On her debut solo album, MIROIRS, pianist HyeJin Kim embarks on a journey of self-reflection through music. The solo-piano repertoire by Gershwin, Ravel, and Granados provides a deliberately intimate experience, in which Kim shares career-shaping works that helped define her as a musician—and as a person. Her delicacy, precision, and passion for the music come through in each piece, which as a whole crafts a narrative that interweaves the concepts of art, life, and belonging. Praised by critics for her “passionate…polished and expressive” performances, pianist HyeJin Kim is one of South Korea’s most thrilling young classical stars. Born in Seoul, she began playing piano at age five, and later enrolled at the prestigious Yewon Arts School. She furthered her studies in Germany, earning her master of art in musical art as a “Konzertexamen” (highest distinction) from Berlin’s Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler. She recently received an artist diploma at the Colburn School in its Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Fabio Bidini.

Navona Records presents European/American composer Svjetlana Bukvich’s latest masterpiece: EXTENSION, a multifaceted collection of pieces that use technology, music, and the motions of dance to both deconstruct and reimagine ideas of genre and cultural division. In EXTENSION, listeners traverse ten innovative pieces that are both deeply personal and universal. Bukvich describes herself as aiming for a “no-genre-borderless-flow” with her music and, on a larger scale, in the structures of human society. Indeed, she captures that spirit immensely: hybridizing musical languages from American minimalism, art and progressive rock, and German classicism, to Italian polyphony, Russian romanticism, jazz, and ethnic idioms, she creates a cinematic, ‘fictocritical’ sound that is entirely unique but at once familiar. From the opening whispers of the electric violin in The Beginning to the evocative title track Extension which mingles both voice and synth, the album is a sweeping conversation between the natural and technological, the language of sound and the language of numbers. The piece Once You Are Not a Stranger appears in three iterations: instrumentally, vocally, and as an orchestral reprise. The meditative return of the piece emphasizes the expression of its title — in the acceptance of profound loss and the redemptive possibilities that extend out of it, there is no division, and no one is a stranger. The composer herself knows the world’s need for connection all too well — her past includes an escape from her home in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina in the midst of the Civil War before finding her way to America where she continued her pursuits in media arts. In her youth Bukvich has lived in Ethiopia and Scotland, experiences which also influenced her sonic ideas. EXTENSION offers an opportunity for reconnection through dismantling, rebuilding, and exploring concepts of time, style, and musical history.

Joanna Estelle presents Emergence: a compilation of works produced under her personal philosophy that “quality music uplifts humankind.” The opening work is “Umori” [Moods], ten character pieces for piano soloist, musical superlatives describing ten familiar dispositions of the human condition: Ardent, Determined, Energetic, Whimsical, Shimmery, Repentant, Reflective, Wistful, Solemn, and Hopeful. Compositionally, the overarching style is one of charismatic sentiment, accented by the bright timbre of Lacroix’s piano. The work is altogether lovely and a wonderful introduction to “Susannah’s Lullaby (This is a Face of Love),” and “Language of a Rose,” the first two art songs included on the album. “Moyi mamij” [For My Mother] is an exquisite quartet that brings a tear to the eye of anyone who has ever felt a mother’s love. In that sentiment, let’s hope that Princes William and Harry will have the opportunity to hear Estelle’s “Qu’est-ce que c’est la vie? [What is life?]" a homage to “The People’s Princess,” for which Estelle wrote not only the music, but the French text. In “Abwoon d’bwashmaya” [Aramaic Lord’s Prayer], Estelle’s writing is reverent and prayerful -- blending perfectly the melodic sonorities of the soprano voice and the cello. Estelle showcases her choral writing with the inclusion of four works: “Water Canticle (For Margaret Trudeau),” “La chanson de ton coeur” [The Song of Your Heart], “Child of the Manger,” and “Song for Abwoon.” Estelle, who once put music aside to appease her parents by studying psychology and accounting instead, is now a well-respected composer in Canada. She relates, “When you see people around the world are listening to and loving your songs, you know composing is something you should take seriously.”

Michael G. Cunningham and Navona Records present PROSCENIUM MOMENTS, a highly challenging collection of Cunningham's orchestral compositions. Nestled in style between early Prokofiev and late Shostakovich, this particular selection of recordings provides a bird's eye view of Cunningham's catalogue. Born in Warren MI in 1937, Cunningham holds music degrees from no less than three universities and has made a name for himself not only as a professor of composition (a position he held for more than three decades), but also as a published author of music theory books. It therefore doesn't come as a surprise that his compositions, too, are crafted with structure and diligence. The album's name, PROSCENIUM MOMENTS, is aptly chosen, considering that Cunningham's works are meant to be performed before an audience, ideally in a spectacular setting. The pieces themselves are distinctively constructed: There are themes of musical conflict, such as in Counter Currents or Time Frame, but also of reconciliation, such as in the warmer Impromptus; Symphony No. 7 would be factually incomplete without a simultaneous recitation of four selected E. E. Cummings poems; A Bach Pre-Symphony harbors educational intentions closer to the revelations of a musicologist than that of a composer; and the orchestration of Fauré's piano work Nocturne No. 6 adds punch and power which Cunningham felt was lacking in the original. There is a wealth of thought in the pieces of PROSCENIUM MOMENTS, and it all comes together as one: because despite the large temporal distance between the individual works (the opening track having been written in 1966), there is a great homogeneity in the language Cunningham employs. It is teasingly edgy and spontaneous, and his wouldn’t be out of place among the most memorable pieces of the mid-to-late 20th Century.

Navona Records is proud to announce the release of Daniel Crozier’s enchanting East of The Sun and West of The Moon, orchestral album. Using music, rather than words, to tell his story, Crozier’s music is full of startling detail and narrative. The two pieces comprising this album serve as windows into Crozier’s theory of musical story telling. Listeners are challenged to find a better narrative voice than the delicate oboe positioned against the profound strings. Specifically, one feels this texture in Ballade: A Tale after the Brothers Grimm, rendered exquisitely by the Slovak National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Stanislav Vavrínek. The piece flows with scenery and drama experienced through, what Crozier has referred to as, “three ideas” representing characters whose interaction creates the story of the piece. His compositions have been praised by both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. The Baltimore Sun wrote, “Composer Crozier has responded … with music of extraordinary depth and power.” Crozier’s movement, “Capriccio” (performed by the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Gerard Schwarz) was awarded first prize in the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra’s Fresh Ink competition for Florida composers. Crozier has been a recipient of grants or awards from organizations including the Florida Department of State, the Ernst & Elfriede Frank Foundation, ASCAP, and the National Opera Asscociation. Explore the magical world East of The Sun and West of The Moon, and let your imagination show you the stories therein.

Violinist Véronique Mathieu and pianist Jasmin Arakawa present Navona Records’ CORTÈGE. The name cortège, or “solemn procession,” covers a vast expanse of meaning — while it most often describes a funeral procession, the term also refers to a joyful wedding procession, or a group that follows a person of importance in their honor. Mathieu and Arakawa balance the solemn and the celebratory in this sensitive, dynamic performance. Exploring the works of four French composers — Claude Debussy, Lili Boulanger, Nicolas Bacri, Francis Poulenc — the album is emotional, refined, and triumphant all at the same time. The album begins with a trip back to 1917 with Claude Debussy’s Sonata for violin and piano in G minor. Written when the composer was suffering from terminal cancer, a year before his death, he wrote to a friend that “this sonata will be interesting from a documentary point of view and as an example of what may be produced by a sick man in time of war.” Mathieu and Arakawa handle this introspective work with technical precision and grace. The moving album finds its title track in composer Lili Boulanger’s 3 Pieces for violin and piano. The second movement, Cortège, presents the other side of the word’s meaning — it depicts a victorious procession through sweeping gestures, a brisk tempo, and a bright, sunny energy. Mathieu and Arakawa pay homage to the young composer, whose life was cut short by illness, and demonstrate the triumph that can be created even in a grave situation. The Bacri Sonata breve for solo violin, op. 45 and Poulenc Sonata for violin and piano, FP 119 wrap up the album with passion and a demonstration of the duo’s virtuosity and compatibility as a musical unit.

John A. Carollo's newest release, The Transfiguration of Giovanni Baudino is a fascinating mixture of music written for different orchestral instrumentations and with wildly varying intended emotional responses. The composer himself may best define the intangible aspect of his music's emotive intentions, writing, ''I have always preferred to let music speak for itself. We each derive our own unique personal meanings from our listening experiences and most of it is felt viscerally.'' The visceral is, in the case of much of the music presented on this release, never far away. Carollo's writing for strings in the five movements of The Rhetoric and Mythos of Belief emphasizes the tremulous and melodic, yielding a varied but consistently inspired musical color palette. Throughout this lengthy work the hues of the string ensemble sound tend toward the amber, allowing the luster and huskiness of the lower voices to often become a focal point. In these lush textures, slowly unfolding melodic materials easily maintain primacy of placement, and the many harmonic voices of the ensemble combine in a refined coherency. Likewise, teh works presented on The Transfiguration of Giovanni Baudino featuring full orchestra each, in turn, define their own aural landscapes. The title track is defined by scampering, freewheeling melodic materials that make their way throughout the instruments of the orchestra. Skirting the edges of tonality, the piece takes full advantage of the many timbres and orchestral coloring that can be achieved by a large ensemble. This, like Carollo's other works, has a structural resiliency that both embraces and simultaneously defies the melodic and harmonic materials that constitute it.

As the title of this album suggests, An Arc of Quartets gives listeners unique access to a continuum of composer Michael G. Cunningham's intricate and inviting string music. Five international string ensembles present the album's seven compositions, including Sirius Quartet, the Moravian Quartet, the Millennium Quartet, the Pedroia Quartet and New England String Quartet. These groups' performances of Cunningham's work present the hallmarks of his style of string writing, which is defined by a focus on rhythm, melody, and texture, as well as his gentle yet often dissonant, harmonic language. Although these quartets contain a wide range of sounds and styles, Cunningham maintains a reliable attraction to tense, lyrical melodies, and energetic rhythms. One specific string effect that pervades these works is the glissando, or slide sound, that is produced easily on string instruments. In the middle of String Quartet No. 3, we can hear glissandi spangle an all-pizzicato section, while in the "Zestful" movement of String Quartet No. 5, these sliding gestures are decorated with a trill. This piece's marriage of Cunningham's typical style with uncontrollable, rhythmic energy marks it as one of the more abstract works on the album. Cunningham's quartets utilize special sounds as accents to a core of intriguing textures, evocative melodies, and momentum-building rhythms, all of which remain compelling throughout the album. The composer's impressive skill at creating musical lines is displayed particularly strong in the "Song and Fantasia" movement of his String Quartet No. 1, a piece defined by both soulful lyricism and intense contrapuntal motion.

In 2016, composer and pianist Jeffrey Jacob conducted interviews with children of illegal immigrants, whose plight ended up inspiring the pianist's fifth symphony. Remarkably for a contemporary composition, the work is quite condensed timewise; nevertheless, it packs the whole gamut of human sentiment, with the movements titled I. Lagrimas [Tears], II. Fear; Grace, III. Separation, Grief; Resolution, Triumph and, at last IV. Sanctuary I. Next up are three works for piano and orchestra, with Jacob at the piano. His clarity of tone is striking and the perfect fit for his own compositions. For a 20th-century composer, Jacob's music is surprisingly tonal. The sound is unique and evocative; had Olivier Messiaen studied with Rachmaninoff, the Adagietto from Jacob's Piano Concerto No. 2 might well be the result. Epitaph (In Memoriam) is fittingly epic for its title and, in style, highly reminiscent of Shostakovich's piano concertos. A highlight of the album, however, appears in the form of the two-movement The Persistence of Memory, in which Jacob shifts his aim from the 20th to the mid-19th century. After a modern introduction, the listener is greeted with a quotation of Schumann's Fantasy Dance, and the beautifully lamenting solo cello contrasted with lyrical piano lines is a direct reminder of the German composer's Piano Trio No. 2. Lastly, the pianist harks back to the centerpiece of DREAMERS, his symphony: a lone oboe interspersed with electronics brings both the album and the fifth symphony's subject to a close. The outward circumstances have not changed; but the intangible remains the same.

Beginning as a single spark of inspiration, the orchestral work blossoms into something transcendentally grand and organically rich. DIMENSIONS VOL 2, the second in Navona Records’ series for orchestra, presents five organically inspired compositions, with music that is as multidimensional and richly textured as the subject matter is multifaceted. Traverse through each unique work and witness what vast results can be drawn from the creative mind. Erich Stem's orchestral rhapsody Portland is indescribably vivid; even if you've never been to Portland, you'll certainly feel like you'll have. One hears the bustle of a big city, scurrying people, novelty at every corner; but also surrounded by mountains, forests, and gushing streams of white water. Bonzai Down, composed by Bill Whitley, takes the listener on a precarious mountain bike journey. The piece is a musical depiction of the steep Bonzai Trail in Oregon. Written in the rondo form, Whitley contrasts stretches of tranquil serenity in the deep, coniferous forest with the heart-stopping thrill, tempo, and panache of the main theme. Brian Field's A Letter from Camp illustrates the emotional turmoil of war and its far-reaching consequences. Walt Whitman's eponymous poem, here set to music for soprano and orchestra, dramatically brings the Civil War-era poem into the 21st Century by highlighting the universality of human suffering beyond the battlefield, to the farms and families of those engaged in armed conflict. Concerto No. 2 by Mark Francis bears the subtitle In somnis veritas, "in dreams there is truth"; and there is plenty of dreaminess and true musicianship to be found in this concerto for guitar and orchestra. Mark, himself an accomplished guitarist, uses his virtuosic instrumental skill and rich musical imagination to create a concerto fit to join Rodrigo's classic Concierto de Aranjuez as a repertoire staple. Jan Järvlepp's Street Music is a lighthearted piece for percussion and brass, evocative of a walk on a hot, sunny day off with nothing but cheerful thoughts in mind. Its sense of levity fittingly rounds off the album–an album which not only caters to a diverse range of personal tastes, but which might also be able to expand them.

The highly innovative conductor Sergey Smbatyan leads the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra on their new album CONTEMPORARY COLOURS. Featuring music exclusively by Maltese composers, the album combines full orchestration with pre-recorded elements, traditional instrumentation, and contemporary sounds to bring the pieces to life. The project aims to highlight Maltese music, bringing together the sounds of Euchar Gravina, Mariella Cassar-Cordina, Christopher Muscat, Veronique Vella, Alexander Vella Gregory, and Albert Garzia, all active innovators in their field. Enjoy this selection of new contemporary classics as performed by Maltas only professional orchestra.

Newly released from Navona is CONVERSATIONS WITH MY SOUL, a collection of new chamber works from acclaimed composer-pianist Bun-Ching Lam. The music sets in different languages the poetry of Shelley, Heine, Rimbaud, and Lasker-Shüller, as well as the poems of 9th Century Chinese mystic Han Shan and contemporary writer Etel Adnan. In a compositional voice The New York Times has called “alluringly exotic,” Lam incorporates baritone voice, piano, viola, flute, French horn, and harp to elucidate timeless works concerning life’s fundamental questions. With a thoroughly contemporary sensibility informed by tradition, Lam’s CONVERSATIONS WITH MY SOUL offers listeners a fitting soundtrack for their own existential ponderings.

Quite surprisingly, Symphony No. 3 had humble beginnings. Back in the late 2000s, composer John A. Carollo connected on MySpace with English soprano Sharon Selman, who was deeply involved in the preservation of trees and forests. She suggested that Carollo use the poetry of William Blake as a starting point to create a piece about nature. Carollo didn't think twice; and a song cycle named Awake Humanity to Nature’s Beauty! was composed, then reworked, resulting in two different instrumentations. Fast forward a decade to the year 2017, and Carollo, then living on the Big Island of Hawaii, found himself transcribing the song cycle and fashioning it into a symphony, which became the telling of a love story. The composer attributes the lyrical nature of the resulting work to the beauty of the Hawaiian scenery. Perhaps the most striking feature of this symphony is found in the occasional appearance of a wordless soprano, which is used to accentuate certain key phrases. Contrary to the tradition of classical composition, Carollo chooses not to have the vocalist take center stage, and instead treats the voice as simply another instrument in the orchestra. The results are often surprising; Richard Strauss, who considered the human voice the most important instrument of all ("...but also the most difficult to play"), would certainly have approved, not just of the technique, but also of its execution. Symphony No. 3 is another large-scale addition to John A. Carollo's catalog, and no doubt one that will find many ardent admirers, both in his long-standing audience as well as those yet unfamiliar with his works.

Following his 2017 10-album recording of the complete Beethoven piano sonatas, pianist Steven Masi turns his talents to two works by Brahms, each one followed by its own companion piece by composers Robert Chumbley and Jonathan Cziner, respectively. Masi’s masterful touch and dynamic style capitalize on the unrivaled emotive power of solo piano, causing it to sing in a voice that is profoundly human. Join this Juilliard School alumnus as he delights listeners with virtuosic artistry and a knowing attention-to-detail. BRAHMSIANA opens with Brahms’s 3 Intermezzi, Op. 117. Here, Masi invites listeners on a cyclical journey between light and shadow, descending into darkness before reemerging with triumphant resoluteness, only to give way at last to an inevitable nightfall. Masi pairs this first piece with composer Robert Chumbley’s Brahmsiana II. This second composition, with its colorful textures and sheer lyrical force, recombines the Brahmsian DNA of Op. 117 to create something wholly original and captivating. Next, Masi unfolds Brahms’s Six Klavierstucke, Op. 118. Masi performs with impressive agility, moments of manic activity, as well as the stark silences that disrupt them. The record closes with a piece commissioned by Masi, himself: Echoes of Youth by Jonathan Cziner. Cziner responds to Brahms from across the expanse of time in a musical language of tonality and dissonance that both Brahms and the contemporary listener may comprehend. With BRAHMSIANA, Steven Masi presides over a musical exchange between our past and present. Don’t miss the chance to get in on the conversation.

Navona Records is proud to release TRANSIT VOICES from composer Carl Vollrath. Featuring a series of works for clarinet, the album grapples with existential questions; who were the humans of prehistory, and what defining qualities do our spirits share in common with theirs? Vollrath imagines these clarinet pieces as found archaeological objects, voices from long ago that have somehow made their way to our present-day ears. Inspired by Andrew Robinson's book Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts, the music plums a cavernous underworld for clues toward a deeper understanding of human existence. This newest album comes on the heels of Vollrath’s acclaimed THE UNFOLDING FLUTE (2020) and is sure to delight listeners with its rich and dynamic works for clarinet.