Yes… It’s Still a Thing!
Catalog #: NV6467
Release Date: September 9, 2022
21st CenturyChamberFluteGuitarPianoFollowing their Navona Records debut in 2019, Duo Sequenza returns with YES… IT’S STILL A THING!, a new program geared towards building new audiences for today’s classical music and promoting the work of living composers. Comprised of flutist Debra Silvert and classical guitarist Paul Bowman, Duo Sequenza brings an enchanting and harmonious quality that showcase the complementary capabilities of their respective instruments. From emotive and introspective works to scenic vistas painted in sound, the duo once again proves their musical chops and adaptability across a wide array of compositional styles.
Yes… It’s A Thing!
Catalog #: NV6225
Release Date: April 26, 2019
20th CenturyChamberFluteGuitarThe long-awaited release from the chamber ensemble Duo Sequenza, YES…IT’S A THING!, includes works by five critically acclaimed contemporary composers. David Noon is one of the most prolific composers in the U.S.; Jerry Owen’s numerous achievements include two Pulitzer Prize nominations; Jorge Muñiz has had his music performed by chamber ensembles, chorales and orchestras throughout the world; Marc Mellits is one of the leading American composers of his generation and one of the most performed and recorded living composers in the United States; and Amin Sharifi’s recent works have been performed in the United States, Europe, and his native Iran.
Windswept Vol. II
Catalog #: NV6415
Release Date: June 24, 2022
21st CenturyChamberClarinetFluteOboeRigorous repertoire is at the ready on WINDSWEPT VOL. II from Navona Records, a sweeping sonic force of contemporary chamber works for woodwind quintet. Performed by the New London Chamber Ensemble, the works of seven composers soar with modern flair, making use of various instrumental textures and irregular meters with jazz-driven influences sprouting from classical roots. Dynamic displays of dexterity and lucious interplay between performers burst with refined energy in this recording, uplifting listeners into a satisfying and equally enticing atmosphere.
Unseen Paths
Catalog #: NV6633
Release Date: June 14, 2024
21st CenturyChamberVocal MusicClarinetFluteVoiceNavona Records is pleased to present UNSEEN PATHS, a variegated collection of works by late composer Lawrence K. Moss. Well known for his diverse musical oeuvre spanning vocal, instrumental, and electronic works, UNSEEN PATHS shows us a deeper look into his mastery in the chamber music genre, from flute and piano duos to music for string quartet, operas, and more. As a valediction to a remarkable career, this collection is a timeless tribute to Moss' enduring legacy, inviting listeners to savor the depth and brilliance of his artistic voice.
Two by Three
Catalog #: NV6601
Release Date: February 2, 2024
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalFlutePianoIf there were two words to describe Nathan Froebe’s musical output, they would be: exuberant and ruminative. In fact, these two attributes might arrive at a tie on TWO BY THREE, a selection of energetic freetonal, programmatic pieces for a myriad of flutes and piano. The thoughtful nature of these works is apparent even in their respective titles: Meditation, Three Scenes for Wind and Hammer, and Essay for Piccolo, Piano, and Alto Flute, to name but a few. Meticulously composed by Froebe and impeccably performed by flutists Jessica Raposo and Mihoko Watanabe with pianist Michael Seregow, TWO BY THREE sweeps through the mind like a fresh breeze on a crisp April morning.
Turning Point
Catalog #: NV6620
Release Date: May 10, 2024
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalElectroacousticFluteVoiceFerdinando DeSena’s TURNING POINT is an experimental odyssey, an enticing collection of music that reimagines the timbres of familiar instruments like flute, piano, the human voice, and more. The title piece uses the audio synthesis technique called “convolution” in which musical audio samples are digitally joined with the sound of cymbal strikes and crashes to dramatic effect. In Sonorous Earth, DeSena conducts a different sort of experiment, this time by scoring for all the lower relatives of a woodwind quintet. An impressive tour de force, TURNING POINT leaves listeners with an expanded sense of what is possible in the realm of chamber music.
Transits
Catalog #: NV6001
Release Date: May 1, 2015
21st CenturyChamberClarinetFluteTRANSITS: Minimal to Mayhem, his fifth full Navona Records release, is an abridged sequence of five works from a set time and concrete place that maps composer Sergio Cervetti's creative progression over four decades of composing.
Time And The Hour
Catalog #: NV6439
Release Date: July 22, 2022
21st CenturyChamberCelloFlutePianoTIME AND THE HOUR from Israeli-born composer Ayala Asherov is a selection of chamber works tied together by the theme of the passing of time. Asherov’s acknowledgment of time moving us forward in constant motion is a significant piece of the composer’s compositional process, translated into her work with titles such as Seasons and Crystal Watch. This carefully curated collection of Asherov’s pieces commissioned and performed throughout the years provides a thorough taste of the composer’s communicative and powerful musical style.
The Unfolding Flute
Catalog #: NV6295
Release Date: July 24, 2020
21st CenturyChamberFlutePianoComposer Carl Vollrath returns to Navona Records with THE UNFOLDING FLUTE, a collection of contemporary chamber works showcasing his years of experience writing for flute. Vollrath unfolds his talents piece by piece through the performances of acclaimed flutist Dieter Flury and pianist Ieva Osa.
The Passing Sound of Forever
Catalog #: NV6068
Release Date: January 13, 2017
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalFluteString QuartetViolinSound and space are two elements that emerge at the heart of Jane O’Leary’s THE PASSING SOUND OF FOREVER. The collection showcases O’Leary’s compositional gifts through a variety of her chamber compositions. O’Leary’s string writing soars in THE PASSING SOUND OF FOREVER, and demonstrates her remarkable sensitivity to the instruments’ sonic palette and expressive potential. Every color, from ethereal natural harmonics to frenetic bowing, is at O’Leary’s disposal, and is exploited beautifully to produce evocative and compelling soundscapes.
The Chamber Works of Allen Brings
Catalog #: NV6090
Release Date: April 14, 2017
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalCelloFlutePianoThis triple re-release contains a collection of works for small ensembles comprised of a diverse selection of instruments. Along with two albums from Allen Brings, this reissue includes a compilation titled CONTRA-PUNCTUS (1994).
The Book of Spells
Catalog #: NV6644
Release Date: August 2, 2024
21st CenturyChamberClarinetFluteOboePassion and intellect meld in THE BOOK OF SPELLS, the Merian Ensemble’s hotly anticipated debut album. The album is comprised entirely of world premiere recordings, with works by Clarice Assad, Nicole Chamberlain, Jennifer Higdon, Mary Kouyoumdjian, Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti, Soon Hee Newbold, Kimberly R. Osberg, and Lynne Plowman, each but one* commissioned by the Merian Ensemble. The Book of Spells offers a gripping and intimate portrait of modern chamber music, performed with brilliance and precision by an ensemble of world-class soloists who are dedicated to the elevation of women’s voices in classical music. Clarice Assad’s titular composition, The Book of Spells, opens the recording with three movements “inspired by rituals that deal with magic, which is done to achieve a particular goal, righteous or wicked” (Assad). The album continues, weaving together elements of folklore, faith, and science, with Nicole Chamberlain’s Atalanta, Lynne Plowman’s Small World, Jennifer Higdon’s The Sound of Light, Mary Kouyoumdjian’s A Boy and a Makeshift Toy*, Kimberly Osberg’s Just Another Climb, Soon Hee Newbold’s Alis Volat Propriis (She Flies With Her Own Wings), and Clarice Assad’s Solais. And in meridian, Leilehua Lanzilotti explores the themes of metamorphosis, inspired by the Merian Ensemble’s namesake, Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717), a German entomologist, naturalist, and scientific illustrator, whose work is featured on the album’s cover and book. Taken as a whole, The Book of Spells offers a finely-drawn portrait of 21st century chamber music — the compelling repertoire, composers, and performers — while also highlighting the still-underrepresented voices of women in classical music. *Mary Kouyoumdjian’s A Boy and a Makeshift Toy was originally commissioned by Michael Hall as a piece for viola and piano; it is presented here in a new Merian Ensemble arrangement.
Sonix+
Catalog #: NV6596
Release Date: January 19, 2024
21st CenturyChamberClarinetFlutePiano TrioSONIX+, a collection of new works from cellist and composer Jan Järvlepp, is some of his most creative and defiant. The title piece, composed for the Ónix Ensemble of Mexico, draws upon elements from Järvlepp’s renowned works with a hidden theme from the 1960s sprinkled within. Trio No. 3 incorporates a very different concept from 1960s culture: protest music. The piece cries out against the constant surveillance that takes place in modern life, from cameras on every street corner to keyword tracking on search engines. Järvlepp’s music is unrelenting, one-of-a-kind, and inspired — a well balanced blend of time-tested virtuosity spoken through modern themes.
Sonix and other Tonix
Catalog #: NV6603
Release Date: March 15, 2024
21st CenturyChamberFlutePercussionString QuartetSONIX AND OTHER TONIX is a collection of innovative chamber works from composer Jan Järvlepp. The title refers to his piece Sonix for Ónix, composed for the Ónix Ensamble of Mexico. It combines elements from his most popular chamber and orchestral works, Pierrot Solaire and Garbage Concerto, respectively. The album also features Trio No. 3, a three-movement work for violin, cello, and piano which protests the rise of the surveillance state. SONIX AND OTHER TONIX also includes Shinkansen, which takes listeners for a ride on a Japanese bullet train, and In Memoriam, written for the composer’s late brother. Spanning a diverse range of topics and influences, SONIX AND OTHER TONIX exemplifies the iconoclastic creativity for which Järvlepp is known.
Sonata for Flute and Piano
Catalog #: NV6685
Release Date: December 6, 2024
21st CenturyChamberFlutePianoSONATA FOR FLUTE AND PIANO by Timothy Schmalz is a vibrant and eclectic three-movement piece. This technically-demanding sonata incorporates a wide range of musical styles, inspired by Schmalz’s years spent studying works from the classical and pre-Romantic periods as well as the 20th and 21st centuries. The musical vernacular of the work is at once daring and playful, with the final movement representing a full “dream cycle.” Likened to a “musical children’s book” by the composer, this piece — Schmalz’s first foray into sonatas for small chamber ensembles — invites listeners young and old into the realm of imagination.
Shifting Direction
Catalog #: NV6681
Release Date: November 15, 2024
21st CenturyChamberClarinetFluteViolinA resilient voice for new music, Eric Allen conducts the Texas Tech University Contemporary Music Ensemble in SHIFTING DIRECTION, a collection of three works by composers Joan Tower, Jennifer Jolley, and Jennifer Higdon. Elevated by Allen's precise conducting and careful attention to detail, SHIFTING DIRECTION provides three unique listening directions for contemporary music enjoyers to delight in. In Petroushskates, Tower paints an image of a carnival on ice, a whirling winter affair inspired by the thematic material of Stravinsky's Petrushka as it appears in the opening Shrovetide fair sequence. Weaving and flowing, the music creates the graceful effect of seeing a figure skating routine. Jolley's Blue Glacier Decoy pays tribute to the path of modern dancer and choreographer Trisha Brown, who revered the glacier and incorporated its landscape and movement into her work. SHIFTING DIRECTION closes with a bang — or rather, a zap — with Higdon's Zaka, a word which is defined as doing the following at great speed: zap, sock, race, turn, drop, sprint. The ensemble moves at an electric pace to capture the essence of the term.
Shards
Catalog #: NV6549
Release Date: August 11, 2023
21st CenturyChamberFlutePianoViolinSarah Wallin Huff returns to Navona Records with SHARDS, a wide variety of compositions that explore life, love, death, and the philosophy and mysticism that make up the in-betweens. True to the unique identity of Wallin Huff’s admirable body of work, the compositions building SHARDS structure themselves around brilliantly original frameworks while also delivering a philosophical, thoughtful structure to the album. Wallin Huff sufficiently and spectacularly elaborates upon her identity as a self-described “stream-of-consciousness composer” in this contemplative and explorative journey, a comprehensive album sure to make waves with its mystical nature.
Secrets For Free
Catalog #: NV6178
Release Date: August 10, 2018
21st CenturyChamberOrchestralFluteOrchestraString QuartetIt should be no secret that Miami-based composer Ferdinando De Sena is a tour de force amongst electroacoustic composers. Just listening to SECRETS FOR FREE is all the proof you need. The EP boasts adventurous yet accessible compositions that balance real instruments with computer-generated sound. SECRETS FOR FREE is a testament to fans of either subgenre that the two approaches to classical music do not have to be mutually exclusive.
Second Wind
Catalog #: NV6253
Release Date: December 13, 2019
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalFlutePianoSaxophoneSaxophonist Dave Camwell's interpretations on SECOND WIND impressively demonstrate the capabilities of the instrument in music spanning three centuries. SECOND WIND presents a wide selection of saxophone music: a J. S. Bach partita with piano accompaniment added by Robert Schumann, a Vivaldi concerto, a Händel sonata, but also several contemporary, tonal saxophone compositions.
Scattering Light, Scattering Flowers
Catalog #: NV5933
Release Date: February 1, 2014
21st CenturyChamberClarinetEast AsianFluteSCATTERING 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.