Contemporary symphonic music tends to fall into either one of two categories: hopelessly cerebral concert hall material that is difficult (if not impossible) to understand – or background music for motion pictures. Neither classification would be much to the liking of New York native Anthony Iannaccone, who sets out to prove that one can have the best of both worlds on LOOKING BACK, MOVING ON. Both his third and fourth symphonies make a strong case: spirited, organically structured, and imaginative, they are formidable displays of American verve. The Concertante for Clarinet and Orchestra, more subtle but no less energetic, drives home the point.

Composer Carl Vollrath and Navona Records presents OLD & NEW POETRY VOL II, a compelling musical-literary experience featuring the works of seminal poet William Blake and contemporary writer John Gracen Brown. An enticing follow-up to his 2021 release of the same title, Vollrath employs piano and clarinet with various vocal ranges in this recording, each an intimate setting reflecting his close relationship with the text itself. Deeply in tune to nature and captured from the lens of the human experience, Vollrath’s musical response to this poetic language shows his dedication to and passion for these works.

The essence of Tonci Huljic’s music is eclecticism, his Western melodic style fused with the rich instrumentalism of the Mediterranean and the world resulting in a completely new spirit. This MEDITERRANEAN POP MASS, recorded in Split, Croatia, thoughtfully blends traditional orchestral and modern sounds in exciting ways, infusing iconic classical works with groove, reignited passion, and an appreciation of the conventions of today’s musical idioms. Featuring an orchestra, choir, modern rhythm section, and soloists Hana Huljic, Lorena Bucan, Karlo Vudric, Huljic conjures an atmosphere like no other in his compositions, a satisfying listening experience for anyone who appreciates where music has been, and where it is going.

On Fight for Light, Dutch composer Jesse Passenier explores the peripheries of jazz and classical, marrying the two genres together through symphonic music. The music presents a struggle for strength, goodness, and clarity, in which moments for great energy and urgency give way to quiet purity.

The album contains three works by Passenier: Piano Concerto No. 1 “Levensdrift” (a Dutch word meaning “the primal urge to live”); Vibraphone & Marimba Concerto No. 1 “Becoming the Colour”; and Duo for Vibraphone & Piano “Unraveling Confusion.” These pieces taken together as a whole reveal Passenier’s breadth as a composer, offering a musical commentary on the realities we face in today’s society.

Globally recognized for its unique programming, innovative collaborations, and community outreach, All Classical Portland presents AMPLIFY, a response to the industry’s paucity of high-quality recordings of repertoire, and address to the ongoing inequities in classical music. The works of five contemporary composers are brought to light in this album, each infused with recollections of stories, cities, and movements that have made an impact along the artists’ journey. With an impressive roster of emerging composers and performers, AMPLIFY marks a monumental achievement in highlighting new voices in classical music, and is only the first step in changing America’s playlist.

When Johann Sebstian Bach composed his flute sonatas, the flute was in its infancy as a replacement for the popular recorder. Nevertheless, his musical genius rings out as richly layered harmony and emotions exude from each fluently written piece on J.S. BACH COMPLETE SONATAS FOR FLUTE & PIANO. On this two-disc recording, the mother-daughter duo of flutist Julie Scolnik, lauded by the Boston Globe for her “urgency full of fire that melts into disarming delicacy,” and pianist Sophie Scolnik-Brower further amplify Bach’s expressiveness, swapping the usual harpsichord for piano to deepen the dynamics and phrasing throughout the compositions.

Navona Records presents Michael Kurek’s SYMPHONY NO. 2: TALES FROM THE REALM OF FAERIE, a rich musical tapestry intertwining the colors and characteristics of many fantastical worlds the composer has entered and loved. Performed by the European Recording Orchestra, a certain spirit of unspoiled beauty, innocence, nobility, hope, and heroic goodness stretches across four movements, each giving the listener creative control of the worlds they conjure. With a well-balanced lineage of traditional compositional techniques running throughout his symphony and other works for choir to follow, Kurek presents a dynamic assortment of work that keeps the spirit and heritage of classical music alive.

Following their Navona Records debut in 2019, Duo Sequenza returns with YES… IT’S STILL A THING!, a new program geared towards building new audiences for today’s classical music and promoting the work of living composers. Comprised of flutist Debra Silvert and classical guitarist Paul Bowman, Duo Sequenza brings an enchanting and harmonious quality that showcase the complementary capabilities of their respective instruments. From emotive and introspective works to scenic vistas painted in sound, the duo once again proves their musical chops and adaptability across a wide array of compositional styles.

Artists tend to be liminal figures in any given society, and they thrive in equally liminal times. This is the inevitable thought one encounters when listening to THE NEW EPOCH. Three musicians from the Boston Artists Ensemble rivetingly interpret works by French composers Fauré, Debussy, Ravel, and Lili Boulanger, infusing these pieces with unprecedented freshness and clarity. Each celebrated in their own right, cellist Jonathan Miller, violinist Lucia Lin, and pianist Diane Walsh join forces in every duo setting possible from this assortment of instruments. It’s a marvelous concept; not only does it lend a restful homogeneity to THE NEW EPOCH, it also underlines the commonalities between the composers’ unique voices, and even more impressively, pulls their work from the turbulent early 20th century into our perhaps equally liminal time, and with great success.

2020 VISIONS from the Fischer Duo celebrates the piano-cello group’s 50 years of performances together. The Duo is known for performing music from Brahms and Beethoven to the works of emerging composers. The pair celebrated the anniversary of their formation in 1971 during the height of the pandemic and thus the resulting recording is their declaration of love and resilience. This album features three works commissioned for the Duo as well as three recent compositions from promising new composers. Expressing the pain of loss as well as the hope for a better tomorrow, 2020 VISIONS showcases this duo’s versatility and musicianship.

American composer Marty Regan specializes in composing music for traditional Japanese instruments, a fascination he has developed since 2000. Regan describes his Japanese-style compositions as "hybrid musical soundscapes that reflect the age in which we live, an era based not necessarily on globalization, but of partnership based on global cultural interaction." In contrast, Splash of Indigo features a complementary side of Regan's output, containing only works for Western orchestral instruments and voice. Despite the album's instrumentation, Regan's connection to Japan remains strong in Splash of Indigo. Splash of Indigo proves Regan is more than capable of inventing and developing charming and complex networks of musical ideas. In it's varied collection of chamber and large ensemble works, Splash of Indigo shows Marty Regan is a composer of considerable breadth and skill beyond his dedicated efforts to build a bridge between American and Japanese musical culture.

The John Psathas Percussion Project: Volume One is percussionist Omar Carmenates’ recorded interpretation of the work of the Greek New Zealand composer John Psathas and is his first release on PARMA Recordings. The album is the result of an expansive, multi-year collaboration with a mission is to reimagine works from Psathas’ compositional oeuvre entirely for percussion instruments. Dr. Omar Carmenates is the instructor of percussion studies at Furman University in Greenville, SC. Mr. Carmenates also holds a Master’s Degree in Percussion Performance from the University of North Texas, and a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Central Florida and recently completed his Doctor of Music Degree in Percussion Performance from Florida State University. As a freelance musician, Mr. Carmenates is a versatile musician, having played with many groups in various genres. He has been a percussionist with the Tallahassee, Las Colinas, and Garland Symphony Orchestras. In addition, he has been a featured performer with the Monroe Symphony Orchestra as a member of Bravura Percussion Trio, a Texas-based group that has performed and/or given clinics at universities and other venues throughout the United States.

Navona Records is proud to announce the re-release of David Tanner's 1988 album The Eloquent Saxophone. Tanner is no Stranger to Navona; his compositions and arrangements can be heard on two other Navona releases: Of Birds and Lemons (2012) and Dashing (2016). This was his first album, featuring him as a performer. It includes two unaccompanied pieces and two sax quartets recorded by multi-tracking, as well as a rich variety of works with accompaniment admirably rendered by pianist Marc Widner. The music ranges from Schumann to a stylized blues by Gene DiNovi. Tanner's musical language is enriched by classical training and a career encompassing rock'n'roll and jazz as well as symphony. Reviewer Denis Armstrong wrote in Music Magazine, "Not long into this recording, one begins to marvel at the sheer joy David Tanner's playing conveys... a dense and rich recording... at times elegant and elegiac, other times ribald and visceral. But the one constant is the joy and clarity of expression." The first track sets the tone: "Serenade comique" is a brief, frantic sax quartet composition that evokes Parisian traffic or perhaps a flock of birds. "La Blues," the other quartet selection, evokes the melancholy of New York in the depth of night. "It is a treat for the listener to hear this feat of multi-tracking done so well," said reviewer Joseph Viola in Saxophone Journal. Each track is in contrast to the one before it; each represents something different and interesting. To quote Music Magazine again, "The Eloquent Saxophone [is] a thoroughly eccentric, invigorating and generous treat."

In collaboration with educator and physicist Dr. Robert Davies, the Fry Street Quartet two composers, Libby Larsen and Laura Kaminsky, to create musical landscapes which speak to the crisis of an imminently unsustainable human world and move the listener toward a meaningful response. Kaminsky’s CROSSROADS | Rising Tide unfolds in a series of four vignettes, titled H20, Bios, Forage, and Societas, together forming a meditative space for audiences to explore connections between the human world we’ve created and the natural world we inhabit. Weaving together a chorus of artistic and scientific voices responding to one of society’s greatest challenges, the work of the quartet, Dr. Davies, Kaminsky, and Larsen presents a deep, profound contemplation of the choices before us, the paths they forge, and the dramatically different landscapes to which they lead.

Several Times is an impressive collection spanning over four decades of the composer’s career. Though artistic development is present throughout the larger timeline of the album, each composition demonstrates innovative approaches to time and repetition. These innovations reflect a desire to not only learn and understand time, but master it. String Quartet No. 1 and String Quartet No. 2 may have been composed 20 years apart from each other, but Dr. Kam’s approach to each composition shares a nucleus: repetition. The differences are subtle at first. The former employs a non-tonal, modernist arrangement reminiscent of 1960s post-Webern music, while the latter focuses more on pitch centricities and implied tonal relations. Dr. Kam’s cyclical patterns generate a sound distinctly his own. Similarly, Sonata No. 1 and Sonata No. 2 share a unique approach to time while retaining their identities in pitch orientation. At only eight years apart, the two sonatas sound closely related, yet each carries a unique motion that draws one into the breathtaking piano performance. The arresting compositions compel listeners to work out the intricacies of time and repetition -- if they can. As timeless as Dr. Kam’s compositions are to himself, so too are they to listeners. Whether you consider String Quartet No. 1 from the mid-60s to D-Bop: Sonata No. 2, the compositions characterize the unique style of Dr. Kam from his past to present, and hint at what is to come in the future.