Release Date: October 12, 2018
Catalog #: NV6188
Format: Digital & Physical
20th Century
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Piano
Viola

Spectra II

A Concert of Music by Members of Connecticut Composers, Inc.

Elizabeth R. Austin composer
John Alan Rose composer
Juliana Hall composer
Ryan Jesperson composer
Frank Vasi composer
Nancy Tucker composer

SPECTRA 2 unveils the works of six composers, each of whom tells a unique, memorable story.

First up is Elizabeth R. Austin’s B-A-C-HOMAGE, an intricately constructed tribute to the German Baroque composer. Based on Bach’s name and his “Air on G” respectively, the first and second movement reflect upon the clarity of his work through the lens of Austin’s decidedly modern tonal language.

John Alan Rose’s Sleepy Hollow Suite for piano mesmerizes with a timeless appeal that bridges centuries: aesthetically gratifying and inventive all at once, Washington Irving could fittingly have imagined this as a soundtrack for his eponymous story. Rose empathetically retells this masterpiece of American literature with natural skill in a three-movement suite of tremendous re-listening potential.

Bells and Grass, composed by Juliana Hall, brings five poems by Walter de la Mare to life with only a soprano and an oboe. A courageously tender expansion of lied composition, the oboe does not just restrict itself to playing an accompaniment, but instead enters into a dialogue with the soprano like an intuitive, benevolent Socratic spirit.

A related theme could be discerned in Ryan Jesperson’s Icarus, a riveting duo for alto saxophone and piano. Like the eponymous mythological character, it starts out soaring, but undergoes a considerable transformation, culminating in a spectacular fashion.

There is nothing random about Frank Vasi’s saxophone quartet Random Thoughts: the four-movement work is so refreshingly tonal, as well as rhythmically and harmonically engaging, that it wouldn’t be out of place in an upscale jazz venue. A stunning example of inspirations and musical craftsmanship, Vasi effortlessly toys with compositional difficulties throughout, such as the conflict between two contrasting time signatures in The Argument. The quirky Picasso’s Rag sounds exactly how one would imagine it according to the title – only better.

Nancy Tucker brings the album to a close with two of her playful, upbeat compositions. Escape of the Slinkys imagines the life of named perennial childhood toy with bewildering depth of imagination. Grasshopper’s Holiday, an unapologetically catchy guitar piece, evokes images of road trips and carefree summers with such cheerful drive that one might find it difficult to stop listening to it on repeat.

With its variegated selection, SPECTRA 2 packs a veritable punch in just about one hour of music – music composed in Connecticut, but with an artistic appeal that easily transcends the borders of the Constitution State.

Listen

Hear the full album on YouTube

Stream/Buy

Choose your platform

Artist Information

Elizabeth R. Austin

Composer

Elizabeth R. Austin's music is meticulous and complex, filled with movement, growth, and turning points. Not a bad description for her own life.” This quote, from an article in SCOPE (Winter, 2011) written by Michael K. Slayton, continues to be relevant to this octogenarian, whose focus on writing music has become even more intense!

John Alan Rose

Composer

Born in Wheeling, West Virginia, John Alan Rose has been performing as pianist and composer since the age of 14. Acclaimed European pianist Andreas Haefliger once played from John’s sketchbook and was so taken with his music that he predicted his future as a composer/performer. In November of 2015, John performed his piano concerto with the Moravian Philharmonic in Olomouc, The Czech Republic, followed by a collaboration with the same orchestra and the talents of cellist JungWon Choi, violinist Simeon Simeonov, soprano Sing Rose, narrator Tyler Bunch, and conductor Miran Vaupotic on a major recording project of his four concerti (cello, piano, violin and voice) for release on the Navona Label.

Juliana Hall

Composer

American art song composer Juliana Hall (b. 1958) is a prolific and highly-regarded composer of vocal music whose songs have been described as "brilliant" (Washington Post), "beguiling" (Times of London), and "the most genuinely moving music of the afternoon" (Boston Globe). Among her more than 50 song cycles and works of vocal chamber music are pieces for renowned countertenor Brian Asawa and star soprano Dawn Upshaw.

Ryan Jesperson

Composer

Ryan Jesperson is a composer whose music is steeped in the modern practice of blurring genres and skewing expectations. Ryan holds degrees from Washington State University and The Hartt School and earned his doctorate from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he was a Chancellor’s Doctoral Fellow and recipient of the 2011 Outstanding Dissertation Award.

Frank Vasi

Composer

Composer and tenor saxophonist Frank Vasi graduated from the Mannes College of Music in New York City. His compositions straddle the classical and jazz worlds of music incorporating their various techniques in his pieces. A member of ASCAP, he has written compositions for saxophone quartet, choral cantatas, chamber and orchestra works and is the founder and arranger for The Thimble Islands Saxophone Quartet.

Nancy Tucker

Guitarist

Nancy Tucker is a gifted musician who “inhabits an offbeat alternative universe that inspires music to tumble into riotous abandon” says the Los Angeles Times. She approaches the guitar as if it were a miniature playground, exploring every sound from the strings to the wood to the pegs to the strap. Whether she is playing her heart-felt melodic finger-style compositions or her inventive percussion-isms, her engaging approach to acoustic guitar shines with personality. In addition, she is a lyricist, humorist and performer.

Marko Stuparević

Pianist

Pianist Dr. Marko Stuparević has appeared in over 500 concerts and festivals over the United States, Israel, France, Serbia, Iceland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Slovakia as a solo performer and chamber musician. Winning piano competition prizes resulted in many notable solo recitals in the United States and Europe, including Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and many other important venues. Stuparević has performed as soloist with Connecticut Valley Symphony Orchestra (under Joseph Hodge), Razgrad Philharmonic (Krasen Ivanov), Symphony Orchestra of the Army House of Serbia (Simone Fermani), National Symphony of Bulgaria (Stanislav Usev), and Foot in the Door Ensemble (Glen Adsit).

Explore more albums in this series