From the Sea to the Stars
Catalog #: NV6666
Release Date: October 25, 2024
20th Century21st CenturyChamberOboePianoOutside of Russian ballets and Mozart symphonies, the oboe is an instrument that generally does not get a lot of credit. But on FROM THE SEA TO THE STARS, the instrument is thrust into the spotlight it deserves. The driving force? Accomplished American oboists Lindsay Flowers and Andrew Parker. Center stage, it turns out, is a surprisingly merited place for the oboe and its bigger sister, the English horn — especially in contemporary composition. Flowers and Parker have curated a moody selection of beautiful, minimalist pieces that allow the respective instruments to shine on their own — accompanied only here and there by a pleasingly subtle piano. Delicate, lyrical, and utterly charming.
Ink Traces
Catalog #: NV6670
Release Date: October 4, 2024
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalPianoViolinInspiring curiosity, cultural interaction, and deep listening, INK TRACES reflects violinist Julia Glenn’s 15-year journey exploring Chinese culture and interactions between Chinese language and music, fueled by frequent trips and three years living in China. This Navona Records release reflects a greater interdisciplinary approach seen in Chinese arts - one that blends poetry, dance, painting, calligraphy, and music and shows fascinating interchanges between gesture and sound. The title, inspired in part by Pan Kai's Ink Traces of Sigh for solo violin, is a nod to such interplay. The album explores three threads: probing the musical-linguistic play possible in the music of Chinese speakers, broadening perspectives on Chinese music, and fostering cultural dialogue between China and the United States. It features works by Chinese and Chinese-speaking composers, stretching traditional Western musical boundaries to create rich, imaginative soundscapes and processes.
Polyglot
Catalog #: NV6655
Release Date: October 4, 2024
21st CenturyRomanticChamberCelloClarinetPianoEric Schultz’s masterful clarinet playing speaks in new and known tongues on POLYGLOT, a concept album celebrating music as a language of cultural identity and the self. A strong advocate of living composers, Schultz opens with an engrossing performance of Iván Enrique Rodríguez’s Sonata Santera, exploring the development and evolution of three Caribbean Santeria rituals. Schultz captures the enchanting, mystical nature of the rituals between the rhythmic, driving movements, occasionally accompanied by percussive elements. Schultz follows with Críptico no. 9: DAVЯTHAN, an interpretive piece that centralizes language and text-setting at the core of its composition. Shortly followed is Johnny Navarro’s romantic Danzón, a nostalgic work punctuated by fleeting moments of sensuality. The same intimacy is carried into Chiayu Hsu’s Summer Night in a Deep Valley, showcasing meditative episodes on the natural beauty expressed in Guo Xi’s Chinese landscape paintings. Likewise, Gabriel Bouche Caro’s Escenas explores a meditation on self-identity and its existence as a product of culture, the clarinet never languishing in melancholic passages, but always remaining reflective and curious. POLYGLOT culminates with the Brahms Trio, Op. 114, a composition inspired by the clarinet playing of friend Richard Mühlfeld, an inspiration so strong it served to pull the composer from retirement. To Schultz, a quarterfinalist for the 2025 GRAMMY® Music Educator of the Year, music is a hallmark of metamorphosis that drives cultural change across history, the performer and composer working in tandem to create something inspired and new — speaking each other’s language, you might say.
New Enchantments
Catalog #: NV6665
Release Date: September 20, 2024
21st CenturyRomanticChamberBaroque EnsembleBassoonPianoFairy tales have deeply and consistently fascinated humanity throughout the centuries. Enter NEW ENCHANTMENTS, bassoonist Cornelia Sommer's exploration of magical archetypes that features music by living composers along with new arrangements by Sommer herself across six world premiere recordings. Sommer has also written a prize-winning dissertation on the subject of fairy tales in music, adding further depth to this performance that showcases her musical virtuosity, great feeling for nuance, lyrical storytelling, and profound expertise to illuminate every last detail. Enriching and engrossing, this album could not be more aptly titled.
Joy, Too
Catalog #: NV6642
Release Date: August 2, 2024
21st CenturyChamberVocal MusicPianoVoiceMusic about grief is a bit like medicine: most people don't reach for it until they find themselves in need. The Vertex Duo, composed of mezzo-soprano Kristin Gornstein and pianist Jeremy Chan, might sympathize, having created just this medicine for the soul in the wake of some of their darkest biographical hours. The result is JOY, TOO, a curiously wonderful collection of melancholy songs — so lyrical and beautiful, one doesn't have to be sad to want to listen to it. In case of misfortune however, it may well be sanity-saving: with its stirring melodies and poignant lyrics, JOY, TOO serves as a testament to the universal experience of sorrow, offering solace and understanding to those grappling with its impact.
Resurgence
Catalog #: NV6646
Release Date: July 26, 2024
21st CenturyChamberCelloPianoWhat happens when two world class performers unite in their efforts to carry on the traditions and collaborative spirit of classical music? Cellist Ovidiu Marinescu and pianist Noreen Cassidy-Polera share a shining example on RESURGENCE. Featuring the works of several contemporary composers, this Navona Records release offers reflections on emergence and transformation, the throes of long distance love, the great artists of our past and present, the fusion of several musical influences, and more. Leveraging refined elegance in sound and raw virtuosity in approach, RESURGENCE is a thoughtful exploration into the expressive capabilities of the cello and the piano both as individual entities and a cohesive voice.
The Music of Melissa C. Shiflett
Catalog #: NV6621
Release Date: June 14, 2024
21st CenturyChamberPianoVoiceTHE MUSIC OF MELISSA C. SHIFLETT is an impressive showcase of the lyricism that contemporary American serious music has to offer. As she reflects upon natural beauty, Melissa C. Shiflett nonchalantly intertwines the musical with the poetic in this release. The Horses’ Quintet is a captivating and physically riveting quintet for English horn, violin, cello, piano, and percussion, an homage to the expansive Indiana plains, five spirited horses, and the equestrian artistry displayed by their nimble trainer. The second piece, a three-part song cycle titled The Rose Saga, showcases three lyric sopranos and pianist. Slightly more urban, this piece chronicles the fate of a rosebush in a Manhattan garden over several years. Using simple but incredibly deft strokes, Shiflett creates a musical environment for her private outdoor worlds that is highly theatrical. She has endowed these fleeting, triumphant scenes with an artistic sense of permanence.
Songs for a New Century
Catalog #: NV6623
Release Date: May 3, 2024
21st CenturyRomanticChamberSolo InstrumentalCelloPianoViolinThe singing quality of string instruments ties together SONGS FOR A NEW CENTURY, a program featuring both world premiere recordings of new music commissioned for the artists and world premiere recordings of masterpieces by Mendelssohn. The program opens with a set of Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words, beginning with the Opus 109 written by the composer for cello and piano. It continues with a set of arrangements for cello and piano, some recorded for the first time, by the 19th century cellist Alfredo Piatti, a personal friend of Mendelssohn’s upon whose cello Jonathan Miller plays. Gabriela Lena Frank’s Operetta for violin and cello, the composer writes, expands upon Mendelssohn’s concept of the “song without words,” creating opera without words that evokes scenes and characters through singing music for the duo of violin (Lucia Lin) and cello. Scott Wheeler’s second cello sonata, Songs Without Words, was inspired by Miller’s singing cello tone. Finally, Judith Weir’s Three Chorales for cello and piano meditate on religious poetry, departing from hymn texts –– and in the third Chorale, a melody from Hildegard of Bingen –– in a triptych that evokes the human condition.
Four Sonatas for Flute & Piano
Catalog #: NV6611
Release Date: April 5, 2024
21st CenturyRomanticChamberFlutePianoVirtuoso Linda Wiley performs four flute sonatas from 19th and 20th century composers on FOUR SONATAS FOR FLUTE AND PIANO. The album fulfills her aspiration to record pieces that are both challenging and also personally meaningful to her. These include Sonata For Flute And Piano by Francis Poulenc, Sonate Pour Flûte Et Piano by Jindřich Feld, Sonata In A Major by César Franck, and Recuerdos De Mexico, Sonata for Flute and Piano by Arthur Gottschalk. Many of the works share a connection to legendary French flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal; Wiley’s flute mentor Jan Cole studied under Rampal for five years, and Wiley is proud to carry on her musical lineage in this Navona Records release.
Time is the Sea We Swim In
Catalog #: NV6604
Release Date: March 1, 2024
21st CenturyChamberJazzPianoSaxophoneString QuartetFollowing her first Navona Records release, IKARUS AMONG THE STARS, New York-based composer Debra Kaye has curated an ever-varying mix of chamber and solo pieces with TIME IS THE SEA WE SWIM IN. Kaye’s inspirations are seemingly endless, from the improvisatory piano solo At Liberty (1988) where Kaye returns to her roots as a performer, to the jazzy Colossus 1067 (2021) written to accompany Gus Foster’s time-distorting panoramic photograph taken on a roller coaster with a rotary camera; from current events to the poetry of Zen monks, European Romanticism to a philosophical, even metaphysical meditation on time and the creative process. Kaye’s eclectic collection showcases and reconciles heterogeneous influences by way of a sonic language that is wholly, uncompromisingly her own. Her confident embrace of diverse sounds and styles invite and challenge listeners to join her on this voyage of discovery and dip a toe into this sea that we all swim in.
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.
By the Waters of Memory
Catalog #: NV6598
Release Date: February 2, 2024
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalCelloOboePianoLyricism and melody are often vainly sought in contemporary composition. American composer Richard Crosby goes against the grain on BY THE WATERS OF MEMORY, a selection of compositions so aesthetically sublime, yet so profound, one wonders if this is still music, or someone mesmerizingly peeling back the layers on existence itself. BY THE WATERS OF MEMORY features two scintillating chamber duos with piano – one a viola, the other a cello sonata – as well as a charming tetralogy of Latin dances for piano and oboe. But perhaps the greatest revelation arrives in the form of trenchantly beautiful solo piano pieces, which bear all the hallmarks of unadulterated classical-romantic genius. If Schubert had been an American, he would have sounded like this.
Mother Tales
Catalog #: NV6581
Release Date: December 8, 2023
20th Century21st CenturyChamberPianoViolinAgainst the backdrop of the pandemic, violinist Sunmi Chang and pianist Clara Yang embarked on this meaningful project. MOTHER TALES is an album that pays tribute to four remarkable women composers – Florence Price, Gabriela Lena Frank, Liliya Ugay, and Amy Beach. Notably, the album shares the same title as Liliya Ugay’s commissioned work, an exquisite and heartwarming piece that reflects on motherhood. However, in this project, the concept of a “mother” transcends biological boundaries, encompassing all those who have had a profound influence and nurturing presence in the lives of others.
Unholy Sonnets
Catalog #: NV6578
Release Date: November 10, 2023
21st CenturyChamberVocal MusicPianoVoiceWind EnsembleFew forms in classical music are as underrated as the song cycle. It is easy to be betrayed by the seemingly-modest set-up – piano and solo voice – requiring well-calculated finesse from a composer to seize its minimalist power and bring it into full bloom. UNHOLY SONNETS, a collection of songs by German-born American Samuel Adler, succeeds greatly in this effort. Although all works presented are in English and the tonal language is decidedly modern, there is much that harks back to the German art song tradition of the 19th century. Despite the title, these are largely quiet, pensive pieces, confidently resting in a tranquil serenity.
Our Stories
Catalog #: NV6571
Release Date: November 3, 2023
21st CenturyChamberCelloPianoFeaturing cellist Thomas Mesa and pianist Michelle Cann, OUR STORIES from Navona Records aims to raise the voices of composers and performers from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in classical music. Made possible by PARMA Recordings and a Sphinx MPower Grant, this release musically conveys a diverse mixture of themes and topics, from the intricacies and curiosities of human communication to fear-inducing information prevalent in the media, reflections on the acceptance of life's inevitable changes and losses, and more. Dive in and explore the masterful contemporary works of Andrea Casarrubios, Carlos Carrillo, Kevin Day, Sebastian Quesada, and Mario Oyanadel.
Mere Mortals
Catalog #: NV6563
Release Date: October 27, 2023
21st CenturyChamberPianoViolinCaitlin Edwards and Daniel Schlosberg work in collaboration to bring us MERE MORTALS, an exceptional performance and intuitive study on works for violin and piano by composers of marginalized identities with a brilliant legacy to share with the world. In a world that often grinds us to the bone, MERE MORTALS asks us to slow down, step back, and appreciate the fruits of our labor, reminding us that although our time on this earth is fleeting, it can also be a rich and exploratory experience that enables us to leave an immortal and vital legacy behind.
Columbian Harmony
Catalog #: NV6565
Release Date: October 13, 2023
21st CenturyChamberCelloPianoViolaMulti-genre composer Gary Smart explores a wide range of styles and transforms them into his own musical language on COLUMBIAN HARMONY. His soundscapes are sweeping, billowing meadows, often vast in their ambition and scope. At times richly textured, at times sparse, almost threadbare, Smart’s carefully designed works meander between grand rhapsody and heart rending simplicity. There is enough familiarity in this music to keep the listener anchored, but the element of surprise reigns supreme.
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.
Wild Swans
Catalog #: NV6547
Release Date: August 11, 2023
21st CenturyChamberVocal MusicClarinetHarpPianoVoiceDiane Maltester and Nancy Bachmann take listeners on a mesmerizing musical journey with WILD SWANS. Contemporary composer Nancy Bachmann’s exquisite music entices listeners with an artist’s pallet of expressive and progressive sounds. Released under Navona Records, this extraordinary album showcases Bachmann’s compositions for the superbly talented clarinetist, Diane Maltester. WILD SWANS takes flight through compositions for voice, woodwind quintet, trios, duos, and unaccompanied clarinet. The wings of Bachmann’s imaginative energy and Maltester’s interpretive virtuosity transport the listener to beautiful and exotic destinations. As one explores the transcendent compositions on WILD SWANS Bachmann’s brilliance and versatility shine through on every track, illuminated by the extraordinary artistry of Maltester and all her collaborators. A captivating mix of wildness and grace!
Conversing With Spirits
Catalog #: NV6540
Release Date: July 28, 2023
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalPercussionPianoSaxophoneFall immersed into a collection of innovative stories and sounds on David Colson’s CONVERSING WITH SPIRITS. Colson’s distinctive push-and-pull textures are both an inviting and invigorating in the aptly named Un raz-de-marée de terreur et de joie (A tidal wave of terror and of joy) for bari sax and marimba, a welcome that drifts into a call back to classical trumpet repertoire: the long lamentations and surges of havoc discovered within Duo for Trumpet and Piano. This being closely followed by Ghost Music, a virtuosic marimba solo featuring Matthew Coley, a composition most reminiscent of uncanny whisperings in shadowy atmospheres—no doubt with a touch of whimsy, and a whimsy that is no stranger to the nature of cats, or more specifically, Cat Tales, a touching tongue-in-cheek collection of saxophone and piano vignettes invoking the personality of eight cats familiar to Colson. The River within Us concludes the collection, an at-once bubbly and fluttering two-movement work featuring the Western Michigan University Percussion Ensemble. Treat yourself to CONVERSING WITH SPIRITS, and enjoy the endless surprises it has to offer.