• Kaddish

    Catalog #: NV5834

    Release Date: September 1, 2010

    21st Century
    Opera
    Stage Works
    Orchestra
    Voice

    Lawrence Siegel’s Kaddish is an evening-length cycle of fifteen original songs for chorus, soloists, and chamber ensemble that serves to find a common ground with those who survived the Holocaust. The choral masterpiece’s libretto is drawn from interviews with Holocaust survivors and incorporates elements of folk songs and traditional Klezmer music. As a whole, Kaddish brings us on a journey through the cultural identities of pre-Holocaust central Europe, reflections of the atrocities that occurred during those years, and the victims’ desire for ordinariness.

  • Carmen’s Revenge

    Catalog #: NV5837

    Release Date: November 1, 2010

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Stage Works
    Orchestra
    Piano
    Voice

    CARMEN'S REVENGE is Osias Wilenski's humorous homage to Bizet's Carmen. Wilenskidraws from the works of Bizet, Mozart, and others to create a sort of operatic medley that places Carmen within modern society. This recording features soprano Maria Rosa López and baritone César Puente.

  • Devisadero

    Catalog #: NV5849

    Release Date: May 1, 2011

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Vocal Music
    Piano
    Voice
    Wind Ensemble

    DEVISADERO features the original compositions of New Mexico-based composer Christopher Shultis. Through woodwinds, percussion and piano, Shultis is able to vividly describe the New Mexican wilderness and the significance of its beauty. Shultis' compositions invite the listener to experience not only the sound of the music, but what we see and think, and especially, how we breathe, as well.

  • Good News Falls Gently

    Catalog #: NV5854

    Release Date: July 1, 2011

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Piano
    Voice

    GOOD NEWS FALLS GENTLY features the works of Chicago-based composer and oboist Patricia Morehead: Disquieted Souls, inspired by pre-Christian Celtic legends of goddesses and the supernatural; The Handmaid's Tale, motivated by the chilling, futuristic writing of Canadian writer Margaret Atwood; It is Dangerous to Read Newspapers, a reflection on modern times and the proclivity towards bad news; Ladders of Anxiety, an abstract work inspired by colorful medical charts that taps into our inner anxieties; and Good News Falls Gently, a setting of the poetry of Chicago-based writer Regina Harris Baiocchi that portrays an intense spiritual faith from a feminist perspective.

  • Sound Spectrum

    Catalog #: NV5862

    Release Date: November 1, 2011

    21st Century
    Orchestral
    Orchestra
    Piano
    Voice

    SOUND SPECTRUM features works for piano, soprano, and orchestra by composer Allen Bonde. Bonde draws from his personal experiences and feelings to craft beautiful pieces with a wide range of styles: Fantasia for Piano and Orchestra, a cohesive work cast in traditional harmony; Three Elizabethan Songs and Three Elizabethan Songs Revisited, a set of works blending simplicity and sophistication; Symphony No. 1, a kaleidoscopic orchestral piece with astounding instrumental color; Rose Window, a musical representation of the breathtaking Rose Window at Mount Holyoke Chapel; Sonus I, a 12-tonebased and freely composed piece in variation form; Four Shakespeare Songs, a fresh take on the Bard's work stylistically reflective of the 1920s; You Were The One, based on the sensitive poetry of Mary Jo Salter; and Encore Blues, a one-take improvised celebration of the recording sessions. Often performing the works himself as pianist, and in collaboration with the "Bonde Family," his oeuvres provide warmth, intimacy and compositional diversity with each piece.

  • Night of Light

    Catalog #: NV5866

    Release Date: April 1, 2012

    21st Century
    Orchestral
    Vocal Music
    String Orchestra
    Voice

    NIGHT OF LIGHT is the latest CD from Cypriot composer Sophia Serghi featuring five of her works for orchestra and voice: Night of Light, a musical reaction to Easter in Manhattan and a document of the composer's spiritual growth; Serghi's earliest work for orchestra and voice, Cantus Integritatis, comprised of four introspective and meditative movements based on the composer's own Latin poetry; Full Moon Haiku, a collaboration with poet Nancy Schoenberger setting the mensal characteristics of the full moon to music; Ikon, inspired by an unusual Ikon in Paris; and Night of Light: Reprise.

  • Nazca

    Catalog #: NV5872

    Release Date: April 1, 2012

    20th Century
    Orchestral
    Vocal Music
    Orchestra
    Voice

    Composer Sergio Cervetti has cemented himself into the contemporary classical scene, earning notoriety for his ability to present orchestral, opera, chamber, vocal, and electronic under a single classical umbrella that is distinctly individualistic. With works lauded as "truly novel and genuinely intriguing" (Washington Post), "noteworthy in the sea of fluff that passes for electronic music" (Option Magazine), and "a listener's joy" (New York Times), Cervetti has proven himself a worthy contender in the world of contemporary classical.

  • Kleemation

    Catalog #: NV5884

    Release Date: October 1, 2012

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Vocal Music
    Flute
    Piano
    Voice

    KLEEMATION AND OTHER WORKS is the debut Navona release from Rockport-based composer Elizabeth Vercoe, featuring six of the composer's works for small ensemble and solo instruments. The title piece, Kleemation for flute and piano, draws its inspiration from five drawings by Swiss artist Paul Klee. Through her expertly crafted music, Vercoe effectively captures the moods and styles of the visual elements from which she works, ranging from wry humor to anxiety about the state of our world.

  • Laws of the Pipe

    Catalog #: NV5889

    Release Date: October 1, 2012

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Piano
    String Quartet
    Voice

    A collection of works by Curt Cacioppo celebrating and lamenting the history of the Native American peoples. Composed and performed with impeccable attention to detail and historical accuracy, these vibrant and emotional tone poems urge the listener to consider the vibrancy and plight of Native American culture as they guide us through musical narratives of the past.

  • Shakespeare’s Memory

    Catalog #: NV5899

    Release Date: January 1, 2013

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Vocal Music
    Piano
    Voice

    SHAKESPEARE'S MEMORY is the first offering Navona's The Shakespeare Concerts Series. A salmagundi of selections from composer Joseph Summer's The Oxford Songs, this album includes previously unreleased recordings spanning the life of the series. This first volume includes Summer's original chamber and vocal compositions set to Shakespeare's dramas and sonnets and the poetry of Milton and Yeats, performed by a slew of musicians: the Kalmia String Quartet, baritone Chad Sloan, soprano Andrea Chenoweth, mezzo-soprano Kellie Van Horn, tenor Justin Vickers, pianists Miroslav Sekera and Ian Watson, and harpist Lydie Härtelovä.

  • Al Combate

    Catalog #: NV5902

    Release Date: February 1, 2013

    Baroque
    Orchestral
    Vocal Music
    Orchestra
    Voice

    AL COMBATE, the debut release from the Chicago Arts Orchestra (Javier José Mendoza, Artistic Director), highlights New Spain as a mecca of baroque and galant music through a handpicked selection of works from two of eighteenth-century colonial Mexico's most prolific and influential composers, whose music explores the period's transatlantic cultural flow from Europe to New Spain: Ignacio Jerusalem, a master of the galant style who brought modern European styles and techniques across the Atlantic; and Santiago Billoni, whose harmonic experimentation and erudite voice helped shape late baroque repertoire.

  • The Fair Ophelia

    Catalog #: NV5935

    Release Date: November 1, 2013

    21st Century
    Stage Works
    Vocal Music
    Piano
    Voice

    THE FAIR OPHELIA, the second installment on Navona Records' The Shakespeare Concerts Series, features works by composer Joseph Summer that are inspired by Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark! With Shakespeare's texts accompanied with music by Brahms, Strauss, Berlioz, Saint-Saëns, Schumann, and Joseph Summer, this album for vocal and chamber music consists of diverse settings that present the listener with an opportunity to hear Ophelia in a three dimensional perspective. Summer's works have been described as "[varying] in mood and compositional technique from piece to piece, but always beautifully expressive and deeply emotional" (Shakespeare Matters).

  • Four Quartets of Songs & Arias

    Catalog #: NV5936

    Release Date: November 1, 2013

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Vocal Music
    Piano
    Voice

    FOUR QUARTETS OF SONGS & ARIAS, the debut Navona release by composer Roger Bourland, takes us on a touching journey by way of works for voice (Juliana Gondek) and piano (William Lumpkin). The album features four song cycles, each a four song set depicting a range of emotion and feeling.

  • Brass Rail Blues

    Catalog #: NV5953

    Release Date: May 1, 2014

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Vocal Music
    Clarinet
    Piano
    Voice

    On her second release on Navona Records, BRASS RAIL BLUES, Canadian composer and oboist Patricia Morehead showcases her ability to incorporate varying instrumentation into her compositions, from mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble; to flute and piano; to mandolin, cello, and clarinet. Because of this variety, the composer creates a world of imagery, setting poems by such writers as Margaret Atwood, Anne Sexton, and Cathy Ann Elias in several of her pieces.

  • Goddesses

    Catalog #: NV5973

    Release Date: October 14, 2014

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Vocal Music
    Voice

    GODDESSES is the third offering in Navona Records' The Shakespeare Concerts Series, which presents several works by composer Joseph Summer from his collection of settings of Shakespearean scenes, sonnets, and soliloquies, Oxford Songs.

  • Michael Murray: Percipience

    Catalog #: NV5994

    Release Date: April 14, 2015

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Vocal Music
    Voice

    The history of setting literary text in music is a considerable one, from Schubert's Lieder to Benjamin Britten's Serenade to art songs of the 21st century. Composer Michael Murray presents four song cycles on PERCIPIENCE, all of which emphasize the deep connection between poetry and music as varying means of expression that can reveal different facets of the same idea.

  • Orpheus With His Lute Made Trees

    Catalog #: NV5995

    Release Date: April 14, 2015

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Vocal Music
    Voice

    On the fourth offering in Navona Records' The Shakespeare Concerts Series, ORPHEUS WITH HIS LUTE MADE TREES, executive director and composer Joseph Summer presents original works and pieces by composers from the 18th through the 21st centuries that celebrate the myth of Orpheus.

  • Full Fathom Five

    Catalog #: NV5996

    Release Date: April 14, 2015

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Vocal Music
    Voice

    FULL FATHOM FIVE, the fifth offering in Navona Records' The Shakespeare Concerts Series, takes the story of The Tempest, from the shipwrecked crew and magical spirits to the imprisoned servants and their questions of identity, and presents a variety of works from the 18th to the 21st centuries that set texts and depict themes from Shakespeare's play.

  • Crimson & Lace

    Catalog #: NV6006

    Release Date: August 14, 2015

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Vocal Music
    Voice

    On CRIMSON & LACE, Navona Records' compilation of modern works for voice and chamber ensemble, composers John G. Bilotta, David DeVasto, and Paula Diehl present works that depict the struggles as well as the rewards of human experience, such as heartache, death, love, hope, uncertainty, tragedy, and the resilience of the human spirit.

  • Voix Suprême: Mélodies of Jules Massenet

    Catalog #: NV6017

    Release Date: January 8, 2016

    Romantic
    Vocal Music
    Voice

    On her debut release on Navona Records, VOIX SUPRÊME: MÉLODIES OF JULES MASSENET, coloratura soprano Shudong Braamse presents a selection of Romantic French art songs, illustrating Massenet’s arresting motives, graceful vocal lines, and well-placed accompaniments. Exhibiting Massenet’s meticulous style, Braamse creates tender and dynamic imagery, intertwining punctuated piano lines with her sensitive voice, which suggests the colors of a flute, while turbulent textures denote climactic moments of emotion.