Navona Records presents some of the finest American voices of modern serious music on THROUGH GLASS, a brand-new compilation of recently-created works for piano – both solo and in chamber setups. Ovidiu Marinescu's Rorrim for cello and piano makes the start. Loosely based on a motif by Johann Sebastian Bach, it could be called a concept piece: its title, "mirror" spelled backwards, is reflective of the mirrorings and variations of Bach's fragment therein. Bruce Babcock continues on a similar note with his riskily-titled Alternative Facts, a piece for solo piano characterized by a deceptively simple, mechanical main rhythm repeated in complex harmonies. As announced in the title, a deliberate systematic confusion prevails, and with astonishing accuracy. I’lana Cotton's ambitious The Return for piano, violin, and cello bridges the gap between Ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu and French avant garde composer Olivier Messiaen – and that gap is smaller than one might think. At 13.5 minutes, the work impressively centers around a beautiful dark mode and the melodic variations it generates. Alla Cohen's Three Film Noir Pieces were intended to be heard along two movies, Cat People and The Curse of the Cat People, both films from the WWII-era. Cohen's solo piano works reflect the composer’s celebrated sophisticated style, and perfectly transport the eerie atmosphere of the films into music. Curt Cacioppo's Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano derives its material entirely from solfège spellings of the names of the three players. The three-movement work cycles through a wide range of emotions, from whimsy to unhinged rage, and concludes with a quasi-tango with a political message. Peter Deutsch's fugue De Profundis Clamavi (roughly, "from the depths I have cried [to you, Lord]") is a calm reflection on the human longing that creates but also transcends religion. Inspired by Renaissance polyphony, this trio (set for conventional piano trio) calmly and conclusively rounds off THROUGH GLASS.

On his seventh release on Navona Records, THE ADVENTURES OF FLORIAN, Michael J. Evans presents an epic, modern adaptation of Henry Beston’s fairytale of the same name. Over the course of four orchestral acts, Evans reframes the story as a tale of trans heroship, with Prince Florizel marrying Florian himself presenting as a boy, rather than revealing Florian as Isabella. Beautifully accessible and poignantly educational, THE ADVENTURES OF FLORIAN brings LGBT characters into the spotlight to improve their representation and educate audiences on the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity. Over the course of the tale, Florian and Florizel display true love for each other and come together as one. Evans enhances the piece’s narrative drive with dedicated instrumentation for each character. The oboe represents Isabella until her transition into Florian, at which point he is musically defined by the soprano sax. The powerful Enchanter is heard as a bass trombone, which contrasts with the english horn and shrieking clarinets which represent the Old Witch and her daughter. Finally, Prince Florizel is heard as a trumpet. Evans continues to show his compositional and thematic prowess through his use of themes for Florian and Florizel. Their respective themes are complete and can stand on their own, but when they come together they form a beautiful duet that represents their healthy, loving relationship. Accompanying the music and fairytale are more than a hundred full illustrations by Appoline Etienne, which depict the story and its joyous ending. The colorful, dreamlike imagery perfectly captures the uplifting theme, and helps make the album’s message understandable for all ages.

Though there are thousands of languages and countless political differences across the world, people tend to come together through equally endless forms of music and dance. On THE SUITE, the Lowell Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Orlando Cela, focuses the lens on the Baroque dance suite as a method of expression that’s ripe for international flavor, artistic individualism, and human storytelling. Suites by Georg Philipp Telemann and Johann Sebastian Bach examine the gallant style’s history and set the groundwork for modern interpretations. The Baroque vanguards pass the torch on to two contemporary composers, Anthony R. Green and Jose Elizondo, who shape and mold the style to match their own compositional artistry as they paint musical pictures of civil rights activism, heart-warming moments in the sun, and the passing of time. What results is an alchemical combination of the old and the new that not only celebrates the original Baroque form, but expands upon it with contemporary, cross-cultural flair.

The creation of VIOLIN CONCERTO by Alicia Terzian marked the beginning of her 65-year (and counting) compositional career. Originally composed in 1954/55, this important piece of her repertoire was brought to life thanks to a collaboration between Navona Records and the Siberian State Symphony Orchestra. This album also features Terzian's Three Pieces, which listeners can remember from their previous Navona release, OFF THE EDGE. Like Three Pieces, Violin Concerto is a work of three movements. The first, "Allegro," establishes two contrasting themes: one that is very rhythmic, the other more lyrical in nature. The work is heard through the virtuous skill of the violin soloist, Rafael Gintoli, combines elements of the two themes, and includes Terzian’s skills with microtonalism. The second movement is based on an ancient Armenian folk melody entitled "Daughter, your mother has died." This melancholic symphonic meditation, through variations, becomes a frantic passion, concluding in an acceptant peace. The third movement, "Andante-Allegro," bursts forth with a crash of the brass section and thunder of the timpani. The movement proceeds to an allegro vivace, which drives another agile violin solo. Three Pieces, the album's second work, was composed in 1954 and is arranged for a string orchestra and inspired by different Armenian folk melodies. It has been performed on countless European stages since its creation. Both Three Pieces and Violin Concerto are included in the repertoire of important European, Asian and American orchestras. VIOLIN CONCERTO is a daring work that is at last available for listeners around the world to enjoy thanks to this new release by Navona Records. Terzian’s music is truly timeless; this is made evident by the fact that her compositions—including those performed on VIOLIN CONCERTO—move audiences as much today as they first did half a century ago.

Piano virtuoso Eliane Rodrigues returns with her latest Navona Records release — THE GERSHWIN & BERNSTEIN COLLECTION, a new look at timeless pieces by legendary American composers. Together with talented artists including her daughter, pianist Nina Smeets, Rodrigues thrills audiences once again with her moving and truly spellbinding performances. First is Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and this is a truly marvelous performance of the work. Gershwin’s intended improvisational, rubato style reigns, allowing the performers generous liberty to express a new interpretation. The employment of percussion blesses the timeless work with a fresh coat of paint. Gershwin’s masterpiece offers the perfect segue into an arrangement of symphonic dances from Bernstein’s West Side Story. Many audiences know the longing ballad “Somewhere” quite well and likely never thought it could get any sweeter, but Rodrigues’ ensemble adds a new layer. The recording is unexpectedly subtle — the polyrhythms are intact, but not overstated. The execution is balanced and exceptional in every single way. Finally, Rodrigues and her colleagues offer Gershwin’s Concerto in F in a seemingly effortless journey. One highlight is the meditative beginning of the second movement which captures the essence of George Gershwin and what listeners love so much about him, but with an arrangement that transpires into an all-out collection of keyboards, all performing with equal importance. The execution of these arrangements serves as an example of how an ensemble can tastefully bring new perspectives to a recording, rather than simply reiterate a well-known composition. The inclusion of the percussion helps to set this album apart. Similarly, this album is equal parts Gershwin, Bernstein, and Rodrigues. This step away from the strictly classical concerto displays Rodrigues’ innate versatility and strength as an artist. It cannot be emphasized enough how the creative use of percussion transforms these classics — an effort not easily achieved, yet Rodrigues and her ensemble gracefully pull it off.

Within their varied appearances and sounds, the piano, vibraphone, and marimba make up a unique family. Nonetheless, key similarities bind them together, and Sustain explores just that. The latest multi-composer release by Navona Records, Sustain presents works for various keyboards that explore not only the abilities of each instrument, but the varied approaches from five different composers. John Dante Prevedini’s Lyme Sonata begins the album, looking at the sonic interplay between smooth and jagged musical voices on piano. Robert Thomas’ Moto Perpetuo and Sixteen Lines Circling a Square create an audial puzzle on solo marimba and on marimba and vibraphone, respectively. Working through layered structures, each piece involves finding the answer to some mental and sonic games. Willem Van Twillert’s Adagio for Piano and Andante for Antoinette presents the composer’s serene, smooth, and in this case romantic, approach to writing music. Daniel Adams introduces Solstice Introspect for three vibraphones. Inspired by the feelings conjured up by the winter solstice, where the day is at its darkest and feelings of both peace and unsettlement are stirred up, the three vibraphones play with the opposing forces of movement and stillness. John A. Carollo’s Piano Etudes and Piano Suite No. 9 take listeners on a multifaceted journey inspired by the romantic sensibilities of Franz Liszt, the intensity and mischievousness of author Edward Gorey’s story Doubtful Guest, and more. SUSTAIN demonstrates all that the keyboard is able to present, as well as all its composers are able to pull from the instrument. From soft to striking, from smooth to jagged, Sustain gives it all, and everything in between.

Spoon Hanging From My Nose, the debut album by composer J.A. Kawarsky, combines spirit and wit with compositions that dance between tender and strikingly agitated. With works for orchestra, some composed by Kawarsky and others originally by Brahms but arranged and reimagined by Kawarsky, the album as a whole is a triumphant entrance into the full album release for the composer. Fastidious Notes, the opening piece on the album, is true to its name -- the orchestra is attentive to every last note of the piece. This piece is followed by a series of reinterpretations of Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes, originally composed for vocal quartet and piano 4 hands. Kawarsky sets these 18 waltzes to a new accompaniment and orchestration, utilizing 10 instruments, reimagining the performances with a sound that is fresh and full. And We All Waited… takes the tone of the album in a different direction -- this time, delivering a pointed message. After the tragedies of numerous shootings in the United States and far too many lives lost, the composition asks, when is enough enough? For now, people are left to wait while those in charge take time deciding what to do, and the composer suggests that the time for an answer is now, and should have been a long time ago. The album wraps up with Episodes, written for piano and orchestra. Drawing from sources from Prokofiev to traditional Jewish melodies used at Yom Kippur, the piece was composed in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Westminster Choir College of Rider University. Spoon Hanging From My Nose is a powerful moment within the Navona Records catalog. Not only is Kawarsky introducing his first solo album to the world of music, but the compositions are challenging, humorous, and altogether make a statement that cannot be ignored.

True to their mission as a collaborative ensemble, The Crossing commissioned Gregory Spears, Joel Puckett, and Toivo Tulev for this widely varied collection that draws on words and poetry of Keith Garebian, Denise Levertov, Thomas Merton, the Botswanan shaman Kxao =Oah, and Walt Whitman. The results: in Tulev’s hands, a churning, haunting rumination on death; in Spears’, a sometimes hymnlike, at other exuberant study on the collision of religion, technology, and conservation; and in Puckett’s, a mesmerizing mediation on transformation and the coming together of body and spirit into oneness. The Crossing has firmly established itself as a fixture of the choral and new-music worlds, holding a unique position at the intersection, indeed apex, of both, with recordings that have garnered two GRAMMY Awards and six additional nominations, collaborations with the major orchestras and museums of the United States, and sold-out performances in Europe. The artful dedication and sheer emotional power behind their performances place them at the forefront of the genre, and draws a seemingly bottomless interest from collaborators and listeners alike.

MUSIC TO HEAR, Joseph Summer’s follow up to WHO IS SYLVIA from Navona Records off his Shakespeare Concerts set, is the result of the composer’s lifelong obsession with poetry. The album pairs the works of contemporary poets as well as Shakespeare with Summer’s music in order to express deeper significance than either words or music are capable of on their own. The first two tracks on the record—both for string quartet with a female vocalist—set sonnets by the eminent poet Robert Kelly. They blossomed out of Summer’s friendship with Kelly; in return for Kelly having written a poem about Summer’s music, Summer set the poet’s “Sonnet 4, for Lydia” for mezzo soprano and string quartet as well as “Spring Sonnet” for soprano and quartet.

These contemporary verses are paired Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 8” which cries out “Music to hear, why hear’st thou music sadly?” Later comes Boston composer Tom Schnauber’s world-premiere setting of Wordsworth’s “Scorn Not the Sonnet” for mezzo-soprano and piano. After two more settings of Shakespeare, we hear composer Binna Kim give life to Lady Macbeth’s “Give Me Your Hand.” The piece for mezzo-soprano, cello, and piano is chillingly evocative, portraying Lady Macbeth’s descent into madness in the wake of the murders she helped perpetrate. Summer’s settings of Sonnets 97 & 98 follow, whose rich string textures are full of love and agonized longing. The work ends with Summer’s original “Epilogue to the Tempest.” The marriage of music and poetry is both ancient and elemental. In his musical settings, Summer plums a region of the human soul rarely exposed in the bustle of daily life. In MUSIC TO HEAR, Summer invites listeners to claim this deeper humanity, just as Shakespeare did at the Globe Theatre some 400 years earlier.

Prolific composer Mira J. Spektor makes her Navona Records debut with SUMMER AND WINTER SONGS, a collection of works for voice that bring together family and friends, history and culture, and loss and love. Mira J. Spektor was born in Europe, graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, and then studied at Mannes and Juilliard. A member of BMI, Dramatist Guild & League of Professional Theater Women, she has received many Meet the Composer Grants. She has written English, French & German Songs for Recitals & Cabaret, Chamber Music & Opera, Music for Theater, Feature Films, Scores for Channel 13 TV & Recordings. She is also founder and music director of The Aviva Players who, since 1975, have performed chamber music and songs by female composers of the 12th to 21st centuries.

The Gorgeous Nothings is composer Ingrid Stolzel’s first recording on Navona Records, although she has also been featured on three compilation albums released by the label. Haunting and lyrical throughout, the album explores themes of beauty, being, journey and transformation. The album’s eleven tracks, some inspired by the poetry of Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman and some created by Stolzel’s own native curiosity, engage the listener intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. The album’s title composition takes as its inspiration Emily Dickinson’s envelope writings and weaves together five paper fragments into a beautiful song cycle. Soprano Sarah Tannehill Anderson performs against a backdrop of flute, oboe and piano, evoking a sense of both the poet’s and the composer’s creative spirits. In here there, performed by Navona violinist Veronique Mathieu and pianist Ellen Sommer, Stolzel plays with the subtlety of perspective. The interplay between piano and violin creates a sense of the instruments both attracting and resisting each other, much like the emotion one feels when torn between two places. In Soul Journey – Three Whitman Songs, Stolzel brings together three poems by Walt Whitman into a song cycle, which creates a journey of the soul from awakening to awareness to transcendence. These striking lyrical interpretations from Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” are soulfully interpreted by mezzo-soprano Phyllis Pancella and Ellen Sommer on piano. With Eyes Open takes as its source material Stolzel’s earlier composition, “with both eyes.” Here, allowing herself to fully open to the idea of possibility, Stolzel takes the 2008 composition, originally written for flute, guitar, vibraphone and piano, and transforms it into a subtle and serene piece written for alto saxophone and piano. The album concludes with The Road is All, which takes as its inspiration a quote from a 19th century historian which translates to “The end is nothing; the road is all.” Each instrument – violin, cello and piano – travels on its own journey throughout the piece, sometimes solo and at other times converging, embracing the twists and turns, the unpredictability that is life, and the simple enjoyment of a moment in passing time.

Japanese-Canadian pianist Yoko Hirota stuns with impeccable pianism on SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL: MINIATURE PIANO PIECES. Originally recorded in 2009, this remastered edition brings out the intricacies of 20th- and 21st-century piano composition with a clarity that was previously unheard of. The first half of the album's track list reads like an exhaustive compendium of 1900's compositional celebrities: Schoenberg, Krenek, Ligeti, Berio. It's a brainy choice: the tracks on SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL aren't ordered by length, as one might intuit, but instead in geographical and roughly chronological order. Vienna's modernists may have laid the foundation, but North America's modernists took serial and atonal composition to the next level. And so, to do the matter justice, there is a splendidly representative selection of Elliott Carter’s oeuvre, along with pieces by Canadian composers - John Beckwith. Despite the immense differences in cultural background and era – the selection spans almost a century, after all – they are all united by one distinguishing feature: They are short pieces, with lengths between 31 seconds and six-and-a-half minutes. Yoko Hirota, who holds a doctoral degree in piano performance and currently teaches the piano at the Music Department of Laurentian University in Ontario, Canada, plays all of these pieces with academic precision, regardless of their respective geographical or temporal provenance. A recording veteran with six previous contemporary albums under her belt, her grasp of the modernist zeitgeist is not only palpable, but extraordinary. And it shows: there is a subtle lyricism even where traditional harmonies clash, a sensitivity not just for the musical language of the era, but for the greater principles that underpin them. SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL doesn't just serve as an index of contemporary piano composition and its roots, it's a worthwhile addition to a modernist record collection on merit of Hirota's powerful interpretation alone.

Exalted and expressive to just the right degree, Ohio-born pianist Vytautas Smetona fuses his American upbringing with his Lithuanian heritage in his recordings of Brahms, Chopin and his own work. His second release on Navona exhibits technical command of the highest order, profound musical understanding and a clarity of interpretation which is seldom heard. No wonder, perhaps, considering that Smetona's recording debut in 1979 already boasted the ambitious combination of Chopin, Liszt, and Rachmaninoff; and what was an extraordinary musical feat already then has since ripened and mature into a sensible, sensitive approach to piano literature which has few equals. Where most concert pianists are afraid to fully dive into the depths of dynamic and expressive range, Smetona does so with bravura. This benefits him immensely: for example, there is a furor in Brahms' fortissimi which is a refreshingly far cry from the rather coddled, mannered pianistic style so common today. Smetona strives against the stream, thunderously and energetically; it's how Beethoven would have played Brahms – and it's fantastic. But there's more, namely an entirely different quality when it comes to lyrical passages, particularly those abundant in Chopin's dances. Smetona plays them with a soft rationality, a logical kind of tenderness. This classical playing style applied to Romantic piano literature brings out every detail with elevated contrast. Nestled between Brahms and Chopin is Smetona's own work, Fantasy in F minor (2015). It fits perfectly with the program, at times reminiscent of the former and other times of the latter, with echoes of Rachmaninoff here and there. The tonal language is late-Romantic, with the improvisatory element firmly reigning over this composition. It's easy to imagine it as a modern cadenza to a concerto by Brahms (or, if one were to be audacious, one by Kalkbrenner or Norbert Burgmüller).

Uruguayan-born American Sergio Cervetti is sure to please listeners with MORTAL DREAMS, his ninth album with NAVONA. Cervetti, who, on previous releases, has firmly established himself as one of the most unique voices in contemporary serious music, again delivers electro-acoustic compositions that can be counted as some of his best in the genre. Cervetti may have been born in 1940, but he's certainly composing like never before. There are only four works on MORTAL DREAMS, but they are united by the vocals at the center of each piece, as well as by Cervetti's singular approach to composition. Influenced by the art of painting as well as the art of dance, these pieces paradoxically exude both a painstaking attention to detail and a certain effortlessness on a larger scale. Four Fragments of Isadora (1979) for soprano and piano are based on letters written by the famous American dancer Isadora Duncan to her lover. Cervetti deliberately chose excerpts to reflect not only the dancer's emotional states at the time of writing, but also her life at large: these fragments are, in effect, a compositional biography. Childhood (2007), one of Cervetti's more recent works, also deals with personal drama, even though the subject isn't explicitly named. It is an audible illustration of a mother whose daughter is diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, but whose maternal love shines through the prospect of the heartache and confusion caused by her daughter's condition. Madrigal III (1975) rests on a poem written by 15th-century Aztec ruler Netzahualcoyotl. It received rave reviews at the time of its premiere. That Feeling of Power (2019) is a reflection upon the current political situation and a subversive analysis of thinly-veiled hegemony. It's a fitting end to this album: after all, Cervetti himself never shied away from being unconventional in musical or social matters.

In the nearly 200 years since its composition for voice and piano, many have tackled Schubert’s Winterreise. Steinway artist Hilary Demske, however, transforms the cycle into a series of works for solo piano on JOURNEY FOR ONE on Navona Records, focusing on the instrument’s poignant ability to represent the original composition’s lyricism and complexity. By freely experimenting with melodic fragments and manipulating the placement and length of gestures—along with translating the meaning of Müller’s poetry to music—Demske adds a fresh, unique perspective to classic repertoire. The result is a refraction, rather than reflection, of Schubert’s masterpiece that produces a series of works that go beyond simple reinterpretation and venture into the realm of complete reimagination.