• Trumpeter

    Stephen Ruppenthal San Francisco Bay Area Composer/performer Stephen Ruppenthal is co-Principal trumpet and Contemporary Music Advisor for Redwood Symphony. He studied trumpet with Chris Bogios of the San Francisco Symphony and Opera. Ruppenthal holds a Performance Degree and a Master of Arts Degree in Contemporary Musicology from San Jose State University, studying composition and electro-acoustics with Allen Strange and ethnomusicology with Lou Harrison.

  • Composer, Saxophonist

    Composer, saxophonist, and educator Demetrius Spaneas has been a featured soloist and composer at major concert venues and international festivals in the U.S., Eastern Europe, and Asia. He was formerly Composer-In-Residence for both the New York City Con Edison and the Bay Area Chamber Symphony Orchestra in San Francisco, California.

  • Performer

    Collaborating as Duo Sureño since 1999, Nancy King and Robert Nathanson share a passion for commissioning and performing new music. As a duo, they have toured extensively throughout the United States, Germany and Austria, with world premieres most recently in Wilmington, NC and Honolulu, Hawaii. Waking The Sparrows, their newest release on Ravello Records represents an almost twenty-year journey, exploring the beauty of the human voice blended with the guitar, as expressed through the music of today's most compelling composers.

  • Guitarist

    Bob Bliss is a musician, software engineer, and instrument designer residing near Santa Cruz, CA. Born in Michigan, he was playing guitar in his first band at age 10, and bass guitar and keyboards soon after. He studied the French horn and composition in middle and high schools, and by age 16 was building electronic music synthesizers in his basement. Interleaving college and music, he played bass in two college jazz bands, and by 18 he was playing pop, rock, and funk keyboards nightly as a professional, while still studying electronics technology, computers, piano, and music theory.

  • Pianist

    Jeri-­Mae G. Astolfi is a Canadian-­born pianist whose playing has been lauded as “brilliant” (New Music Connoisseur), “persuasive” (Sequenza21), and “beautiful” (American Record Guide). Her repertoire, ranging from the Renaissance era through the present, clearly affirms her keen interest in new music, which has led her to commission and premiere many new solo and collaborative works—music that has been featured on live radio broadcasts and released by Albany Records, Innova Recordings, Ravello Records’ Capstone Collection, Ravello Records, as well as various recordings for the Society  of Composers Inc. Performers Recording Series.

  • Ensemble

    The University of Alabama at Birmingham Chamber Trio consists of Dr. Denise Gainey, clarinet, Dr. James Zingara, trumpet and Dr. Christopher Steele, piano. The group was established in 2012 and has performed throughout Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia including appearances at the Alabama Music Educators Conference, the College Music Society Southern Region Conference, the Birmingham Art Music Alliance, the National Association of Composers USA Conference, and the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors National Conference. The title Many New Trails to Blaze has a double meaning; as an unusual chamber grouping with little available published works, the UAB Chamber Trio actively seeks out new music, many of which are featured on this recording. Secondly, the people and sports teams of the University of Alabama at Birmingham proudly carry the nickname Blazers, and the title is an acknowledgment of the support and positive creative environment provided by our university, college, and department.

  • Trumpeter

    Dr. James Zingara has performed throughout the United States as well as England, Germany, the Czech Republic, Denmark, China, and Singapore. Currently he serves as Assistant Professor of Trumpet at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where his responsibilities include applied trumpet and brass methods, coaching and conducting brass ensembles, performing with the UAB Faculty Brass Quintet and UAB Chamber Trio, and coordinating the annual Brass Symposium. Former positions include Associate Professor of Trumpet at Troy University, and principal cornet/trumpet soloist with the US Air Force Heritage of America Band. He has held positions with the Northwest Florida Symphony, National Symphonic Winds, Sinfonia da Camera, Illinois Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Pensacola Symphony, and the Cheyenne Symphony. He has recorded on the Telarc, Zephyr, Capstone, and Mark labels, including performing on a Grammy® Award-winning album in 1994.

  • Ensemble

    Tower Duo is a flute and saxophone ensemble based in Columbus, Ohio that specializes in creating engaging musical experiences with a particular interest in performing and premiering contemporary works by living composers. Tower Duo, whose members are flutist, Erin Helgeson Torres and saxophonist, Michael Rene Torres, has been performing together since 2007 and gave its inaugural recital at the Brevard Music Center Festival and Institute in North Carolina. The duo has since performed all across the United States at universities, conferences, and festivals. Highlights include the Omaha Chamber Music Society’s Eko Nova series, the Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project’s Re:Sound New Music Festival, and multiple North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial conferences. Tower Duo recently recorded their debut album, Crosswind, which features the duo’s favorite collaborations with composers from the first decade of their artistic work. Crosswind was released under the PARMA Recordings label in January of 2019.

  • Pianist

    Critically acclaimed as “a passionate pianist and scholar,” Svetlana Belsky is a highly-demanded recitalist and chamber pianist, noted for her remarkable rapport with audiences and stylistic versatility. She has appeared in Italy, Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Canada, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the United States. Belsky has received awards both for her performances in international piano competitions and for her advocacy of new American music.

  • Ensemble

    Reigakusha was established in 1985 as an ensemble of professional gagaku instrumentalists dedicated to the study and performance of the classical gagaku repertoire and the creation of new music for ancient instruments. Led by the distinguished musician and composer Sukeyasu Shiba–a specialist in music for the ryuteki flute and biwa, and a former member of the Music Department of the Imperial Household Agency–Reigakusha has around thirty members.

  • Performer

    Renowned for their award-winning performances, the Fuego Quartet is devoted to the performance of both standard and contemporary works for all audiences. Founded in 2015 at the Eastman School of Music, Fuego is passionate about community engagement and education, striving to bring new sounds into familiar spaces and introduce music of all types to audiences through friendly, creative, and informative performances. They have been successful in numerous competitions, including winning the 2017 Fischoff Gold Medal and prizes in the 2017 Plowman Chamber Music Competition and the MTNA National Chamber Music Competition.

  • Clarinetist

    Andrea Cheeseman is a clarinetist and teacher living in Columbia SC. Throughout her career, she has been committed to playing good music and collaborating with inspiring people who challenge her.

  • Ensemble

    The Canadian-American duo of flutist Zara Lawler and marimbist Paul J. Fadoul, hailed as “a great treat” (Classical WETA, Washington DC), offers audiences an unexpected mélange of classical virtuosity, lively commentary, theatrical flair, and a dose of indie rock sensibility. The duo’s repertoire ranges from delightful arrangements of classics to newly written pieces for their unusual instrumentation. Their debut album, Prelude Cocktail, was called “collaborative artistry at its finest” by I Care If You Listen. Recent highlights include a residency in Western Massachusetts as part of Chamber Music America’s Residency Partnership Program, tours of West Virginia, Michigan, and Ohio, and a New York appearance at Mannes School of Music’s Glassbox Performance Space. In 2016, Lawler + Fadoul incubated and premiered their theatrical concert, Clickable: The Art of Persuasion, at the cell theatre in New York City. Clickable has been performed across the United States.

  • Composer, Saxophonist

    Polevaya’s journey as a musician began with classical training on several instruments. She then became immersed in more experimental forms of performance, in particular electroacoustic improvisation with effect pedals. Polevaya’s performance background ties closely with her compositional work, which is often infused with electronics, found objects, and theatrical elements.

  • Performer

    In 2010, Greg Harrison and Jonny Smith created the percussion duo Taktus while pursuing Masters Degrees at the University of Toronto. With a wide range of musical influences - from classical to electronic - Taktus seeks to create music that crosses borders between genres and is relevant to contemporary audiences. Their premiere project is set of marimba duet arrangements of Glass Houses - a seminal work of Canadian minimalism by composer Ann Southam.

  • Ensemble

    Praised by The Strad magazine for their "wit and imagination", the trailblazing Patterson/Sutton cello and guitar duo continue to be in demand as they bring the rich cello and guitar repertoire to audiences around the world. The Patterson/Sutton duo were featured artists at the 2016 Guitar Foundation of America Convention and have an ongoing relationship with The Juilliard School as Juilliard Global Visiting Artists. The duo have been featured on Performance Today/American Public Media, Radio New Zealand, Fine Music Radio South Africa, among many others.

  • Percussionist

    Robert McCormick is currently Professor of Music at the University of South Florida in Tampa. He served as principal percussionist/assistant timpanist with the Florida Orchestra for 20 seasons. He is a former member of the Harry Partch Ensemble and often performs and records with high profile artists of all genres. In 2010, he conducted the premiere performance of Chan Hae Lee’s Korean folk opera Simcheongga at the National Center of Performing Arts in Seoul. In March 2014 McCormick performed the world premiere of Baljinder Sekhon’s Double Percussion Concerto at Carnegie Hall with percussionist Lee Hinkle. McCormick was the 2006 recipient of the Florida Music Educator of the Year Award; the 2007 Grand Prize in the Keystone Percussion Composition Award; the 2010 University Distinguished Teacher Award; and the 2015 Percussive Arts Society Lifetime Achievement in Education Award. He has also received several Global Music Awards for his albums, many of which are published on the Ravello Records label and distributed by Naxos. McCormick proudly endorses Encore Mallets, Grover Pro Percussion, and Zildjian Cymbals.

  • Ensemble

    The McCormick Percussion Group is recognized by critics and composers throughout the world for their unique recordings and interpretations of music decidedly outside of the mainstream. MPG often collaborates with other non-percussion musicians to explore and develop new trends of compositional thought. Among the most recorded ensembles of the genre, MPG has recorded many award winning albums for Ravello Records (dist. by Naxos). To ensure the original intent of each work, composers are often invited to rehearse with the ensemble and supervise recording sessions. Under the direction of Robert McCormick, MPG is a resident ensemble at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

  • Ensemble

    The Escape Ten (Escape X) duo formed from an epic coast-to-coast road trip taken by Annie Stevens and Andrea Venet in a Ford Escape on the Interstate-10 from Virginia to California in 2012. Today, Escape Ten maintains a steady performance schedule touring as guest artists and clinicians internationally. Regularly premiering new works for percussion, they remain active commissioning composers, collaborating on creative projects, joining consortiums, and writing their own pieces. Their mission is to generate creative and diverse music within a variety of genres and timbral contexts in order to bring challenging, lasting works into the standard repertoire.

  • Percussionist

    Omar Carmenates is currently the Associate Professor of Percussion at Furman University in Greenville SC. He holds a Doctor of Music degree from Florida State University, a Master of Music Degree in Percussion Performance from the University of North Texas, and a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Central Florida.