Recordings
Prisma Vol. 5
Navona Records’ acclaimed PRISMA series continues with a fifth installment, again showcasing the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra’s riveting take on contemporary composition. With a focus on innovation and imaginative performance, the orchestra brings a breath of fresh air to a repertoire that’s all-too-often dominated by mainstream works.
United by their accessibility and creative vision, PRISMA VOL. 5’s roster of composers—Alexis Alrich, William Copper, Kevin McCarter, Lawrence R. Mumford, Samantha Sack, Katherine Saxon, and Anthony Wilson—take advantage of the orchestra’s ability to lend music an illustrative and narrative quality. Listeners travel through times and seasons, reconnect with the trust of intimacy, and explore natural wonders as the players weave an aural tapestry that’s as complex as it is original.
- Nunatak
Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava | Stanislav Vavřínek, conductor
New Choral Voices Vol. 3
In this stunning collection of new choral works, the brilliance and precision of specialist new music choir CORO VOLANTE is on full display. Listen in now for some terrifically performed and diverse new music for choir.
- Tsuki ga dete/ the moon rises
Coro Volante | Brett Scott, conductor
Release Date: December 14, 2018
Record Label: Mark Records
Sempiternal Songs
This album features original music and arrangements written for the unique duo of trumpeter Ryan Gardner and harpist Louisa Ellis Woodson, known as Semptineral Sounds. This unusual pairing empowers the artists to be creative with their arrangements allowing for a fascinating color palette while always staying true to the melody. The album showcases a versatile repertoire including arrangements of songs by Debussy, de Falla, Rameau, Bernstein, Schubert and Schumann; an arrangement of a showpiece by Arban on a theme from Bellini’s Norma; and unaccompanied works by Bach and Presser. Also included is a world premiere of Alba by Katie Saxon, a piece that was commissioned by the artists, which takes inspiration from a poem by Giraut de Bornelh.
- Alba: I. Morning Star
- Alba: II. The Watchman
- Alba: III. The Jealous One
- Alba: IV. The Lark/First Light
- Alba: V. Dawn
Ryan Gardner, trumpet | Louisa Ellis Woodson, harp
Polarities
POLARITIES, an album of new presentations in classical music, expresses the emotions, feelings, and scenes associated with opposites. The works on the album, by four composers, range from a piece for wind ensemble and the Chinese gaohu, to a piano sonata, a chamber work, and works for orchestra. POLARITIES showcases the common focus of polar opposites and points of view in the works of four composers: Alex Freeman’s piece Blueshift, based on an astronomical phenomenon; Chi-hin Leung’s Afterimage: the Dreamy Butterfly, which depicts an ancient Chinese tale by means of new classical music and contemporary instrumentation; Katherine Saxon’s East of the Sun/West of the Moon takes us on a tour through a land of fantasy; Vox Dilecti Mei shows the range of emotion at the arrival of a lover; and Mathew Fuerst’s Symphony which tells a story of unrequited love.
- East of the Sun/West of the Moon: I. East of the Sun
- East of the Sun/West of the Moon: II. Here Is a Desert
- East of the Sun/West of the Moon: III. The Wonderful Moo-moo Bird
- East of the Sun/West of the Moon: IV. The City of Many Towers
- East of the Sun/West of the Moon: V. Here Is Where the North Wind Blows
- East of the Sun/West of the Moon: VI. The City of Many Towers (reprise)
- East of the Sun/West of the Moon: VII. In this Place There Are Peculiar Fishes
- East of the Sun/West of the Moon: VIII. Don’t Walk Too Near the Edge
- East of the Sun/West of the Moon: IX. An Empty Cage
- East of the Sun/West of the Moon: X. West of the Moon
- East of the Sun/West of the Moon: XI. The Path that Leads to No-Place
East of the Sun/West of the Moon
Jessica Lizak, flute | Peter Sulski, viola | Karolina Rojahn, piano
Vox dilecti mei
Amanda KohlJessica LizakJing LiMichael Norsworthy
