The Same Old Wonder is a collection of songs that stir a familiar sense of wonder and curiosity and ask questions with answers just beyond our reach. Ravi Kittappa’s Und wenn du lange in einen Abgrund Blickst… quotes Friedrich Nietzsche, inviting us to stare into an abyss, and see who stares back. Wildflower, an original song by Hasco Duo, excerpts text from the child poet Constantinos Harpending Pavellas and innocently asks “Who am I? Who loves me?” In contrast, Morgan Krauss’ pallid tongues is dark and distorted, a confused nightmare of jumbled images in which the voices long for both home and freedom. Tinta Roja, Tinta Negra/ Red Ink, Black Ink, by Luis Fernando Amaya is dedicated to “Ancient voices- silenced and lost to perpetuity,” and asks us to “resonate with them, beautifully or horribly, and listen.” The album closes with Basic Lands by Jonathan Sokol, a modular piece that imitates game play rules from Magic: The Gathering and uses text from The Prairie and the Sea by William Quayle, an enchanting text about the author’s adventures in the vast North American landscape.

Chicago based ensemble Fonema Consort releases this beguiling collection of music by the Ecuadorian composer Juan Campoverde. This collection of works highlights his innovative compositional approaches to music for voice and guitar in both solo and ensemble settings, featuring soprano Nina Dante and guitarist Samuel Rowe alongside their fellow Fonema members. Consort: a group of instrumentalists and singers performing together. Fonema: the smallest unit of speech, which distinguishes words according to their sonic quality. These concepts define the essence of Fonema Consort as they commission, perform, and record new music that explores the possibilities of the human voice in an avantgarde chamber setting. Known for their “enthusiastic embrace of daring new music” (Chicago Reader) Fonema is driven by a fascination with pieces that foster rich interplay of voices and instruments and that are characterized by deep expressivity. The ensemble is highly committed to presenting works by Latin American composers to US audiences and encouraging musical exchange between these regions. Fonema Consort was founded in 2011 by singer Nina Dante and composers Pablo Santiago Chin and Edward Hamel. Since its founding, the ensemble has premiered over 50 works, and traveled widely across the US and increasingly in Latin America.

Composer Alexander Sigman releases "VURT Cycle," featuring performances by violinist Hajnal Pivnick, flutist Matteo Cesari, Ensemble Phorminx, Ensemble Modelo62, and Discord Workshop. Inspired by a novel titled "Vurt" by UK sci-fi author Jeff Noon, Sigman's compositional process and development of electronic materials for the cycle was shaped by technologically forward-looking concerns in Noon's work. With a unique background in music composition + technology, cognitive science, and data science, Sigman has been active internationally as an interdisciplinary composer, technologist, researcher, educator, concert/event producer, and performer. Currently, he is a Music Software Engineer at Amper Music, a leading AI-driven music software company whose tools enable clients to compose custom music for their media projects in seconds. His compositions have been featured a number of commercial releases, including portrait recordings on the Carrier and New Focus labels. Sigman has presented and published extensively on a broad range of research topics, including innovative auditory warning design, sound information retrieval, perception, and classification, approaches to creative audiovisual media integration, and robot opera.

From the exuberant, singular American composer Forrest Pierce comes a collection of glittering major works for strings and voice. His subjects are the sheen of dragonflies, sacred birch bark scrolls, and the cataclysmic nature of ecstatic mystical experience, interpreted by renowned cellist Kivie Cahn-Lipman and an all-star roster of musicians. At the center of the album is The Dante Samadhi, the epic setting of Canto XXXIII from Dante’s Paradiso, a Western account of enlightenment made vivid with echoes of Monteverdi, Britten, and Pierce’s own ecstatic melodic language and searing vision of tonality. Blistering, virtuosic passagework and hankering emptiness share the stage in Silver Birch Scroll for solo cello with Aspen trees, and in the fiery string trio Lord of June. The Sun and Other Stars reveals a masterful, passionate compositional voice in service of a vision of unbridled joy, unlike that of any other composer.

Boston born composer Sid Richardson releases his debut recording, shaping the program around literary influences that have had a strong impact on his work. The centerpiece of the album is a setting of poetry from the African-American experimentalist poet Nathaniel Mackey's collection "Blue Fasa," scored for the Deviant Septet with Mackey narrating. Solo works for pianist Conrad Tao and violinist Lilit Hartunian and an ensemble work for the Da Capo Chamber Players round off this excellent introduction to Richardson's work.

Composer Adam Roberts releases a collection of his chamber music which highlights his depth of expression, lyricism, and powerful command over structure and compositional arc. Featuring performances by andPlay, harpist Hannah Lash, Bearthoven, oboist Erik Behr, and the JACK Quartet, Roberts' music embraces a wide range of influences while integrating them into a focused frame. Called “a powerful success,” “arresting,” and “amazingly lush,” (the Bos-ton Musical Intelligencer), “an attractive mix of the familiar and exotic” (Boston Classical Review), and “invigorating” with a “persistent melodic urge” (American Academy of Arts and Letters), composer Adam Roberts’ music has been performed internationally by the JACK and Arditti Quartets, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, New York New Music Ensemble, Guerilla Opera, Transient Canvas, andPlay, and at festivals such as Wien Modern (Vienna), Tanglewood, the Biennale Musiques en Scène (Lyons), and the 2009 ISCM World Music Days (Göteborg). Honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Fromm Commission, the Benjamin H. Danks Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Leonard Bernstein Fellowship from the Tanglewood Music Center. A dedicated educator, Roberts has taught at Harvard University, Northeastern University, Istanbul Technical University, the University of Georgia, and is currently Assistant Professor of Composition and Theory at Kent State University. In addition to this album, other music by Roberts can be heard on the Tzadik, New Focus Recordings, and Lila Müzik labels.

Probably best described as musique concrete topologique- or a kind of topological study of found musical sound- these etudes are re-writings of the music of Schumann, Couperin, Paganini, Sgambati, Brahms, and others. By placing these old pieces into a hall of mirrors- revealing them upside-down and back to front- we hear them all again, but as if for the first time. Listening here feels like going back to child-listening, when our ears did not quite understand the grammar of the music (or the words of the songs we listened for), when we were not y et quite sure what to make of the many notes that just seemed to fly or flow. The etudes’ creation lies between composition and performance; improvisation makes the next event sound as if the previous event were different. Some of the pieces neutralize harmonic functionality and flatten contrapuntal syntax into pattern alone, as if to be hearing the past in a radical present-tense. Others loosen, and then even lose, their motivic values, in an oddly resonant chordal confusion- an uncanny recursion. Like the flight of Walter Benjamin’s angelus novus, history is propelled into the future to which its back is turned. (Martin Scherzinger)

"Daniel Lippel is a New York-based guitarist and chamber musician and a doctoral student at MSM, where he studies with David Starobin. He is a fine player, with good musical instincts and a sound technique. He shines brightly in the new works on the "Resonance" release, including Mario Davidovsky's little-heard Synchronisms #10 for guitar and tape, a riveting piece. Besides the Carter, the rest of the works here are by lesser-known composers. Peter Gilbert's Ricochet for guitar and electronics is particularly appealing on a first hearing, with infectious rhythms and delightful coordination between guitar solo and electronics." -- Steven Rings, American Record Guide [July/Aug 2006]

"Daniel Lippel is a New York-based guitarist, who is intensely committed to challenging contemporary music. Much of the music [on Resonance] is extremely demanding for the guitarist and I can't imagine it being better played." -- Goran Forsling, Music Web International [May 2005]

"Lippel's playing on the Davidovsky is intense and well articulated, emphasizing the angular nature of the phrasing. The fine performances and well-balanced program make this disc [Resonance] a standout and definitely worth purchasing." -- James Hanna, Guitar Review #130 [Spring 2005]

"Well this is a treat. Guitarist Daniel Lippel has put together a wonderful CD featuring works by Mario Davidovsky, Nils Vigeland, Elliott Carter, Soonjung Suh, Judah E. Adashi, and Peter Gilbert. Whether he's rippling through Carter or chilling out with Vigeland, Lippel's playing is consistently convincing and leaves little to be desired. He's as technically sound as anyone could possibly want, and his musicality makes everything sound as natural as improvisation. 'Resonance' may be a little difficult to find, but it's definitely worth the search." -- David Salvage, Sequenza21.com [February 14, 2005]

Guitarist Daniel Lippel is active as a soloist, chamber musician, and recording artist, especially in the world of contemporary music. He is a member of New York based new music ensembles ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble) and Flexible Music, as well as Fat Cat Records indie rock outfit Mice Parade. Lippel has performed throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.

"Lament/Witches' Sabbath, composer Mathew Rosenblum's new album on New Focus Recordings, features David Krakauer, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, FLUX Quartet, Mantra Percussion, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Lindsay Kesselman and Lisa Pegher performing four intense and emotionally riveting works that explore the themes of migration, loss, memory, and psychological and cultural transformation. Using a variety of tuning systems, Eastern European lament field recordings, ambient sounds, and pre-recorded voices these works create a compellingly fresh landscape. With diverse musical elements derived from classical, jazz, rock, and world music traditions, Mathew Rosenblum's compositions offer "an ear-buzzing flood of sound, rich in unusual overtones" (The Boston Globe). A wide array of groups have commissioned, performed, and recorded his music such as the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and the American Composers Orchestra. Using a variety of tuning systems, his work does not live within traditional boundaries, creating a compellingly fresh landscape."

Over the last two decades, Minneapolis based composer Scott L. Miller's work has increasingly been engaged with ambient sound and music informed and inspired by the environment. This recording, "Raba," is a byproduct of this artistic direction. Initially conceived as a straight forward retrospective of Miller's work in the ambient realm, the project has since evolved into a chronicle of his collaborations with performers Ensemble U: flutist Laura Cocks, and guitarist Daniel Lippel as well as video artists Ted Moore, Mark Zaki, Rosemary Williams, Ron Gregg, and Paul Clipson. In addition to the audio recording, a limited edition video is available including premiere video content for all but one of the works, created especially for this release. Not unlike one's experience truly being inside and hearing the sounds of nature, listening to this entire recording slows our perception to a slower rate of change. Within this context, we can hear the drastically different sound worlds between the individual pieces. Scott Miller is "a true force on the avant-ambient scene" (Classical-Modern Review) and "inspiring real hope & optimism for the future of electroacoustic music" (5against4)

A 2021 GRAMMY Nominee for Best Choral Performance!

Philadelphia based contemporary vocal ensemble The Crossing, under the direction of Donald Nally, releases "Rising w/ The Crossing," an uplifting offering that serves as an offering of hope amidst a pandemic as well as a journey through the ensemble's projects over the last several years. Including music by Joby Talbot, Eriks Ešenvalds, Dieterich Buxtehude, Paul Fowler, Alex Berko, Ted Hearne, Santa Ratniece, and David Lang's hauntingly topical "protect yourself from infection," which sets texts from a 1918 U.S. government document, with the names of Philadelphians who fell victim to the 1918 influenza pandemic.

Percussionist and composer Bonnie Whiting's "Perishable Structures" places works for speaking percussionist within a context of storytelling. Through works by Rzewski, Globokar, Parenti, Logan-Greene, and Whiting herself, the album investigates the intertwined relationship between spoken and musical narrative and the unique role that percussion plays in this repertoire. Bonnie Whiting performs, commissions, and composes new experimental music for percussion. She seeks out projects involving non-traditional notation, interdisciplinary performance, improvisation, and the speaking percussionist. She has presented solo and small ensemble shows at The Stone in New York, the Brackish Series in Brooklyn, The Lilypad in Boston, The New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, at Hallwalls in Buffalo, the Tiny Park Gallery in Austin, The Wulf in LA, the Carl Solway Gallery in Cincinnati, The Grove Haus in Indianapolis, on the Wayward Music Series in Seattle, on tour throughout New Zealand, and at colleges and universities around the country. Her debut solo album, featuring an original solo-simultaneous realization of John Cage’s 45’ for a speaker and 27’10.554” for a percussionist, was released by Mode Records in April of 2017.

Composer Ofer Pelz celebrates an eight year collaboration with Israeli based Meitar Ensemble with "Trinité," a collection of five works that highlight Pelz' intricate hybrid ensemble textures and deft command over applying repetition with variation to looped material. With a special emphasis on the illuminating possibilities afforded by prepared piano writing in solo and chamber settings, Pelz' music is both experimental and grounded in unfolding narrative. Ofer Pelz composes music for diverse combinations of instruments and electroacoustic media, he is also an active improviser. He has studied composition, music theory and music technology at Jerusalem, Paris and Montreal. The work of Ofer Pelz has been recognized by the reception of many international prizes including two ACUM awards and the Ernst Von Siemens Grant. His music is played regularly in Europe, USA, Canada and Israel at La Biennale di Venezia and Manifeste IRCAM/Pompidou among others.

Boston based composer Aaron Jay Myers's "Clever Machines" features his eclectic music for a broad range of chamber combinations, including two works for New Focus veterans, the percussion and clarinet duo, Transient Canvas. Myers brings his varied background as a longtime new music ensemble member and guitarist in many stylistic contexts to his composition work, often organized around modular rhythmic gestures. Aaron Jay Myers has been commissioned and performed by many musicians and ensembles across the United States. As a guitarist, he has performed many different kinds of music including punk, metal, flamenco, classical, jazz, and more. He is founder of the hardcore punk band, Niffin and the avant-metal band, Kraanerg. He has been giving private guitar lessons since 2002, and currently teaches at home and at various music schools in the greater Boston Area. Myers holds BM and MM in Composition degrees from Towson University and The Boston Conservatory. He studied guitar with Maurice Arenas and Troy King. He studied composition with Dave Ballou, William Kleinsasser, Jan Swafford, and Marti Epstein. He has had additional composition studies with Nicholas Vines and Roger Reynolds.

In this wonderful collection of works for two guitars by a group of composers hailing from many spots on the globe, Duo Noire provides a compelling snapshot of the range of expression in contemporary chamber music for the instrument. Night Triptych opens with Clarice Assad’s (of the famed Assad guitar family) Hocus Pocus, a dynamic work blending the rhythmic intensity and rich harmonic color of the music from her native Brazil with an encyclopedic understanding of the timbral possibilities of the instrument.

Mary Kouyoumdjian’s Byblos is inspired by the ancient Lebanese city of the same name, and involves an accompanying electronic track that subtly deconstructs a Mediterranean traditional dance in hazy washes of sound. The guitar writing at times evokes the figurations of its regional cousin, the oud. With its title, Courtney Bryan’s Soli Deo Gloria signals its alignment with centuries of work dedicated to the glory of a higher being and purpose. The composition’s journey is framed in terms of Bryan’s relationship to the stages of prayer - Contemplative, Unsettled and Searching, Questioning and Hoping, a Prayer, Pursuing, Realization, Acceptance. Iranian composer Golfam Khayam’s title work is in three movements, and one hears echoes of the oud and Middle Eastern music in fleet.

Gity Razaz’s work is more squarely within modern compositional tradition, and her Four Haikus are four tightly crafted pieces. Gabriella Smith’s Loop the Fractal Hold of Rain engages with popular music more overtly than other music on the recording. Duo Noire’s playing throughout is virtuosic, sensitive, and calibrated beautifully to the style of each work.

REVIEWS:

As compelling as the playing is by American classical guitarists Thomas Flippin and Christopher Mallett on their Duo Noire outing Night Triptych, of equal import is the album’s set-list: world premiere recordings of newly commissioned works by six female composers from around the world. That’s no accident: having noticed the extreme underrepresentation of female composers in classical concert programming and recordings, the Yale School of Music graduates launched the album project in 2015 as a way of making classical music more gender-inclusive. While two of the composers are United States-born (New Orleans native Courtney Bryan and San Francisco Bay area denizen Gabriella Smith), others have roots in Iran (Golfam Khayam, Gity Razaz), Brazil (Clarice Assad), and Armenia (Mary Kouyoumdjian). Such a project is easy to get behind, for all kinds of reasons.

The album begins on a suitably resplendent note with Assad’s Hocus Pocus, a three-part setting that affords the players ample opportunities to strut their magical stuff. After the arresting flourishes of “Abracadabra!,” “Shamans” cools the pace for a brooding meditation packed with mystery, one intensified when spoons are aggressively applied to guitar strings, while “Klutzy Witches” perpetuates the pensive tone of the central movement. In each case, the beauty of the guitars’ nylon strings and the duo’s interactions are well-served by Assad’s writing.

Khayam’s three-part title work, which blends aspects of Persian ethnic and contemporary classical forms, draws on the Tehran-born composer’s extensive familiarity with Persian strummed instruments to apply extended techniques to classical guitar. In the work’s energized middle movement, “Quasi Furioso,” for example, chopsticks and pencils are used to generate aggressive percussive flourishes and scrapes; the contemplative “Rubato, Amoroso, Molto Cantabile,” by comparison, opts for a more delicate intertwine of harmonics and counterpoint.

Razaz, who emigrated from Tehran to the United States as a teenager, is represented on the release by Four Haikus, sketches that present a wide range of moods and techniques with concision. Whether it be the animated “Andante” or the ponderous “Largo,” melodic and rhythmic interplay are accentuated in material that’s designed to be phrased by the performers as a singer might. Bryan’s Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone) roots itself in a sparkling uptempo performance infused with gospel and jazz, the episodic work presenting the guitarists’ playing with the utmost clarity as they advance through the multiple stages of a prayer.

Arguably the recording’s most compelling piece is Kouyoumdjian’s atmospheric Byblos. The composer, a first-generation Armenian-American whose family was directly affected by the Lebanese Civil War and Armenian Genocide, wrote the work after a recent visit to the ancient Lebanese locale after which the piece is titled. Duo Noire’s soft guitar tremolos and aggressive picking are augmented by a portentous backing track that imbues the material with an eerie, unsettling quality; so central is this sound element to the piece, it eventually overpowers the guitarists, whose playing is submerged by the swelling noise. As arresting, if for different reasons, is Smith’s Americana-infused Loop the Fractal Hold of Rain for the way it brings a different kind of energy to the recording. Rhythm moves to the forefront in her nine-minute piece, with funky bluegrass-inflected riffs animating the material with insistent, syncopated momentum and vibrato and glissando effects that wouldn’t sound out of place in an Indian raga.

[The] pieces are a varied lot that speak highly on behalf of their creators, and it doesn’t hurt that the musicians bringing the material to life are Flippin and Mallett, virtuosos who invest their performances with energy and conviction. To claim that the two break new ground in the world of classical guitar music on the hour-long release isn’t overselling it: deploying everything from stabs and strums to trills and taps, the guitarists consistently extend the acoustic instrument into adventurous territory without sacrificing musicality in the process.

-- Textura