"The music of composer Marty Regan feeds on the most disparate influences. First of all, the oriental ones, of which he is one of the most profound connoisseurs"

Kathodik

A composer of over 80 works for traditional Japanese instruments, Marty Regan is a Professor and Head of the Department of Performance Studies at Texas A&M University. Widely regarded as the authoritative source on the subject, his translation of Minoru Miki’s Composing for Japanese Instruments was published by the University of Rochester Press in 2008. His music has been broadcast on American Public Media’s Performance Today and NHK’s Hōgaku no hito toki/A Moment for Traditional Japanese Music. His chamber opera, titled The Memory Stone, was commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera as part of the HGOco’s Songs of Houston: East + West initiative and was premiered in 2013 at the Asia Society Texas Center. In 2015 he was the recipient of a Helene Wurlitzer Foundation Artist Residency Grant as well as a Clare Hall Visiting Research Fellowship from Cambridge University, United Kingdom. In 2022-23 he was the recipient of a Fulbright US Scholar Award to conduct field research in Japan while teaching at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music.

Albums

Voices of Earth and Air Vol IV

Release Date: September 9, 2022
Catalog Number: NV6465
21st Century
Vocal Music
Choir
Navona Records presents VOICES OF EARTH AND AIR VOL IV, a choral celebration of the human commonality we find within music. Featuring the works of six seasoned composers, each piece tells a sentimental story unique to each composer, fitting together like puzzle pieces and demonstrating the connective qualities of the human voice. Brought to life by Prague’s Kühn Choir, these choral works are sure to entrance and entice listeners with flowing tonality and artful text settings that demonstrate the powerful storytelling capabilities that vocal music wields.

Splash of Indigo

Release Date: November 18, 2016
Catalog Number: NV6064
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Piano
Piano Trio
String Quartet
American composer Marty Regan specializes in composing music for traditional Japanese instruments, a fascination he has developed since 2000. Regan describes his Japanese-style compositions as, “hybrid musical soundscapes that reflect the age in which we live, an era based not necessarily on globalization, but of partnership based on global cultural interaction.” In contrast, SPLASH OF INDIGO features a complementary side of Regan’s output, containing only works for Western orchestral instruments and voice.

Blurred Boundaries

Release Date: April 8, 2016
Catalog Number: NV6038
20th Century
Chamber
String Quartet
Apollo Chamber Players’ present their latest Navona release BLURRED BOUNDARIES, featuring commissions from veteran composers Libby Larsen and Marty Regan, as well as from the winner of Apollo’s inaugural International Commissioning Contest, Erberk Eryılmaz. These three commissions mark the beginning of 20x2020, Apollo’s initiative to commission 20 new folk music-inspired works by the end of the decade. Each of these composers explores culturally-specific musical traditions and presents folk material in ways that are engaging, unique, and revelatory.

Scattering Light, Scattering Flowers

Release Date: February 1, 2014
Catalog Number: NV5933
21st Century
Chamber
Clarinet
East Asian
Flute
SCATTERING LIGHT, SCATTERING FLOWERS, the third release by composer Marty Regan in the Selected Works for Japanese Instruments series was recorded in Japan, and features large ensemble works for traditional Japanese instruments, including two concertos. Composed for female voice, shakuhachi, and the relatively rare 25-string koto, the title track is based on a deeply poetic text written by Japanese poet Haruka Nakanashi that echoes with references to traditional Japanese noh theater.

Magic Mirror

Release Date: June 1, 2012
Catalog Number: NV5876
21st Century
Chamber
East Asian
MAGIC MIRROR, the second volume of composer Marty Regan's series of Selected Works for Japanese Instruments, presents a collection of works composed for traditional Japanese instrumentation with a Western-trained ear. Through the combination of his traditional classical education and intensive studies of Japanese music and culture, Regan explores the cross-cultural exchange between Eastern and Western traditions, blending the two into a dynamic sound that pushes the Japanese instruments to the very brink of their musical boundaries.

Forest Whispers

Release Date: July 1, 2010
Catalog Number: NV5831
21st Century
Chamber
Clarinet
East Asian
String Quartet
Violin
Forest Whispers features works by Marty Regan that combine Western classical with the instrumentation and theory of traditional Japanese music, where musical time relies on the natural patterns of human breath to create a free, airy rhythm. With instruments from the shakuhachi to the koto, Forest Whispers delivers classical music with a distinctively Japanese aesthetic.