Catalog

WHAT SHE SAW features two epic, large-scale works from composer Douglas Anderson. These gripping vocal works focus on the lives of two archetypal women: Cassandra of ancient Greece and The Woman of modern times. The first work, Cassandra Songs, tells the story of a Trojan priestess gifted with the power of prophecy but cursed to never be believed. The 11 songs that comprise this first work depict the arc of her tragic struggle. THROUGH/IN, the second major work on the album, is a one-woman chamber opera in which the modern Woman confronts herself through the looking glass. With words by Andrew Joffe, WHAT SHE SAW is a dramatic tour-de-force.

ASHES TO IMPULSE is an extroverted, highly expressive album of redemption and realization, where harmonies become metaphors and dissonance transforms into catharsis. Conceived by Berklee music professor Gregory T. Glancey, these compositions delve into the core of human struggle, mirroring the very process of creation – a journey from the ashes of doubt to the ignition of artistic impulse. A glimpse into Glancey's labyrinthine mind, ASHES TO IMPULSE unearths emotions as if from a hidden wellspring. These are all chamber music pieces, but they are almost symphonic in their profundity. As a flicker becomes a flame, these musical landscapes transcend with unbridled energy and fiery candor.

Korean-born Hee Yun Kim returns with a compelling selection of works that reflect her unwavering curiosity about social justice, Eastern philosophy, and transformative change at large on VOYAGE WITHIN. This Navona Records release is first and foremost a journey into the self, and only second a musical exploration. Kim adeptly weaves her insights into profound and harmonious compositions, capturing the essence of her experiences and contemplations. The resulting music is both introspective and reflective, with a foresight and precision that’s almost scientific in nature.

Montréal percussionist David Therrien Brongo dexterously creates dynamic musical worlds on CONFLUENCE, a highly melodic album of solo percussion compositions by French Canadian contemporary composers. Both meditative and stimulating, the album makes for an impressive demonstration of the possibilities of this rare genre. Brongo's world-class performance is not only highly virtuosic in the technical sense, but also emotionally rich, nuanced, and deeply saturated with empathy. There is a zen-like quality to his interpretations, in which the silences are given as much gravitas as the sound around them, and both notes and rests are searing with constant energy. It's a remarkable approach, and instantly recognizable.

On ROOT, classical saxophonist and music theorist Jessica Dodge-Overstreet harnesses the ethereal, almost-vocal timbre of the soprano saxophone. Accompanied only by pianist Wan-Ting Yu, Dodge-Overstreet performs music written by a culturally-diverse cast of female composers including Ika Peyron, Germaine Tailleferre, Dora Pejačević, and Teresa Milanollo. From the technically demanding Sonate Slave, with its stratospheric leaps high into the instrument’s uppermost register, to the playful Variations Humouristiques sur l’air de Marlborough for violin and piano which sets the popular folk tune Bear Went Over the Mountain, Dodge-Overstreet brings this versatile and too-often overlooked instrument into the limelight.

CYCLES OF FORMATION from John Ritz presents varying degrees of prescribed musical material and open-form elements. Each piece explores the potential interactions between human performance and interactive computer signal processing algorithms within a particular musical context. Featuring jazz pianist Gabe Evens, and classical percussionist Greg Byrne, and Ritz himself as the album’s composer, cellist, and analog synthesist, this Ravello Records release delivers a stimulating world of electroacoustic sound, a smooth blend of suspense and innovation.

If you crave a deep dive into a new and exciting solar system of starry digital soundscapes, Jeffrey Hall’s EARMOVIE II is certain to take you on an interstellar ride. This digitally synthesized album is described by its composer as “the musical equivalent of science fiction,” and delivers in all aspects. Hall likes his listeners to think of his compositions as an EARMOVIE — a soundtrack to an imaginary film inside your head. In this way, Hall opens up the door for the listener to build their own understanding of EARMOVIE II; the titles of its movements are only a guideline to the experience; what the music truly evokes and tells is entirely up to you.

The critically-acclaimed MIND & MACHINE series from Ravello Records returns with its fifth edition with an all-new roster of today’s electro-acoustic composers. This installment taps into and unpacks the foundations of our universe, from the hidden corners of our psyche to the fibers that hold our world together. Offering meditative reflections on the ephemeral moments in our lives and exploring resemblances between music and scientific concepts, MIND & MACHINE, VOLUME FIVE delivers a sprawling artistic soundscape that allows for deep introspection and self-discovery.

On the coasts of the Atlantic, sparrows whistle atop the trees, Eastern winds whisper through spartina grasses, and fiddler crabs skitter within their sandy burrows — a great symphony of shorelines soon to be left incomplete. As rising sea levels continue to threaten coastal reefs, shores, and the hundreds of lifeforms inhabiting them, the Coastal Conservatory urges us to consider our efforts of restoration and offers us an avenue for restoring coastal futures, a meditation on the music of the most integral barriers to the ever-pressing Atlantic. SOUNDSCAPES OF RESTORATION is both an exploration and a reflection, a listening experience that leaves one changed with the desire to make change further. It is a journey that cannot, and should not, be forgotten.

At times meditative, at times sparklingly abstract, 5X4 is an album of contrasts. Composer Lawrence Axelrod offers a multi-faceted selection of original compositions which push the limits of musical craft – all contained within the quartet setup, but in varying instrumentations. The range begins with the eternal classic, the string quartet, progresses to a less-orthodox quartet of flute, clarinet, violoncello, and piano, escalates to an otherworldly ensemble of percussion, and finally culminates with a hypnotic double bass quartet. Axelrod's 5X4 is carefully conceptualized and altogether well-wrought; often contemplative, and always original.

Martin Daigle skillfully unearths the melodic qualities of the drumset on DRUM MACHINES from Ravello Records, an album featuring the works of composers Pierre Alexandre Tremblay and Sylvain Pohu. Daigle, the 2022 winner of Music NB’s “Innovator of the Year” award, performs two solo pieces that feature innovative applications of technology in this release, producing unique timbres through electronic augmentations of the drumset. These unique flavors paired with Daigle’s adept musicality and inventive grooves make for a one-of-a-kind listening experience that’s sure to stir the senses.

Whim Ensemble musically explores Dutch painter Piet Mondrian’s artistic abstractions of nature on TREES from Ravello Records. Employing the skills of prepared-piano player Ofer Pelz, percussionist Preston Beebe, and double-bassist Stéphane Diamantakiou, the ensemble combines their years of experience as composers and performers to unearth new textures and timbres for their instruments. The resulting album effuses influences of free jazz, contemporary experimental music, and more to foster a unique take on Mondrian’s creative process and influential artistic output.

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.

Pianist Anne Goldberg and Ravello Records are proud to present PERMUTATIONS, an album highlighting Goldbergs qualities as an interdisciplinary artist. An educator, composer, and cross-disciplinary researcher, Goldberg’s artistry crosses boundaries and permeates her work as a musician with a deep-seated passion for promoting, premiering, and interpreting new music by living composers. Each piece on PERMUTATIONS was written by dear friends of the composer who explore different facets of the human experience. From deeply meditative music to tonally and rhythmically complex miniatures, each piece offers a new realm in which to get lost.

MISSOURI BREAKS from composer and guitarist Stuart Weber is a musical meditation on the tension between natural history and modernity. In collaboration with the Sirius Quartet, Weber’s work is largely set in the untamed American West. Night Scribe considers the periodic appearance of Halley’s Comet and wonders where humanity might find itself when the comet next appears in the year 2062. Missouri Breaks takes its musical cues from the Missouri River as it flows through north-central Montana; the tempo is set by the river’s current, the glittering sunlight reflecting off the water inspires Weber’s guitar technique. Weber is deeply familiar with his subject matter, as he credits his upbringing in the Northern Rocky Mountains for giving him the time and space to develop as an artist.

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.

On CENTER CHAMBER, wind, string, and keyboard instrumentalists come together to perform a collection of original and intimate compositions that include the saxophone — particularly Paul Cohen’s conn-o-sax, a rare and long forgotten instrument given new life in contemporary works. The conn-o-sax brings a dark, contemplative quality and infuses a unique tonal and musical spirit to these often lively, brooding, and captivating works. The engaging and brilliant intimacy of the playing eloquently reveals the unique emotional and musical bonds that tie together these exceptional artists. Listeners will undoubtedly agree: CENTER CHAMBER offers a listening experience as special and engaging as the instrument it features.

INTERSECTIONS from the dynamic chamber group Khemia Ensemble invites listeners to meditate on the confluence of beginnings, endings, and the hope and grief that can accompany those events. With intersections of acoustic chamber music, electronics, and multi-genre influences, the album features a stinging commentary on microagressions (Sink’s Bite!), a tumultuous mother/daughter relationship (Freund’s Song of Persephone), a tender lullaby dedicated to his newborn son, rooted in a family ritual of planting a cottonwood tree (Benavides’ Little Cloud), an exploration of memory inspired by Yayoi Kusama’s infinity rooms (Biedenbender’s in a field of stars), and an assertion of identity through Bollywood melodies and American pop sensibilities (Shekhar’s Don’t Beat a Word). By showcasing commissioned music by five living composers, Khemia Ensemble demonstrates their commitment to reflecting broader perspectives in contemporary classical chamber music.

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.

Avner Finberg’s album THE FOUR SEASONS OF ISOLATION is a moving meditation on the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns. Finding himself separated from his fellow musicians and beloved concert audiences, Finberg took the opportunity to focus on composition and began writing this large-scale work for solo violin and electronics. Freed from the need for an accompanist, he worked in solitude to develop this musical essay reflecting on his year in isolation. The result was a nod to Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons called The Four Seasons of Isolation. Also included on the album is The Raven, which incorporates a dramatic reading of Edgar Allen Poe’s masterpiece accompanied by violin and looper. The music combines electronics and violin to create haunting, ever-expanding chords that illustrate the story.