Weber, C.M. Von: Clarinet Concertino, Op. 26 / Bottesini, G.

Meditative yet propulsive. Structured yet sprawling. Gossamer yet muscular. Inspired yet meticulously constructed. METHOD MUSIC by Lawrence Ball is all of these and more, a double album of highly adventurous electronic music by a master innovator of algorithmic composition. But this album possesses a unique and illustrious lineage that, despite the clear difference in style and genre, connects it to one of the most famous works in the rock music repertoire - the ideas behind METHOD MUSIC are both the outgrowth and the foundation of the legendary LIFEHOUSE project by Pete Townshend, the conceptualize and co-producer of the album, and presents a theoretical system of musical portraiture in which a listener's personal data is translated into a unique composition.

Dr. Kim S. Ellis is a native of Rockford, Illinois. She has been principal clarinetist with the Symphony of Southeast Texas since 1990 and is a Buffet Crampon USA performing artists. She is an active performer and clinician at conventions and clinics throughout the United States including the Texas Music Educators Assosication, Festival of Texas Composers, Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium, College Music Society-South Chapter, Sarasota Music Festival, and the University of New Hampshire Chamber Music Festival.

Acclaimed English violinist Thomas Bowes seems to have a penchant for thoroughness and completion. Known and praised for his complete recording of all J. S. Bach's sonatas and partitas, the European virtuoso has now taken it upon himself to embark on another quest for totality. This time, it is the six sonatas by Belgian violinist Eug�ne Ysa�e (1858-1931), presented on Bowes' new album, EUG�NE YSA�E: SIX SONATAS FOR SOLO VIOLIN. As one would expect from Bowes, they are played to passionate perfection. Ysa�e, hailed in his time as no less than the "King of the Violin", is a formidable figure to take on for any modern musician. He was famed not only for precision but more especially for a deeply affecting, quasi-supernatural power of communication. A man of immense generosity and largeness of spirit It is difficult to imagine any violinist adequately reproducing Ysa�e's compositions and this special aura. Doubly so if one considers the background of the Six Sonatas for Violin. They were written at a crucial point late in life. Plagued by illness and doubt and finding himself increasingly cut off from playing his beloved instrument as he would wish, this deep frustration found expression in this encapsulation of his art. In short, these works - all sketched out at white heat in a 24-hour period and hair-raisingly complex and difficult for the player - are an embodiment of the man. Thankfully, Bowes not only possesses the technical mastery to command every playing requirement; he also approaches these works with a great sense of empathy towards their creator. It is this attribute which affords him the rarest of insights into Ysa�e's violinistic mastermind. In fact, Bowes plays with such zest and clarity that the listener occasionally needs to be reminded that these are indeed sonatas for solo violin, not for an ensemble of two or three musicians.

Navona Records presents A NATIVE HILL from Philadelphia's professional chamber choir, The Crossing. This monumental unaccompanied work is the result of a collaboration with composer Gavin Bryars, whose previous work for The Crossing won them their first of two recent Grammy awards. With intimate knowledge of the individual voices and art of each singer, Bryars composed A NATIVE HILL to capitalize on the group's unique sound, personality, and esprit de corps. A NATIVE HILL is based on American author and environmentalist Wendell Berry's 1968 essay of the same name, which examines bucolic elements of rural life, suffused with deeper metaphysical and political implications. The new album is full of rich, complex vocal textures, dense chromatic clusters, and moments of profound simplicity, offering an opportunity to reflect on life's timeless questions.

San José Chamber Orchestra 25th Anniversary

Navona Records proudly presents Flare, recordings by members of the Society of Composers, Inc. Now in it's 32nd installment, it offers a veritable cross-section of some of the most original voices in composition today. The album opens with 20-year-old Vaibhav Mohanty's Rhapsody No. 1 (2017), traveling through elements of Western classical composition, jazz, and Indian traditional music with such well-proportioned naturalness and ease, it bears all the telltale signs of an instant repertoire classic. Robert Strobel's Refugees, a dynamic piano composition reminiscent of Takemitsu, explores the human drama of displacement in profoundly thought-out rhythmic and melodic structures. Continuing with the musical tradition of the 20th century, Keith Kramer transcends Olivier Messiaen's harmonic heritage in his oboe/piano duo L'etere del Tempo. Rejuvenated by Matthew J. Jaskot perambulates a futuristic universe of musical expression in seven diverse piano variations, miraculously springing forth from a simple pentatonic melody. In contrast, Jonathan Graybill draws inspiration from ancient Cherokee mysticism and lends a mysterious voice to the black-capped chickadee in Tsigili'I, illustrating it's mythological association as a messenger of wisdom and truth. In Song of the Avadhut, Romanian composer Gabriel Malancioiu aims to affect human consciousness in an avant-gardesque duet between soprano and violin, influenced by the teachings of modern and ancient mystics. Jacob Thiede's When All Else Fails contrasts the sonorous texture of a tuba with the mathematical perfection of computerized sine tones. In Dreams Interrupted, Mark W. Phillips fuses jazz, blues, and classical elements into a rhapsodic tribute to the cultural heritage of Memphis TN.

MUSICAL IMAGES FOR PIANO: REFLECTIONS AND RECOLLECTIONS VOL. 3 is the latest continuation of composer Mark John McEncroe's REFLECTIONS AND RECOLLECTIONS series with Navona Records. Many of the pieces featured on this album are reductions of McEncroe's orchestral works, granting the listener fascinating insight into the mind of the composer. As devotees of McEncroe and his music will likely already know, he is a retired chef, and brings many of the aptitudes of that vocation into his work as a composer. In Volume 3, McEncroe presents the raw ingredients used to concoct some of his greatest orchestral pieces-this time, in their most raw, unmitigated forms. Movements In The Night and Echoes From A Haunted Past, for example, were both previously released on McEncroe's 2018 orchestral release, MY SYMPHONIC POEMS. Somehow, these pieces retain their towering grandeur despite now being performed on solo piano. As is so often the case with recordings of this caliber, the dynamic arrangements and superlative performances on all of the pieces on this album create cavernous spaces which free the listener's mind to hear the music beyond the piano itself. This album also features a movement from Natalie's Suite, a three-movement work for piano and orchestra originally performed by the Jan�cek Philharmonic for McEncroe's DARK CLOUDS IN LIFE. The music portrays the relationship between McEncroe and his daughter, Natalie. "Moving to the Light" is at once tumultuous and hopeful, a striking and beautiful representation of the complexities of the human experience. Performed by pianist Van-Anh Nguyen, REFLECTIONS AND RECOLLECTIONS VOL. 3 captures in high fidelity the stark power of McEncroe's compositions in their most naked, unadulterated forms.

On Hymnus, the world renowned Jitro Czech Girls Choir under the direction of Jiri Skopal once again delivers refined, dazzling interpretations of the music that is so much a part of Czech culture. The album, which is the Choir's third release on Navona Records, includes 24 selections that range from Moravian and Silesian folk songs on which the Choir interprets the subtle call and response between bucolic lovers, to a series of compositions inspired by Latin proverbs on which intricate, multidimensional vocals underscore the significance of a simple word or phrase. While the album's tracks are assembled under specific groupings - Silesian Yodel Songs, The Replies of Silesian Songs, Moravian Folk Songs, and Proverbia - this merely delineates the source material. The unifying impact of the Choir's exquisitely crafted vocals elevates this album far above what might otherwise be an ethnomusicological exercise. For the most part, the choir performs without any instrumental accompaniment, save for several Moravian folk songs, on which a solo piano provides an additional layer of intricacy, and for the album's closing track, Hymnus. Combining the stirring instrumentation of kettledrum and organ with the Choir's uplifting vocals, Hymnus translates the positive, humanistic vision of John Amos Comenius, the 17th century educator, philosopher and theologian, into what serves as a superb melodious conclusion of this impressive recording. The Jitro Czech Girls Choir is a complex institution with a membership of around 350 young singers ranging between five and 19 years of age. Since being founded 35 years ago, the Choir has been lauded internationally for it's tonal brilliance, superb intonation, and distinctive rich blend of sound and energetic vitality. It is considered as one of the best children's choirs anywhere in the world, receiving multiple awards and medals.

Since composer, conductor and musicologist Alicia Terzian founded Grupos Encuentros in 1978, the six-person group has garnered international acclaim for it's success at bringing the music of avant-garde Argentinian and Latin American composers to the world. On 40 Years of Contemporary Music, the group combines compositions from such well-known Latin American composers as Heitor Villa-Lobos, Alberto Ginaslera, and Terzian herself with works by an international array of composers that ranges from Anton Weber to Luciano Berio to Franz Schreker to Pierre Boulez. Grupo Encuentros consists of mezzo soprano Marta Blanco, pianist Claudio Espetor, flutist Fabio Mazzetelli, clarinetist Matias Tchicourel, violinist Sergio Polizzi and violoncellist Carlos Nozzi. The program presented on 40 Years of Contemporary Music originally premiered at the annual Encuentros International Festival in Buenos Aires and truly highlights the brilliance of these award-winning musicians, who have earned high praise from such media outlets as the Los Angeles Times, where they were lauded as "deeply serious and challenging." Over their 40 year-long career, the group has performed at dozens of prestigious venues, including London's Royal Albert Hall and New York City's Merkin Auditorium. 40 Years of Contemporary Music transcends cultural boundaries with such selections as Villa-Lobos' Choro No. 7, which unites the sounds of Amerindian primitivism with the polkas and waltzes of suburban dance halls in Brazil. Emphasizing her status as a renowned ethnomusicologist, Terzian dedicates her composition Yagua de Uca to the Chinguano and Chanel peoples, who belong to a lost indigenous northwestern Argentinian culture. O King was composed the same year as the assassination of Martin Luther King, a tragedy which deeply affected it's Italian composer Luciano Berio. Grupo Encuentros founder Alicia Terzian has composed over 80 compositions for orchestras, orchestras with soloists, and chamber orchestras with and without soloists, musical theater, and multimedia. She travels the world giving seminars on composition and contemporary chamber music at universities and is often invited to participate on juries at international compositions.

John Alan Rose presents Ineffable Tales, an album of four of his ensemble compositions, recorded at Reduta Hall in Olomouc, Czech Republic. In addition to renowned soloists Jungwon Choi, Moni Simeonov, the recording features the composer's wife Sing Rose and the composer himself. The album also features the Moravian Philharmonic under the direction of Miran Vaupotic. Rose stuns from the outset with his imaginative piano concerto "Tolkien Tale," a programmatic fantasy with clear Eastern European folk elements. In the first movement "Setting out on a great adventure," the listener, perhaps on a journey with famed hobbit Bilbo Baggins, is introduced to playful syncopations and pentatonic explorations - perhaps in homage to folk explorations of Bartok, Brahms, Dvorak, and Prokofiev. The warm "Lullaby," the second movement, is a short interlude, a breathtaking look at tandem possibilities for keyboard instruments and woodwinds. Concluding the work is "March," a continuation of the fanciful literary journey with musically atmospheric projections of things encountered along the way. Next is "Old Father Time" for cello and orchestra, a nostalgic, yet timeless work demonstrating the composer's mastery of the neo-Romantic style and the complexities of storytelling through music. The two-minute violin introduction to "25,000 Years of Peace" is modern, seemingly improvisational and likewise experimental. The violinist somehow replicates the hollow breaths heard in folk woodwinds. It is meditative and almost religious. Direction is unclear. But then the grand orchestra enters and the listener is transported to the Western frontier in an Ives-like montage of New World folk tune, Native American chant, and Shaker hymnsong. Listeners will enjoy "Ticket to the Theater" featuring soprano, Sing Rose and the dark comedic narration of actor Tyler Bunch. This album is brilliant in every way and is the work of a very thoughtful composer. Ineffable Tales makes the future of the orchestral canon quite bright. Quite bright indeed!

Composer Mark John McEncroe's latest album, Musical Images for Piano, presents a theater of the mind, performed with a delicacy that is both melancholic and nostalgic. Rather than attempting to shatter musical boundaries, McEncroe focuses on the introspective, letting the listener's stories and memories give the music it's own unique life. Divided into two volumes titled "Reflections" and "Recollections," Musical Images for Piano is performed solo by pianist Yoko Hagino. McEncroe draws his inspiration from the setting of his Japanese garden, but beyond that, the composer does little to share his own stories. Instead, he encourages the listener to create an atmosphere where they can turn inward to give the compositions depth by associating them with their own memories. Like paintings, McEncroe's compositions begin simply with a title. "Daybreak," the opening song in the second volume, the tender slur of melody brings to life a moment of renewal, almost as if you can hear the sun rising for a new beginning. On "Natalie's Theme," the melody wafts along sorrowful tones. The composition characterizes someone that feels familiar, knowing everything about her through song. The pace of both "Reflections" and "Recollections" volumes provide plenty of space to take a step back from the current moment and dream about places and moments that once seemed forgotten.

Navona Records and the acclaimed ensemble Trio Casals proudly present Moto Bello, the next chapter in the moving series that brought 2015's Moto Continuo and Moto Perpetuo in 2013. Living up to it's name, Moto Bello, or "beautiful motion," is a collection celebrating the synergy of Trio Casals and the vibrant works of ten contemporary composers including Diane Jones, Beth Mehocic, David N. Stewart, Sidney Bailin, L Peter Deutsch, Giovanni Piacentini, Adrienne Albert, Clive Muncaster, Joanne D. Carey, and Bruce Babcock. Moto Bello is a journey through individual experience, international scenes, and philosophical pondering. Each piece is an exploration of movement and of the beauty in all forms of motion-dissonant and jagged, soft and freely flowing, or standing tentatively between the two. In some instances, the pieces are romantic and sweeping, as in Ondine, Nightfall, Palette No. 1, the beginning moments of Solo la Sombra. In others, the energetic experience is driven and leaping, as in Woman A/Part, Somewhere Between D and C#, Habanera, Lines, Hockets, and Riffs, and Imagined/Remembered. Moto Bello is a diverse tapestry of emotional, energetic, and imaginative listening experiences. Trio Casals demonstrates not only the imaginativeness of the composers, but also the group's technical prowess as they communicate the unique meaning and motion behind each composition. On Moto Bello, the ensemble exists as the dynamic storyteller of each composer's artistic statement, weaving each tale of beauty in motion with their own inspired story.

Shocking, gripping, and thought-provoking, Mara Gibson's new album SKY-BORN conjures a flurry of emotions through its moody music. In one moment, the busy strings create a fury of anxious, energetic sounds; the next, the strike of a lone piano chord paints a brooding soundscape. SKY-BORN is Gibson's second album, and the first to be released on Navona Records. She has worked at UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance for over ten years and will also be teaching this fall at Louisiana State University this year. Gibson's album features compositions performed by UMKC fellow faculty members, the Cascade Quartet, violist Michael Hall, mezzo-soprano Megan Ihnen, and pianist Holly Roadfeldt. Gibson drew her inspiration from a variety of artistic mediums. The piano preludes, which are interspersed throughout the album, were inspired by paintings from Jim Condron (www.jcondron.com), each piece extracting a beautifully haunting soundtrack from a series of abstract art. Gibson also used poems as the foundation for her compositions. The eerie One Voice reflected the writings of the Michigan-based poet Hannah Ensor, while The Folium Cubed is Gibson's response to Luisa Sello's Let Clover Be Aid. Sky-born sets Emerson’s “Music” for four soloists, full of idealism and hope, in the ugliness, and in the reality, something we do not share enough. The 15-minute epic Blackbird carries the reader along a journey of grace and violence invigorated by Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, a poem by Wallace Stevens. Though influenced by literary works, SKY-BORN breeds nothing but visceral energy and harrowing emotion that resonates with the listener right down to the last note of the viola.

How can something as intimate as a musical moment shared between two people open up the door to endless possibilities? Discover the answer in Art for Two, a collection of works by acclaimed composer Arthur Gottschalk and performed by Italian woodwind extraordinaires Sauro Berti and Mario Ciaccio, accompanied by the skilled hands of pianist Naomi Fujiya. In each piece, the performers call listeners into the moment as they traverse art music inspired by sources from traditional Jewish hymns to Frank Zappa. The melodies of Berti and Ciaccio will carry listeners to some interesting and unexpected places. Italian bass clarinetist Sauro Berti has performed at major festivals from China to Mexico, and his command of the woodwind has earned him credit with the most notable orchestras in Italy and beyond. His counterpart, the award-winning saxophonist Mario Ciaccio, adds smooth flair - together, the two mesmerizingly work off of each other as the strains of their instruments sing together as one. In the first piece, Benny, Zoot, and Teddy, one can almost hear witty banter back and forth between the instruments. Two best friends strolling through a lively city scene as they converse immediately comes to mind. The album's concluding piece, Shalom, also features the two instruments in conversation, but this time with a different message. They are joined by a full choir to deliver a final word: "shalom," a Hebrew word meaning "peace." This message, balanced with the exchange of the woodwinds, sends listeners on their way, enriched with having joined the musicians on this journey. In Art for Two, each track brings listeners into a different shared conversation and experience. Enjoy the intimate dialogue between two musicians, and between the performer and you, the listener, as each song tells you a new, fascinating story.

Composer Garth Baxter makes his Parma debut with a collection of his exquisite works for voice entitled Ask the Moon. This album is about the human condition and the pursuit of light in darkness. A setting of Sara Teasdale’s “Nights Without Sleep,” for voice and piano commences the album’s journey of introspection. Then there is Three Madrigals—“There is a Lady Sweet and Kind,” combines the elegance of the English art song with the character of a Stephen Foster folk tune; the performance of “The Silver Swan,” a dark Irish ballad of sorts, is evocative of the Leontyne Price recordings of Samuel Barber’s art songs; “Love Me Not for Comely Grace,” embodies its text, demonstrating the sweet, yet complicated burden of affections. Following is “Is This the Cost?” an elegiac exemplar of Baxter’s flair for dramatic writing derived from Act II, Scene II of his opera Lily (Lisa VanAuken, librettist). Four Views of Love begins with “When You Are Old,” a reflective setting of the classic Yeats text. Be prepared for an incredible climax that expresses fully the ranges of the piano and the human voice trailed by blissful catharsis. Closing the album is Skywriting, a cycle “drawing on words by Linda Pastan.” In the composer’s own words—“[Pastan’s] poems have so often touched me so deeply and in such a very personal way that it feels as if she has been listening to my thoughts. The title of the album, Ask the Moon, comes from the closing line of the final song, ‘Why are your poems so dark?’”

Mark John McEncroe, who started his musical training in his late 30's, had always exhibited a varied, profound interest in music – one that led him to work as a major music label manager over the course of two decades. No doubt that it was partially this section of his professional career which formed the basis of his personal compositional language. Unimpeded by the constrictions of a musical academic career, he developed a style which is unapologetically concrete and evocative. Live In Ostrava sets out with a work titled Symphonic Poem – The Passing, a piece which chronicles the renewal of attitudes and ideas; a process that may, at times, be painful, but remains an inevitable part of the human condition. There are wistful moments, too, but the outlook is quietly courageous: like someone who has made peace with his or her fate, The Passing concludes in a soft melancholia. While it draws on the same idea of the cyclicality of life, the initial mood in the following work, Symphonic Suite No. 1 – A Modern Medieval Tale, could not be more different. “Entrance of the King” is expectedly majestic and proud, at times even martial, as is “Strutting Peacocks – Hangers On at Court.” Ever present is the truculent struggle against humanity's universal inner demons. “Rising Discontent” evokes the quiet before a storm, which gets unleashed in a fortissimo tutti in “Peasants Uprising” – the latter intriguingly interspersed by a lone violin as if to remind the listener of the individual being amid a common destiny. “An Uneasy Truce” and “A New Way Forward” both seem to evoke the inner turmoil of grappling with compromise and an uncertain future. The final movement, “The Quest – A Search for Truth,” bears a transformative power reminiscent of that bestowed upon a soul which has found its true purpose. This finale in particular seems to ring true for the composer: while composing music may have been a late vocation for Mark John McEncroe, it is a vocation nonetheless.

This new release features pieces from celebrated contemporary composer Hayes Biggs. 'Pan-Fare,' the album's starting point, is a rare modern classical piece for steel pan and a motley, jazz-inflected ensemble. Fun, energetic, and brimming with rhythmic imagination, it is set against an original percussive backdrop provided by, among others, a vibraslap, a marimba, and a Chinese opera gong. The album's title track, 'When you are reminded by the instruments,' is inspired by a verse in Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. Like Whitman's poetry, Biggs's composition oscillates between the concrete and the fantastical, while the traditional classical instrumental grouping stands in stark contrast to the decidedly modern soundscape it creates. One of the most personal tracks on the album, 'The Trill Is Gone' is a dedication to Biggs's fellow composer and friend, the late Edwin London. This solo saxophone piece paints a memorable portrait of a character that, not unlike it's dedicatee, is equal parts nonchalant, mischievous and sophisticated. In the intimate 'E. M. am Fl�gel,' melancholic tenderness meets with moments of precipitous furor. Specifically written for Biggs's colleague - and the performer on this recording - Eric Moe, the piece includes quotations of Gregorian chants as well as a fragment from one of the Moe's compositions. Played to perfection, the piece is a true reflection of their friendship. This album holds quite a few surprises, and the Wedding Motet is certainly one of them. This choral work, inspired by Biggs's interest in liturgical texts, is steeped in the album's most obviously tonal musical syntax, harking back to the traditions of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Late Romantic periods. Ochila laEil, the composer's first choral piece set in Hebrew, develops a dialogue between a horn and the choir, mirroring the dynamic between cantor and congregation. With it's varied moods, it manages to distill the power and serenity of an entire oratorio into less than 14 minutes. In short, When You Are Reminded By The Instruments manages to shed light on Biggs's incredibly versatile musical output - light which, indeed, is well deserved.

So many of us wonder about the big picture questions in life. Why are we here? What is the best I can do in my lifetime? Cosmic Wheel of the Zodiac, with lyrics by astrologer Benita Rainer, presents a cosmic rumination for meditation upon these great questions. These songs guide you through the labyrinth of the Cosmos, which, as perfectly attested to in "As above, so below," is also the labyrinth of your mind; as what is without has it's genesis in what is within. Let yourself relax down into what are the key feature blueprints of your life's sun sign. The twelve songs in the Cosmic Wheel cycle cover a universal span, from each sign's deepest motivation for love, to each soul's most heartfelt desire for spiritual expression. Journey with Aries, the first primal force of the calendar year, to Taurus' expression of security, and onward to Gemini's mercurial desire for freedom. Experience the depths of Cancer's protection, the instinctual and strident soul creativity of Leo, the amazing Virgo the virgin's cosmic genesis, and Libra's search for harmony. Scorpio will take you to depths you've never experienced, and, with Sagittarius, you will shoot for the stars. Catch Capricorn's goat - if you can - and Aquarius' wide-ranging humanity, before experiencing the final resolution of the human spirit with Pisces, the completion of the cosmic wheel. Perfect for times when purpose is lost and goals are hard to find, these twelve quintessential musical mandalas will bathe you in cosmic anchor points. Find out what are the intrinsic motivators of your loved ones, and allow each track to revive the lost purposes of your own tribe or village. We are all different, and yet we all share these inner truths as expressed in Margaret Brandman's transformative melodies.

Composer Eric Klein immediately engages the listener with the mysteriousness of “Nettles,” a quartet for piano, violin, cello, and clarinet. This track’s rhythmic dexterity hints at Klein’s background as a film/media composer, foreshadowing the complexity of the dark, ethnographic “Myth of Tomorrow,” an exploration of the keyboard percussion instruments and the distinctive aspects of the harp. The first movement of the energetic “Hoboken Suite” transpires when flute and free-bass accordion engage in a battle of sonorities, highlighted by the warm depth of strings and bass clarinet woodwinds. It is a cliffhanger with no resolve, and still none is given even in the haunting opening of Movement II, when the tempo is dramatically cut in half. In the similar realm is the rhapsodic “Dream Fragments” a sonata for piano—each hand, at times, so independent one might wonder if two pianos are in effect. “1899” is a pensive survey of the Americana themes of Klein’s predecessors directed by the reminiscent harmonies of the atmospheric woodwinds and vibraphones that have been catalysts for the album so far. Following is “Parallels,” a “tonal and atonal hybrid,” a play on anxiety and confusion. Perhaps the most unexpected gem of this incredible album is the guitar duet “Four Journeys.” There is a subtle dance with modal mixture, providing exquisite chord progressions and arrival points reminiscent of the sweetest of Renaissance madrigals. When the dust settles, it is with a startling jolt.“Hidden Places” is the icing on the cleverly syncopated cake. Klein’s work is smart and sophisticated, accessible even to the untrained ear, and a cool, clever blend of things both old and new.

Acclaimed piano four-hand duo Dana Muller and Gary Steigerwalt come together once more for In Your Head, a collection featuring the work of six composers that highlights both fresh compositional talents and earlier successful works. Each piece demonstrates the unique synergy between the two performers. With twice the hands, twice the talent, and twice the interpretation, the piano is pushed to dynamic and sonoric extremes. Compositions on In Your Head span over five decades, but each is brought to new life by the skilled hands of Muller and Steigerwalt. The duo, who have performed extensively across the Western Hemisphere, found inspiration for this compilation in the success of Lewis Spratlan's Dreamworlds, a piece which they had commissioned in 2015. Using the piano as a canvas, the two paint a psychological landscape exploring the mind within different people, scenarios, and even locations. Sometimes dissonant and flustered, as in 'Mind Games II. Panic,' and other times eerie as in 'The Silent Hearth' which captures the memories echoing like firing synapses inside a dilapidated concert hall, each piece resonates with the complexity of mental activity. Throughout In Your Head, Steigerwalt and Muller compel listeners to zero in on the thoughts of the panicked soul, the trapped bureaucrat, the obsessed dictator, and the mind control of the lucid dreamer. As you follow along, perhaps you'll ask yourself - whose psyche most resonates with me?

With Exhaling Space, Alejandro Rutty and his cast of remarkable performers create one hour of fresh, captivating music combining Latin and world music styles with the classical tradition. With tracks like the futuristic tango Martian Milonga and the meditative More Music for Examining and Buying Merchandise, Rutty composes the album like a breathing exercise, taking in an anxious pace in one movement, and then in the next, letting the melodies exhale gently through the piece. The North Carolina-based composer is renowned for his original blend of South American styles, astonishing rhythms, and lyrical melodies with powerful evocative intensity. Rutty's compositions explore ambitious philosophical queries ranging from the break-neck swells of excitement to the calm delicacy of wonder. Exhaling Space gracefully navigates experimentation and tradition. Works like Transparent Sun interweave piano and violin beautifully, building tension between the two instruments into an engaging conflict like staging a debate within your mind. The title track also inhabits a classically-infused world, yet the rhythms weave in South American tropes as if they were transported into a fourth dimension. Simply put, Exhaling Space is not merely a background soundtrack to your day. Allow yourself to give in to it's demand for attention; your breath will be taken away.

Composer and Clarinetist Mark G. Simon makes his PARMA debut with his first-ever recorded album, Grecian Urn. All selections were composed by Simon, and he is the clarinetist on every track. "Anniversary Sonata" commemorates the 50th wedding anniversary of the composer's parents. "Angel Music," is a bright, yet sympathetic Broadway-style ballad with running eighth-note phrases marked by sentimental modulations, inspired by the congeniality of the composer's parents, his father's vocation as a minister, and the G.K. Chesterton quote, "Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly." Concluding the sonata is the progressive "Pleasant Hill," a sweet treasure that could easily be set to words to conclude what is the lounge-style, popular work with innate chamber music tendencies. "Un Buen Piola Porte�o" is a tango/fantasia for clarinet and piano and fabulous in every way - from the transformative qualities of the clarinet's voicing through different octaves to the smooth, indelible, charismatic melody of the tune itself, fleshed out with the glittering harmonies of the piano. In "Ode on a Grecian Urn," Simon and Meir add soprano Linda Larson to their combo. In this setting of four of the five stanzas of the John Keats poem, in which the poet describes his visits to the British Museum, Simon reincarnates Keats' experience noting that "The poem's very existence to the power of art to affect people's lives." "Thou Still Unravished Bride," is reminiscent of an Argento song-delicate and complex, yet unforgiving. "Heard Melodies" is a torrent of surface emotions transpired into a popular folk tune. "Coming to the Sacrifice," is a haunting but spirited dance concluded with an extended instrumental fugue-in homage to J.S. Bach's own Musical Sacrifice (BWV 1097). "O Attic Shape," is an elegy directed to the Grecian Urn itself through which a harrowing soprano outcry lauds the Urn for it's beauty.

Jan J�rvlepp's first Navona release, CONCERTO 2000, presents a tonal concerto, scored for orchestra - one might think Wagner or Mahler when listening. Except that Wagner and Mahler might not quite have agreed with the directness of his tonal language: for J�rvlepp's work unabashedly aspires to appeal on a popular level. J�rvlepp began to play guitar and cello as an adolescent and even studied composition in San Diego - where he didn't quite see eye-to-eye with his instructors. Unimpressed with the dissonance and lack of coherence in Modernist music, the young man turned his back on those teachings the day he left University, and instead began to create music in a style he felt was more fitting: a curious melange of folk elements, neoclassical structure, large instrumental setups, clear melodic lines, accessible harmonies, and pop music rhythms. J�rvlepp has stayed true to this style to this day. The listener who expects a daunting epic in face of an awe-inducing title such as CONCERTO 2000 will therefore be surprised to instead encounter lighthearted, bubbly music able to put a spring in your step. J�rvlepp's deceptively fine brushstroke bears a secret power: that of whisking the listener on a world tour within the span of three symphonic movements. I. Caliente! Would be just as fitting a soundtrack for a film set in Mexico, or perhaps Spain, during a more romantic, heroic age than ours. The calm II. Nocturne is reminiscent of a mysterious urban scene, perhaps in Paris, London or Warsaw; it's the musical equivalent of a walk in nightly fog. The whole concerto concludes with the fittingly-titled III. Fire, Ice and Vodka, a spirited collision of the Champagne Aria, Hungarian-esque folk dances, and the kind of merriment one is likely to find among a group of slightly-intoxicated Russians (but sans the melancholy).

An axiom is a self-evident truth. Everything on this album represents different aspects and shades of truth. On their debut recording, Axiom Quartet probes the soul and delivers a deeply satisfying statement on truth and inner fulfillment. Each track is a whirlwind journey of soul-searching expression. From the bravado of "Insight" into the confounding swirl of "Hindsight," and on to the profoundly elegant "Pur Ti Miro," this recording turns tempo and style on a dime leaving the listener exhilarated. While "Insight" is the exhilarating realization of truth, "Little Lies" bends truth. Axiom Quartet's arrangement of the Fleetwood Mac classic is a refined, yet provocative update that feels surprisingly at home in a chamber setting. An understated dignity adds depth to country-folk standard "Wagon Wheel," with a delicate banjo dancing under the Quartet's strings. In "Everything Means Nothing to Me" an artist painfully expresses the truth in his heart while Billie Holiday begs a lover to not tell her the truth in "Don't Explain." "Axiom" is a work about seeking truth and reason, only to have had the answers present from the beginning. Karl Blench wrote all of the arrangements and original compositions for this album. There are small moments of music, also original compositions of Karl Blench, between each of the longer sections of this album. They blend and blur the ideas of the music that comes before and after them to portray the grayer tones of truth. Known for creating and performing programs that mix traditional string quartet repertoire and transcriptions of works from a variety of genres, Axiom Quartet introduces audiences to extraordinary music from different genres and creates new fans of the classical repertoire.

Spectra 2 unveils the works of six composers, each of whom tells a unique, memorable story. First up is Elizabeth R. Austin's 'B-A-C-HOMAGE,' an intricately constructed tribute to the German Baroque composer. Based on Bach's name and his "Air on G" respectively, the first and second movements reflect upon the clarity of his work through the lens of Austin's decidedly modern tonal language. John Alan Rose's 'Sleepy Hollow Suite' for piano mesmerizes with a timeless appeal that bridges centuries: aesthetically gratifying and inventive all at once, Washington Irving could fittingly have imagined this as a soundtrack for his eponymous story. 'Bells and Grass,' composed by Juliana Hall, brings five poems by Walter de la Mare to life with only a soprano and an oboe. A related theme could be discerned in Ryan Jesperson's 'Icarus,' a riveting duo for alto saxophone and piano. Like the eponymous mythological character, it starts out soaring, but undergoes a considerable transformation, culminating in a spectacular fashion. There is nothing random about Frank Vasi's saxophone quartet 'Random Thoughts': the four-movement work is so refreshingly tonal, as well as rhythmically and harmonically engaging, that it wouldn't be out of place in an upscale jazz venue. The quirky 'Picasso's Rag' sounds exactly how one would imagine it according to the title - only better. Nancy Tucker brings the album to a close with two of her playful, upbeat compositions. 'Escape of the Slinkys' imagines the life of named perennial childhood toy with bewildering depth of imagination. 'Grasshopper's Holiday,' an unapologetically catchy guitar piece, evokes images of road trips and carefree summers with such cheerful drive that one might find it difficult to stop listening to it on repeat. With it's variegated selection, Spectra 2 packs a veritable punch in just about one hour of music - music composed in Connecticut, but with an artistic appeal that easily transcends the borders of the Constitution State.

Navona Records artist Clipper Erickson presents a solo piano album of works by composers Richard Brodhead (1947-), David Finko (1936-), and Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881) entitled Tableau Tempest & Tango. The mostly Russian-themed album climaxes with Erickson's masterful interpretation of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. The original version for solo piano precedes the iconic orchestrations by many composers, most notably Maurice Ravel. For Erickson, the piano is his orchestra, and he conducts it marvelously through every movement, down to the famed finale, The Great Gate of Kiev. Stellar, too, is Erickson's interpretation of Finko's Fantasia on a Medieval Russian Theme, which is inspired by a grievous poem about the oppression of the Russian people. Finko's Sonata No. 1 Solomon Mikhoels is next. It has folk roots-budding from the composer's interest in Yiddish and Slavic cultures. Erickson executes the polarity in dynamic contrast and rhythmic complexity with incredible manual dexterity. Finko writes that his Sonata No. 2 "expresses the acute feelings of a sensitive intellectual who goes through several stages of personal sufferings and struggle." Finko's Sonata No. 3, composed in 2009, is evocative of the evolution of the composer's technique since his first sonata in 1964. Erickson, too, shows an evolution - the melodies become more fluid, the separation between each note more precise. The listener is transported to Brazil where Erickson presents Richard Brodhead's Una Carta de Buenos Aires, a truly dark tango. It is mysterious and vacant, but Erickson handles it like a delicate flower. The finale is Brodhead's Sonata No. 2, Sonata Notturna, dark, too, in it's presentation, but Erickson's light shines on the meditation of terrors we hear at night. As evidenced on his previous recording, 2015's My Cup Runneth Over, Professor Erickson's prodigious performances are not only products of his superior musicianship, but also the in-depth studies he completes on every work performed. This is the best collection of such works to date. Tableau Tempest & Tango is a must-have for the collections of piano dilettantes and savants alike. As the LA Times notes, Erickson plays "with extraordinary dash and power and he never let[s] flamboyance obscure art."

Bearing musical witness to the versatile talents of two acclaimed northern California-based composers, The Life Before Us combines works from John G. Bilotta and Allan Crossman. Bilotta's cycle of Yeats Songs, performed by baritone Andrew R. White, highlights five of the poet's shorter lyrics in predominantly bi-tonal or atonal settings. His collection of Renaissance Songs is based on the work of several Elizabethan poets, including John Donne and Thomas Lodge. They're brilliantly delivered by tenor Justin Marsh. Bilotta draws on two American poets, Carl Sandburg and Edna St. Vincent Millay, for "Lost" and "Prayer to Persephone," two songs united by a single poetic theme and elegantly performed by soprano Cass Panuska accompanied by pianist Hadley McCarroll, who are also featured on The Hippocampus' Monologue, the closing aria from the first act of Bilotta's opera Rosetta's Stone. Allan Crossman's ten songs on The Life Before Us include four inspired by the Spanish poet Federico Garc�a Lorca and an international array of others: from Ireland (James Joyce), Germany (Hermann Claudius and Ricarda Huch), Russia (Alexander Scriabin), and America (Louis Phillips), performed by mezzo-soprano Megan Stetson and bass Richard Mix, with the composer himself at the piano. Crossman's three-movement Sonata fLux, with pianist Keisuke Nakagoshi, flows from the energetic "Moto Atlantico" through the vibrating "fLight of the Firefly" to the swirling fluidity of "Rondo a Pollock" - inspired, as it's title suggests, by Jackson Pollock's 'action painting' technique - and brings the eclectic program to an impressive conclusion.

Navona Records presents ANCESTRIAL VOICES, the Apollo Chamber Players’ next installment in their 20x2020 project. 20x2020 is an initiative to commission 20 new folk music-inspired and multicultural works by the end of the decade. This fiery release comprises four 20x2020 works from composers Gilad Cohen, Arthur Gottschalk, Malek Jandali, and Javier Farias. Gottschalk’s Imagenes de Cuba incorporates sounds and music from Cuban culture, from the Cuban national anthem to protest songs to the sounds of a busy Havana square. Cuban percussion virtuoso Adel Gonzalez joins for the final movement of the work, an exploration of historic salsa and pachanga dances. Cohen’s Three Goat Blues is inspired by the Passover prayer “Chad Gadya,” a fable that concerns a goat that falls victim to the natural laws of predator and prey. The soundscape of Javier Farias’ Andean Suite is situated on the Andean mountain region. He melds the sounds and virtuosity of a classical guitar with string quartet to evoke the ceremonial blood fight of the Peruvian Yawar Fiesta, the Altiplano (“high plains”) of the Andes, and La Diablada, the traditional dance of the Bolivian Oruro Carnival. Syrian-American composer Malek Jandali's String Quartet in E-flat Major connects Middle Eastern modes and Western classical forms. His passion for humanitarian efforts and the music of his home country emanates through expressive and powerful settings of centuries-old Syrian folk melodies, thoughtful interpreted by Apollo Chamber Players.

Award winning cellist Carmine Miranda and violinist Boris Abramov’s new Navona release Mozart / Beethoven: Violin and Cello Duets is an intimate gem of delightful chamber music from the Classical Period. Drawn from various duos by Beethoven and Mozart, this album is substantive, and showcases a wide stylistic breadth of late eighteenth century German instrumental music, from the sumptuous levity of the divertimento, to the full brilliance of sonata form. In this recording both performers balance concepts of classical performance, musical research and virtuosic dexterity combined with a high-definition audio engineering in order to create the most realistic sound and definitive version of these works. The pieces in this recording have never been paired together. Their unique styles, and carefully researched interpretations by Miranda and Abramov, create exceptional recordings with equal parts nuance and bravado.