• Angels Rising

    Catalog #: NV6657

    Release Date: August 16, 2024

    20th Century
    21st Century
    Concertos
    Piano
    Wind Ensemble

    Following their 2023 United Kingdom Remembrance tour, The Syracuse University Wind Ensemble returns to the airwaves with two world premiere recordings on ANGELS RISING: MUSIC OF REMEMBRANCE AND LIGHT. The ensemble has commissioned dozens of new works for their genre, the two most recent being Frank Ticheli’s Angels Rising and Energy and Light by Syracuse’s own Natalie Draper, both of which commemorate the 35 Syracuse University students lost in the 1988 Lockerbie bombings. Draper and Ticheli’s tributes to the 270 total lives lost in the attack on Pan Am Flight 103 are bookended by performances of George Gershwin’s An American in Paris and Rhapsody in Blue in this Navona Records release, and are all available to experience in both stereo and Dolby Atmos immersive audio formats.

  • Felt, Metal, Wood

    Catalog #: NV6639

    Release Date: June 28, 2024

    21st Century
    Concertos
    Piano
    Saxophone

    FELT, METAL, WOOD, featuring John Mackey’s Concerto for Soprano Saxophone, is a thorough exploration into the many expressive and technical facets of the Saxophone. Mackey, who has garnered widespread critical acclaim as one of today’s leading composers, notes that the saxophone is a hybrid instrument; it is essentially a brass instrument with a woodwind reed. With that in mind, Mackey composed this concerto by focusing several movements on unique characteristics of the instrument.  After the prelude comes “Felt,” a movement focused on the keys of the instrument and all the ways a player can use them as an interface. “Metal,” the third movement, demonstrates the saxophone’s soaring range in a lyrical, introspective manner, while “Wood,” a tango highlighting the saxophone’s strengths in an intimate setting, transitions to an exhilarating display of virtuosity in the “Finale.” Performed by saxophonist Stephen Page and pianist Liz Ames, Mackey stirs a greater appreciation for the versatile instrument in this release.

  • Pleter

    Catalog #: NV6480

    Release Date: December 2, 2022

    21st Century
    Concertos
    Orchestra
    Piano

    Dynamic pianistic playfulness and impressive orchestral sonority shine in PLETER from Croatian pianist and composer Matej Meštrović. The composer’s personal signature can be heard throughout the piece, equal parts majestic and jubilant with subtly suspenseful moments that cascade into grandiose beauty. An eclectic and versatile composer, Meštrović joins the acclaimed London Symphony Orchestra on this recording, unearthing immeasurable melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic opulence as both the composer and the featured pianist.

  • Fight for Light

    Catalog #: NV6459

    Release Date: October 28, 2022

    21st Century
    Concertos
    Orchestra
    Percussion
    Piano

    On FIGHT FOR LIGHT, Dutch composer Jesse Passenier explores the peripheries of jazz and classical, marrying the two genres together through symphonic music. The music presents a struggle for strength, goodness, and clarity, in which moments for great energy and urgency give way to quiet purity. Containing three works by Passenier: Piano Concerto No. 1 "Levensdrift” (a Dutch word meaning “the primal urge to live”); Vibraphone & Marimba Concerto No. 1 "Becoming the Colour"; and Duo for Vibraphone & Piano “Unraveling Confusion, these pieces taken together as a whole reveal Passenier’s breadth as a composer, offering a musical commentary on the realities we face in today’s society.

  • 3 Rhapsodies

    Catalog #: NV6219

    Release Date: March 22, 2019

    21st Century
    Concertos
    Orchestral
    East Asian
    Orchestra
    Piano

    It is tempting to compare Matej Meštrović's compositional style to his great predecessors in the late-Romantic tradition. After all, much of the Croatian composer's style and techniques would be right at home in Rachmaninoff’s concertos, Tchaikovsky's works, or Prokofiev's neoclassicism; and the name of the album's first work, Danube Rhapsody, naturally evokes associations with Smetana's similarly river-themed Vltava. Add to all of this that Meštrović, like most of his great musical ancestors, is a talented virtuoso pianist, and it's easy to see why 3 RHAPSODIES is bound to meet with enthusiasm.

  • Ineffable Tales

    Catalog #: NV6157

    Release Date: May 11, 2018

    21st Century
    Concertos
    Orchestral
    Cello
    Orchestra
    Piano

    Composer/Performer John Alan Rose presents INEFFABLE TALES, an album of four of his ensemble compositions, recorded at Reduta Hall in Olomouc, Czech Republic. In addition to renowned soloists Jungwon Choi (cello), Moni Simeonov (violin), the recording features the composer’s wife Sing Rose (soprano), and the composer himself (piano). The album also features the Moravian Philharmonic, under the direction of Miran Vaupotić.

  • Three Pastels For Piano & Orchestra

    Catalog #: NV6039

    Release Date: May 13, 2016

    21st Century
    Concertos
    Orchestra
    Piano

    On his Navona Records release THREE PASTELS FOR PIANO & ORCHESTRA, composer Carl Vollrath presents his three piano concerti, written between 2012 and 2015. Representing some of his most recent work, these concerti are connected to each other thematically, and in a way portray a different hue of the same color.

  • San José Chamber Orchestra: 25th Anniversary

    Catalog #: NV6031

    Release Date: March 11, 2016

    21st Century
    Concertos
    Orchestral
    Piano
    String Orchestra

    Celebrating their 25th-anniversary concert season in 2016, the San José Chamber Orchestra conducted by Maestra Barbara Day Turner, presents a commemorative collection of contemporary works on Navona Records, showcasing the ensemble’s commitment to new music as well as their stylistic versatility.

  • Rojak Rocks

    Catalog #: NV6019

    Release Date: January 8, 2016

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Concertos
    Orchestra
    Piano
    Trombone

    For decades, John Rojak has been a staple in American brass music, performing with a number of chamber ensembles and orchestras such as American Brass Quintet, Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the Boston Symphony; in Broadway shows including Les Misérables and The Producers; in big bands of Mel Lewis, Bob Mintzer, and Gerry Mulligan; and contributing to the pedagogy of the bass trombone as a faculty member of several institutions, including The Juilliard School, The Hartt School, and Aspen Music Festival and School. Needless to say he has taken the bass trombone and its repertoire to new heights in the classical, contemporary, jazz, and commercial genres.

  • Piano Concerto

    Catalog #: NV5986

    Release Date: February 10, 2015

    21st Century
    Concertos
    Orchestra
    Piano

    Maestro Kirk Trevor praises composer Lee Actor as "one of the refreshing new classical voices ... who can still use a traditional language with a freshness that makes the music alive and interesting." On his latest Navona Records release PIANO CONCERTO, Actor presents three orchestral works, performed by Trevor and the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra, that are engaging and tonal yet dramatic and modern.

  • Guernica

    Catalog #: NV5924

    Release Date: July 1, 2013

    21st Century
    Concertos
    Orchestral
    Cello
    Orchestra
    Piano

    Hailed as "convincing, emotional, passionate and vivid" (The Musical Review) and "destined to enter the ranks of the standard classical repertoire" (New York Times), Fredrick Kaufman resonates with worldwide audiences through impassioned and prolific compositions that go beyond mere interpretation. He thoroughly digests inspiration, internalizing and individualizing his ideas to create moving and impactful works that do more than simply relay a message. Kaufman's music captures feeling and emotion, reaching the listener with convincing sincerity.

  • Streams

    Catalog #: NV5918

    Release Date: August 1, 2013

    21st Century
    Concertos
    Large Ensemble
    Piano

    Since the late 1980s, Swiss Composer Schlumpf has been widely active in the borderlands between improvisation and composition. With STREAMS, the follow-up to his 2012 Navona Records release SUMMER CIRCLE, Schlumpf presents three concertos that are representative of a creative period in his career marked by the influence of minimalism and jazz, new tonal concepts, a strong emphasis on rhythm, and clear-cut formal designs.

  • Mood Indigo

    Catalog #: NV5913

    Release Date: May 1, 2013

    21st Century
    Concertos
    Orchestral
    Orchestra
    Piano

    Erik Lotichius, a composer unafraid of melody and accessibility, combines the sounds of traditional classics with those that took the 20th-century audiences by storm - in the composer's own words, his work presents "Bach, the Blues and the Beatles" in a spectacular, enthralling combination of genre and style.

  • Pacific Ridge

    Catalog #: NV5898

    Release Date: January 1, 2013

    21st Century
    Concertos
    Orchestral
    Orchestra
    Percussion
    Piano

    Santa Barbara-based composer Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927) is a fixture in the Californian classical music community, having received commissions and performances from orchestras and ensembles throughout the state and worked throughout her career to advance the musical community.

  • The Pianistic Musings

    Catalog #: NV5828

    Release Date: May 1, 2010

    21st Century
    Concertos
    Solo Instrumental
    Large Ensemble
    Piano

    Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra | Vit Micka conductor