Catalog

Works For Electronics & Piano Sidney Bailin composer "I write what is inside me," says Sidney Bailin. "To me, revealing the psyche’s vulnerable parts is the essence of serious art. With each piece I write, I am trying to tell my secrets." On his first Ravello release, 16-2-60-N-5: WORKS [...]

On 3: THE MUSIC OF GINA BIVER, her debut recording on Ravello Records, composer, guitarist, vocalist and producer Gina Biver presents five selections featuring the concept-based new music/new media performing collective Fuse Ensemble, a group in which she has played an integral part for the past decade. Not only did Biver compose the five tracks on the album, she either performed on, produced, mixed and/or engineered many of them.

Composer Scott Brickman demonstrates the diversity of his inspirations and musical interests on his third full album on Ravello Records, NINETY-SIX STRINGS AND TWO WHISTLES. Drawing on a sea of influences, from Baroque dance suites, to the compositional methods of Arnold Schoenberg, to punk rock, the mixture of popular and historic references broadly typifies post-modern American music composition.

A CONCERT OF MUSIC BY ALLEN BRINGS was originally released in 2008 and features stunning performances by pianists Allen Brings and Eric Huebner, soprano Jennifer Foster, the Atlantic String Quartet, Talujon, and Flexible Music.

Christopher J. Keyes’s new album, Ravello Records’ A CONNOTATION OF INFINITY, speaks directly to why listeners should embrace the transgressive element of electronics in traditional classical music. Keyes, who wrote as much software for the album as he did music, employs what he calls a 3D audio for a more immersive listening experience. Keyes’s latest release, which features performances of select pieces on video, envelopes and entrances the minds of listeners from all walks of life.

Peeling back the complex layers of Bill Whitley's ethereal ABSENT LIGHT, one is astounded to see how this music could at once be so serene, yet technically intricate.

While it isn't entirely unusual for musicians to raise musical children, it is fairly rare for a composer to have not one, but two sons who also compose. This is the case for composition professor Alan Schmitz, who, together with his sons Christopher and Eric, presents of ACE COMPOSERS II, a curated selection of contemporary chamber music which proves that the apple sometimes does fall further from the tree, at least in some regards. It would be impossible to mistake either one's works for that of any of the others: too distinct are the individual idiosyncrasies – the swooping, late-Romantic phrases, the sober, experimental minimalism, and the jazzy groove. Nevertheless, they are all united by one commonality – aesthetic appeal seems to run in the family.

Ravello Records is proud to present AMERICAN CARNAGE, an album of chamber music by composer Ken Walicki. Well traveled and well versed in an array of different genres, Walicki shares numerous personal experiences and influences in these pieces, from blissful moments of natural beauty to musical reflections on his formative years and beyond. Masterfully performed by members of the Los Angeles-based Divan Consort, AMERICAN CARNAGE offers exuberance and zest from start to finish, a satisfying and equally authentic listening experience.

Saxophonist Paul Cohen’s AMERICAN LANDSCAPES presents three centuries of original American Music for Saxophone, from Caryl Florio's concerto (1879) for saxophone and orchestra, to 20th and 21st century works (saxophone and piano) by Alec Wilder, Steve Cohen, Percy Grainger, Richard Lane, and Elie Siegmeister. Cohen is joined by pianist Allison Brewster Franzetti and the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra in this Ravello Records release.

Composer Debra Kaye's debut Ravello Records release, AND SO IT BEGINS, catapults the listener into her deep universe of sound - an expedition down one New York City street and up another, through the warp and weft of interior landscapes, to Taos Mountain, on a journey through a dream, a dying, a love - as she blends her classical roots with traces of jazz, pop, world music, the pulse of city rhythms, and the expansiveness of spacious landscapes.

Ravello Records presents ANIMATED SOUNDS, a multimedia release from composer Gheorghe Costinescu. The album showcases works by Costinescu from a varied and illustrious career spanning more than half a century. The first half of the release is purely musical, with pieces such as the virtuosic Sonata for the Piano and Essay in Sound, performed by pianist Stephen Gosling, and the expressive Voices Within, performed by violinist Vesselin Gellev.

The outstanding vigor of flutist Sarah Waycott and pianist Yanna Zissiadou is on full display on ANIMO TWO, an arresting album of new music for the ANIMO flute and piano duo. The richness of musical color created here with two solo instruments is a mesmerizing testament to ANIMO's skill both as individual performers as well as their chemistry in dialogue. Zissiadou and Waycott truly have the Midas touch when it comes to commissioning new pieces for their rare setup, yielding an album that meanders between empathetic tenderness and unfettered exuberance. A delight.

Illustrating the impact of Appalachian folk music on his often unconventional yet appealingly direct style, APPALACHIAN INSPIRATION, composer John Beall's debut album on Ravello Records, features three piano and string pieces that display a strong, expressive grasp of folk tunes and traditional classical techniques.

Pianist Sang-Hie Lee performs original works written for two pianos, by internationally recognized composers Gerald Chenoweth, Eun-Hye Park, Lewis Nielson, Daniel Perlongo, and Paul Reller, in ARS NOSTRA: BUT NOW THE NIGHT. Along with collaborating pianist Martha Thomas, the pieces showcase the instrument as a “super piano”, unveiling textures and new combinations of sounds not accessible with a soloist.

New from Ravello Records comes AUTUMN WINDS, a collection of chamber music composed by Kirk O’Riordan. The music, which features pianist and PARMA recording artist Holly Roadfeldt along with soprano Ann Moss and Peter Dutilly playing viola, is as challenging as it is alluring; O’Riordan takes listeners to the outskirts of tonality in order to elucidate questions of beauty, existence, and mortality.

On his Ravello Records release BALANCING ACTS, composer and sound designer Russell Pinkston showcases a selection of his compositions for acoustic instruments and electronic sounds. Most of these pieces combine the two, capitalizing on the absolute precision and unlimited sonic potential of electronic media, while still taking advantage of the spontaneity and expressivity of live performance. Several works feature interactive software written by the composer, which tracks a live performer and generates an electronic accompaniment in real time.

David Bennett Thomas' CHAMBER WORKS was originally released in 2005, and was lauded as "immediately engaging" (Philadelphia Music Makers) and "concise and comprehensible" (American Record Guide).

On saxophonist Paul Cohen’s COMMON GROUND, one can embrace the unbroken musical traditions that have defined our musical selves, and in doing so, find a contemporary relevance that is both compelling and insightful. These are magnificent compositions, yet they are rarely heard. The range of expression and emotional direction is astonishing and almost visceral. Each of the works follows a unique path; from the kaleidoscopic Ivesian treatment of American folk tunes in Hymn Variations, to the vibrant, ecstatic joy of Quartet to an Outdoor Festival, to the lush, deceptive and nostalgic Trillium Suite, and finally the introspective interlude of Terpsichord framed by outer movements of pungent rhythmic vitality. COMMON GROUND celebrates not only the expressive inclusiveness of these diverse works, but also the common ground achieved with such varied sets of instruments. All compositions on COMMON GROUND are scored for winds, strings, and piano, and all include the saxophone. The soprano saxophone is scored in Quartet to an Outdoor Festival, Hymn Variations, and Trillium Suite, while the alto saxophone is scored in Terpsichord. In these settings, the saxophone uniquely enhances the color, texture, and dynamic resources of the ensemble, while still retaining the necessary subtlety of ensemble equality. It is common ground for composers, performers, and listeners alike.

While New Zealand guitarist and composer Campbell Ross cites influences as varied as Claude Bolling, Manuel Ponce and Benjamin Britten when discussing the works featured on CONCERTANTE, it is clear that his own distinctive style is manifested throughout the album. The first of CONCERTANTE’s Modern Works For Guitar opens with the three-movement Concertante for guitar, jazz trio and strings - a work that allows all of the album’s performers to be featured as soloists. Its kaleidoscopic first movement reveals elements of Latin, Blues, Jazz, and Classical genres that, when combined with the Spanish touches in the final movement, encompass the major musical styles that have influenced Ross over the past 30 years.

Chilean-American composer Miguel Chuaqui presents beautifully crafted works for small chamber and solo instruments on his Ravello Records release CONFABULARIO. The American Academy of Arts and Letters says of Chuaqui “His music shows qualities attributable to his Latin-American roots; although he is not a ‘genre’ composer. He is a clearly integrated personality, which exhibits a unique and convincing sensibility.”