Catalog

THE FOUR SEASONS was originally released in 2008 and was lauded as “consistently absorbing” and “one of a new kind” (AllMusic). Featuring stellar performances from sixteen performers, THE FOUR SEASONS highlights Pierre Schroeder as a master of jazz-classical fusion.

Violist Shelly Tramposh has led an extensive career as chamber musician, orchestral player, and teacher, and her varied experiences allow her to play her instrument with an effortless grace that can only be described as having SPREZZATURA. Tramposh, accompanied by Cullan Bryant—one of the most active collaborative pianists in New York—performs works by Paul Chihara, Paul Siskind, Benjamin Britten and Paul Hindemith with the emotion and intensity of each piece’s inspiration, whether it be the doldrums of illness and celebration of health in Chihara’s Sonata for Viola and Piano or Hindemith’s tumultuous sonata, written after being blacklisted by the Nazi party in Germany. Tramposh and Bryant form a masterful duo, and are able to capture the tone of each piece with virtuosic flourish and clarity.

EXCURSIONS is a two-disc set featuring the works of Utah composer Marie Nelson Bennett. Bennett paints beautiful portraits with her music, musically illustrating the scenery of a field of flowers, the movements of the ocean, the sorrow of a funeral, and more. Featured performers on EXCURSIONS include Richard Stoltzman, Holly Gornick, and Solveig Lunde Madsen.

Amy Briggs brings to life a variety of tangos from different composers on TANGOS FOR PIANO. Proposed by composers from UC Davis, the disc features works from Laurie San Martin, Yu-Hui Chang, Pablo Ortiz, Ross Bauer, Yvar Mikhasoff’s International Tango Collection, Astor Piazzolla, and many more. The different backgrounds and compositional variety of each composer highlight the breadth and possibilities of the tango, which Briggs captures impeccably on the solo piano.

KEEP GOING: THE MUSIC OF ELIAS TANENBAUM features the chamber and solo works of the late Elias Tanenbaum performed by Ensemble Pi. The pieces demonstrate Tanenbaum's ability to turn his emotional reactions to world events into music that illustrates both the life-changing grief and need for change that those events cause. As Tanenbaum himself said, "What is there left in any of us but to keep going?" Ensemble Pi is a new music ensemble dedicated to performing the music of both living composers and undiscovered composers of the past. Keep Going is the ensemble's tribute to Tanenbaum, whose beautiful and thought-provoking music has never received the widespread recognition it deserves.