Janelle and Kerry draw on that lineage as they bring early music and folk repertoire into close conversation. Their approach highlights the continuity between these traditions, focusing on clarity, text, and the shared expressiveness that links courtly song with vernacular melody. Formed in 2019, Ménestrel bridges historical performance and Canadian oral folk traditions, and the ensemble has given performances and collaborated with singers and choirs in all of Canada's 13 provinces and territories. Janelle Lucyk is a singer and producer among an emerging generation of Canadian artists specializing in early music and historically informed performance, taking ideas from conception to the stage. Kerry Bursey is a tenor and plucked string instrumentalist whose voice is appreciated for it's luminous quality, and as a sought-after lutenist, he is also invested in the rare practice of self-accompaniment in early and folk music of northwestern traditions. Their concerts aim to demystify early music, juxtaposing it next to folk songs, which are songs of the people.

Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra Sinfonia, together with percussionist Aiyun Huang, soprano Deantha Edmunds, and violinist and conductor Mark Fewer present a new album titled Alikeness. An album inspired by the human capacity to learn, adapt and collaborate. This album encourages listeners to find their own "alikenesses" within the music while fostering a deeper connection with one another. Violinist and conductor, Mark Fewer has been interpreting music in virtually every genre and setting for over three decades, premiering over 200 works, including more than 50 written for him. His unique discography features multiple JUNO and Grammy-winning recordings and an Opus Prize for a Serge Arcuri tribute. He has served as Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony, Artist-in-Residence at Stanford, William Dawson Scholar at McGill, and is currently Head of Strings at the University of Toronto. After 16 years as the founding artistic director of the SweetWater Music Festival, he is now in his sixth season and the Artistic Director of Stratford Summer Music.? Deantha Edmunds, Canada's first Inuk professional classical singer, was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in December 2023 for her work empowering Indigenous people and sharing their stories. Her performances, writing, and compositions have earned national and international acclaim. Born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Aiyun Huang holds a DMA from UC San Diego and is the Head of Percussion at the University of Toronto, directing it's Percussion Ensemble. She gained international recognition by winning First Prize and Audience Prize at the 2002 Geneva International Music Competition. The NSO Sinfonia, based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, was founded by Peter Gardner. It features core string players from the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. The album opens with the world premiere of Deantha Edmunds' Angmalukisaa ("round" in Inuktut), a personal composition about human connections. Next is episodes by Serge Arcuri, written for the Montreal Baroque Orchestra in 1998, blending the baroque "concerto grosso" form with modern elements. Followed by Matt Brubeck's The Simple Life, newly arranged for strings. The third movement "C" from B-A-C-H by Robert Carli, after J.S. Bach's surname, was composed in 2013 for the Sweetwater Music Festival. The album concludes with Alikeness, Yoshiaki Onishi's arrangement of an eight-movement suite by Jaroslaw Kapuscinski. The suite was originally composed in 2015 for the St. Lawrence String Quartet and Aiyun Huang.

Catherine Cosbey and Dorian Komanoff Bandy present Mozart: String Duos, an album capturing the vitality, creativity, and intimacy of eighteenth-century music-making. This recording features vivid, period-instrument performances of some of Mozart's most inventive chamber compositions, as well as premieres of newly discovered historical arrangements of the Violin Sonata K. 305 and the opera La clemenza di Tito. The album begins with Mozart's two spectacular duos for violin and viola: pieces that are by turns lyrical, playful, and virtuosic. Following historical convention, Cosbey and Bandy insert extensive embellishments and cadenzas, capturing a degree of improvisatory freedom rarely heard in recordings of Mozart's string music. The album continues with the duo versions of Tito and K. 305. Arrangements such as these would have introduced many eighteenth-century consumers to Mozart's music; today, they conjure scenes of domestic music-making among family and friends. Get your CD copy of Mozart: String Duos or listen to it on your favourite streaming platform.

Phoenix Rising featuring violinist Angel Wang with the Phoenix Orchestra, conducted by Claudio Vena presents a cornucopia of Chinese and Western classical music that transcends borders. The album includes Alice Ping Yee Ho's commissioned work Phoenix Rising, the beloved Butterfly Lovers' Concerto by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang, alongside traditional Chinese songs like "Jasmine Flower" and "Galloping Horses," offering a captivating blend of contemporary and traditional music. Phoenix Rising opens with the Butterfly Lovers' Concerto by He and Gang, a violin concerto that blends Chinese and Western compositional techniques, depicting two young lovers transformed into butterflies after their deaths. Followed by traditional Chinese songs: Songs of Four Seasons from China's Qinghai province; Dance of the Yao People, inspired by southern China's drum dance; Mayila, a Kazakh song about a young girl's beautiful voice; Galloping Horses depicting the sounds of horses whinnying and racing across the Mongolian grasslands; and the famous Jasmine Flower from the Qing dynasty, which tells of a virtuous woman captivated by the flower's fragrance and pure beauty. The album closes with it's title piece, Phoenix Rising by Alice Ping Yee Ho, a single-movement tone poem for solo violin and orchestra, encapsulating the timeless idea of the Phoenix rising from it's ashes, symbolizing hope and rebirth.

Ode & Ballade by Skye Consort & Emma Björling brings stories of medieval saints and sacred wells, fair maidens outsmarting presumptuous knights, beautiful or boisterous drinking songs, thieves meeting their fate, heartbreaking love songs, groovy dance tunes, and celebrations of the return of Spring. The album combines elements from world music and classical traditions to narrate poems, tales, legends, and sonnets from Sweden, Ireland, Scotland, France and more.

Skye Consort was formed in 1999 to bring an art-music aesthetic to folk music from different world traditions. They have performed and toured extensively with various collaborators and released seven full-length albums. In November and December of 2018, in collaboration with Emma Björling, Skye Consort created a new repertoire sourced from Scandinavian, Québecois, and Celtic roots. Skye Consort & Emma Björling won the OPUS award for Best World Music Album 2019.

Listen to Ode & Ballade wherever you stream your music.

Dialogues by cellist Noemie Raymond and pianist Zhenni Li-Cohen present two monumental works composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Rebecca Clarke. The album centers around a pair of sonatas that the performers hold dear. It seeks to bridge two universes in conversations between two instruments, two musicians, and two composers. The performers write, "it is a dialogue between you and us." This album explores the duality of two titanic masterpieces, from the pen of a woman and a man, both virtuoso instrumentalists with strikingly distinct musical voices. Dialogues begins with Rachmaninoff's Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 19, composed during his most prolific period alongside his famous Piano Concerto No. 2. Considered by some to be his most successful chamber work, Rachmaninoff dedicated the sonata to Anatoly Brandukov, his best man at his wedding and a celebrated Russian cellist who also premiered several of Tchaikovsky's works. Brandukov inspired Rachmaninoff to imbue the cello line with expressiveness and intensity. The album continues with Clarke's Viola Sonata (Version for Cello & Piano), composed in 1919. An internationally renowned violist, Clarke is often considered a proponent of "English Impressionism." Despite placing second in a prestigious composition competition, Clarke's works were not celebrated or performed as much as those of her male peers due to societal gender biases. It was not until the 1970s that Clarke emerged from obscurity, and this Sonata has since taken it's rightful place in the standard repertoire for viola. Noemie Raymond's diverse career has taken her from London's prestigious Royal Albert Hall to the Festival Internacional de Musica de Camara in Lima, the United States, Japan and beyond. She has collaborated with renowned virtuosos such as Midori, Pinchas Zukerman, Jan Lisiecki and Yekwon Sunwoo. 2024-2025 season marks Noemie's Carnegie Hall debut, and concerti appearances with the Skagit Symphony, the Orchestre symphonique de Sherbrooke and the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. A prizewinner in national and international competitions, Noemie has forged her reputation by earning awards at the Edwin H. and Leigh W. Schadt String International Competition and the Prix d'Europe, among others. She is a graduate of the University of Montreal and the New England Conservatory, and holds a Doctorate in Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music. Noemie plays the "Ex-Curtis" cello (1700) by Matteo Goffriller, generously provided to her by Canimex Inc. Of Drummondville, Quebec. Hailed as "... an artist of tremendous conviction, who fascinates even as she provokes... " by Gramophone Magazine and "a thrillingly good pianist" by The New Yorker, Zhenni has given solo recitals at such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall, New York's Lincoln Center, Philadelphia's Kimmel Performing Arts Center and the Berliner Philharmonie in Germany. Zhenni is looking forward to her next recording project with Marin Alsop in collaboration with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and has appeared as a soloist with orchestras such as the Bergen Philharmonic in Norway, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and the Knoxville, Cedar Falls, Fairbanks, Bucks County, Dominican Republic, Johns Hopkins and Lower Merion Symphony Orchestras amongst others. She is currently the Associate Professor of Piano at University of Alberta and the co-artistic Director of Opus 71 Concerts, a multimedia concert series near New York's Lincoln Center. Zhenni Li-Cohen is a Steinway Artist. Get your CD copy of 'Dialogues' or listen to it on your favorite platform. 'Dialogues' is available on all major music services.

Alice Ping Yee Ho, City Opera Vancouver, and Leaf Music are proud to present Chinatown, a sweeping opera that tells the collective story of thousands of Chinese immigrants who left their homeland between the mid-nineteenth and twentieth centuries in search of a better life for them and their families. The first opera in Hoisanese and English and the first to fuse authentic Chinese folk dialects and cultures into the world of English opera, Ho’s Chinatown is a tribute to the legacy of the people who toiled under the promise of prosperity, and instead received abuse and hardship. Chinatown revolves around the intertwining lives of Saihin and Xon Pon, two young men from Hoisan county in South China who have come to Canada in search of prosperity. We follow their story as they meet, work together, endure hardships and have families of their own. A collaboration between composer Alice Ping Yee Ho, librettist Madeleine Thien, and Hoisanese translator Paul Yee, Chinatown brings together decades of lived experience from thousands of Chinese immigrants in an intimate and emotionally arresting musical and dramatic soundscape. Ho says the opera is intended to be an artistic depiction of the realities facing early 20th century Chinese immigrants. “This album represents an important work that tells the stories and experiences of early Chinese immigrants. It’s clear by the standing ovations and positive reviews that the opera Chinatown is a beautiful and moving story of racism, resilience, and family. I hope this album will inspire the audience the same way as it was imagined in the theatre - the experience of an epic journey of music and drama, both heart-wrenching and heart-warming.”

Luminous Voices presents Brahms’"Ein deutsches Requiem" alongside contemporary pieces by Zachary Wadsworth in the album 'Fire-Flowers.'

Exploring themes of loss, grief, and hope, the album is led by Timothy Shantz. Laura Brandt (soprano), Jonathon Adams (baritone), Cheryl Emery-Karapita (piano), and Leanne Regehr (piano) collaborated to bring these pieces to life. Wadsworth's"Battle-Flags," is inspired by Walt Whitman’s Civil War experiences. Brahms’ iconic Requiem reflects personal tragedies and calls for empathy. The album concludes with"Fire-Flowers," where Wadsworth captures E. Pauline Johnson’s poem in a musical tale of optimism and renewal.

'Fire Flowers' will be available on January 12, 2024.

La Scena Musicale hails Montreal-based pianist David Potvin as a rising star of 2022. As winner of the 45th Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition, he toured across Canada in the fall of 2022 with a diversely curated program of Canadian repertoire and quickly established himself as one of Canada’s most exciting contemporary pianists. "Catharsis" is an album that expresses an emotional release experience, often of complex, deeply held, or repressed emotions. The experience later transforms into peace, tranquility, and, most importantly, a shift of perspective. This album’s pieces were selected on his tour across Canada, where Potvin performed music exclusively by Canadian composers. These compositions include works from Chris Derksen’s "Growing Forgiveness," Keiko Devaux’s "murmuration," and Jean Coulthard’s "Preludes for Piano" and "Canada Mosaic: The Contented House" (arranged for piano by David Potvin), which has never been recorded before. The album starts with Derksen’s "Growing Forgiveness," an artistic response to the tension she felt in certain relationships during the pandemic; a truly serene ending follows the piece’s driving climax. Followed by Coulthard’s 13 Preludes, they are all imbued with deep emotional expression, and over the complete set, tension peaks near the end. Then Devaux’s "murmuration" is not explicitly an exercise in emotional expression: pianistic gestures describe the movement of small birds moving in large flocks. "Catharsis" concludes the album with a piano arrangement of Coulthard’s "Canada Mosaic: The Contented House," a meditative reflection that gives the listener a moment to contemplate the churning passion.

Intimate. Cosmic. Two words that describe not only my ideal musical vision—music that invites us into an experience with the warm; welcoming touch of the familiar; only to then show us the universe—but also the piano trio ensemble itself; which is somehow both very small (three musicians!) and very grand; symphonic even. I am thrilled to have my four piano trios represented on this album; along with a handful of piano trio subsets that I felt complemented these works. I have long been fascinated by music’s ability to transport us; to serve as a bridge to places that lie beyond the scope of everyday experience and language. For me; music offers a glimpse into an emotional and spiritual reality quite distinct from the ordinary; "objective" world. Perhaps unsurprisingly; the theme of childhood—a time of life where these hidden realities are more likely to manifest; in the form of the fantastical—pervades almost every work on this album. Sometimes the connection is explicit; as in the album’s closing work; A Simple Secret (2019); which takes its title and inspiration from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Le Petit Prince; a novella I have had the privilege of musically interpreting several times in my career. This gentle piece is a loose adaptation of themes I composed for the film score to Charles Officer’s documentary; Invisible Essence. Over the course of the piece’s six minutes; the violin and cello engage in a ritual of friendship that echoes that of the Fox and the Little Prince in Saint-Exupéry’s fable of childlike wonder; culminating in the Fox’s "simple secret": “What is essential is invisible to the eye.” In my solo piano piece The Dreamer (2017); fantasy is conjured through more abstract means; a single; repeated E-flat provides the foundation for a dazzling kaleidoscope of sound; a metaphor for the sleeping consciousness that dreams entire worlds into being. By the end of the piece; the E-flat has dissipated into a cloud of ethereal filaments. Still more abstract is my Piano Trio No. 1 (2004); an early work whose sparse; mostly serene language was inspired by the sense of meditative awe found in the films of Hayao Miyazaki. On occasion; my affinity for the fantastic takes a surrealistic turn. Composed during the third year of my undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto; Timescape Variations (2003) offers an early glimpse into this language. The piece is a theme and variations on A Musical Offering; in which Bach’s restlessly chromatic theme is subjected to a variety of "temporal" variations—stylistically warped episodes that recall Schnittke; though the Brahmsian finale betrays my Romantic side. A darker kind of surrealism—influenced in part by Michael Ende’s short story anthology; Spiegel im Spiegel (Mirror in the Mirror)—emerges in the violin and piano duo If Life Were a Mirror… (2020). Commissioned by violinist Lynn Kuo and finished just weeks before the onset of the pandemic; the title posits a question: To what extent is the world around us a reflection of who we are—our dreams; our anxieties; our nightmares? My response was to construct a phantasmagorical labyrinth; littered with musical artifacts that reflect one another like a hall of mirrors. Some of these artifacts take the form of musical quotations from well-known classical pieces; others are almost-quotations; tip-of-the-tongue references without a specific anchor. Memory plays an antagonistic; slippery role throughout; indeed; a literal memory slip is built into the piece (listen for the violinist’s frustrated collapse several minutes in!). The question of whether there is a reality in this piece; beneath (or beyond) what we have already heard before; is up to the listener to decide. In late 2020; I wrote a set of pieces called Intuitions; which were intended to be played by musician partners who occupied the same social "bubble." One of these ("Intuitions No. 2") was written specifically for cellist Rachel Mercer and her partner; violinist Yehonatan Berick. Conceived as an exploratory dialogue between the two instruments; the piece unfolds like a somewhat unpredictable dance that flickers between multiple stylistic traditions; passionate and playful in equal measure; but one where the partners are always in step. The piece was inspired by; and ultimately dedicated to; Yehonatan and Rachel—and the dance they created together. Yehonatan passed away—suddenly and unexpectedly—shortly after "Intuitions No. 2" was completed; leaving behind a grief-stricken musical community; family; and partner. The centrepiece of this album—the large-scale piano trio Under a Veil of Stars—was commissioned originally by the AYR Trio; which at the time was composed of Angela Park; Yehonatan; and Rachel. Yehonatan’s passing altered not only the constitution of the trio; but the music itself—its materials; structure; and purpose. What began as another fantastical journey became; instead; a tribute to a man; whose legacy of inspiring others I have tried to do musical justice to. It is a memorial painted not in sombre hues (although there are certainly sombre moments) but in vibrant; life-affirming colours. It is a work that embraces lyricism; virtuosity; passion; otherworldliness; and—eventually—a kind of grace that I can attribute only to Yehonatan’s guiding spirit. The trio is structured in three movements which—taken as a whole—suggest a broad life cycle that chronicles childhood; adulthood; and old age. The first movement ("I. The Stars Are Never Still") is based on a short story I wrote in 2021 for my friend’s one-year-old daughter; about a girl who chases (and catches) stars. The music explores the spirit of wonder and adventure associated with childhood; with shimmering textures evocative of sky brimming with stars; as well as the bittersweetness of surrendering something precious to the will of the universe. By contrast; the second movement ("II. Land of Poison Trees") is a distinctly grown-up meditation on resentment and revenge. A fantastical rumination on William Blake’s poem "A Poison Tree," the movement’s scherzo-and-trio form houses a cauldron of musical snakes—queasy string pitch-bends; explosive dissonances; and a driving; propulsive piano part. Brief lyrical episodes and an eerie; "classical" coda suggest the pretense of civility; which often masks the rage beneath. Rabindranath Tagore’s poem "Sail Away" provides the impetus for the third movement; "III. In That Shoreless Ocean…." This movement reflects an earnest (and at times despairing) attempt to grapple with death; with grief; and finally with the possibility of transcendent reunion. The movement spotlights the cello; both in its opening lament; and in the pastoral; Beethovenian chorale which—after a series of exhausting; oceanic crests and troughs—arrives like sunlight upon the shores of a new world. Under a Veil of Stars is dedicated in loving memory to Yehonatan Berick.

Around Baermann sees historic clarinet specialist Maryse Legault spotlight the early 19th century clarinet virtuoso Heinrich Baermann, who was one of the most important yet overlooked clarinetists in the history of the instrument.

Born in Potsdam in 1784, Heinrich Baermann honed his skills under the tutelage of virtuoso clarinetist Josef Beer, who was a key figure in the development of the clarinet and its repertoire. B Baermann went on to tour extensively and significantly impacted the clarinet's role in classical music, particularly in France. Around Baermann is Legault’s tribute to Baermann; a giant in his field and one of the more important developers ofthe clarinet’s style, technique, and repertoire.

Wanderlust is a voyage around the world of folk and the traditions that emerged from each countries’ unique blend of traditional music. Ranging from the rolling hills of Romania to the jagged cliffs of Newfoundland, flutist Lara Deutsch and guitarist Adam Cicchillitti have compiled a survey of folk music naturally suited to the flute and guitar. Drawing on the roots of folk traditions from around the world, the duo gracefully navigates a plethora of styles through their own unique identity as predominantly classical players.

Step into a realm of musical enchantment with Luminos Ensemble's forthcoming album, "In the Crystalline Vault of Heaven." This collection of ethereal harmonies and transcendent melodies is a testament to the ensemble's dedication to innovation and artistic excellence. With a profound passion for small ensemble performance, Luminos Ensemble, under the guidance of Artistic Director Dr. Margot Rejskind, presents a transformative listening experience that engages both heart and mind. From the captivating shores of Prince Edward Island, composers like David Buley and EKR Hammell lend their talents to the album, infusing it with a unique maritime spirit.

The album's journey is an exploration of emotions and themes that resonate universally. Delve into the introspective "I am an Island that Dreams" and the contemplative "Trust," both composed by gifted artists from Prince Edward Island. These compositions, among others, weave a tapestry of sound that is both captivating and thought-provoking. Luminos Ensemble redefines the choral experience, forging connections between artists and audiences, and inviting you to actively partake in this musical journey. Available soon on Leaf Music, this album promises to enrich your sonic horizons and inspire your imagination.

Introducing "ISPICIWIN," the new album by Luminous Voices. The title track captures a collaboration spanning months and years, representing both a personal and collective journey. Andrew's compositions, infused with Cree text, evoke a range of emotions – yearning, hope, fear, and spiritual longing. The album features remarkable artists: Jessica McMann on bass flute and Walter MacDonald White Bear on Native American courting flute and guitar.

Alongside Antognini's "I am the Rose of Sharon," it includes works by Canadian composers from Turtle Island. Luminous Voices' exceptional performances and commissioned premieres enrich the collection. Andrew Balfour is an innovative composer/conductor/singer / sound designer with a large body of choral, instrumental, electro-acoustic, and orchestral works. Jessica McMann, member of Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan, is an Alberta-based, multidisciplinary Cree artist. She interweaves land, Indigenous identity, history, and language throughout her dance and music creation/performance practice.

Walter MacDonald White Bear’s music reflects his personal journey as a First Nations person in Canada. Luminous Voices, known for illuminating choral music, continues to captivate audiences through performances, recordings, and workshops. ISPICIWIN marks the fifth commercial recording for Luminous Voices and the third that the choir has released through Leaf Music. Join this odyssey where the music reflects an incredible array of talent from composers closely connected to Luminous Voices both in geography and in creative collaboration.