Release Date: February 8, 2019
Catalog #: NV6207
Format: Digital & Physical
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Percussion
Piano

Sustain

Works For Solo Piano & Percussion Instruments

Daniel Adams composer
John A. Carollo composer
John Dante Prevedini composer
Robert E. Thomas composer
Willem Van Twillert composer

Within their varied appearances and sounds, the piano, vibraphone, and marimba make up a unique family. Nonetheless, key similarities bind them together, and SUSTAIN explores just that. The latest multi-composer release by Navona Records, SUSTAIN presents works for various keyboards that explore not only the abilities of each instrument, but the varied approaches from five different composers.

John Dante Prevedini’s Lyme Sonata begins the album, looking at the sonic interplay between smooth and jagged musical voices on piano. Robert Thomas’ Moto Perpetuo and Sixteen Lines Circling a Square  create an audial puzzle on solo marimba and on marimba and vibraphone, respectively. Working through layered structures, each piece involves finding the answer to some mental and sonic games.

Willem Van Twillert’s Adagio for Piano and Andante for Antoinette presents the composer’s serene, smooth, and in this case romantic, approach to writing music. Daniel Adams introduces Solstice Introspect for three vibraphones. Inspired by the feelings conjured up by the winter solstice, where the day is at its darkest and feelings of both peace and unsettlement are stirred up, the three vibraphones play with the opposing forces of movement and stillness. John A. Carollo’s Piano Etudes and Piano Suite No. 9 take listeners on a multifaceted journey inspired by the romantic sensibilities of Franz Liszt, the intensity and mischievousness of author Edward Gorey’s story Doubtful Guest, and more.

SUSTAIN demonstrates all that the keyboard is able to present, as well as all its composers are able to pull from the instrument. From soft to striking, from smooth to jagged, SUSTAIN gives it all, and everything in between.

Listen

Hear the full album on YouTube

Artist Information

Daniel Adams

Composer

DANIEL ADAMS (b. 1956, Miami FL) is a Professor of Music at Texas Southern University in Houston. Adams holds a Doctor of Musical Arts (1985) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a Master of Music from the University of Miami (1981) and a Bachelor of Music from Louisiana State University (1978). He served as the College Music Society Board Member for Composition from 2015 through 2017.

John A. Carollo

Composer

John A. Carollo studied piano as a child and was a member of a Catholic Church choir which sang for the congregation during weekend services. In 1986, he began composing for the piano and graduated from San Diego State University with a Masters Degree in Psychology. After moving to Honolulu HI in 1987, he started a career as a mental health counselor and social worker with the State of Hawaii, Department of Health. In 1997, he began private composition lessons with Dr. Robert Wehrman.

John Dante Prevedini

Composer

John Dante Prevedini (b. 1987) is a composer, educator, and public speaker hailing from Connecticut and active throughout Southern New England. Drawing upon a variety of fields of knowledge (including linguistics, the fine arts, the physical sciences, religion, and philosophy), his work aims to examine unconventional facets of everyday life through a multidisciplinary lens.

Robert E. Thomas

Composer

Robert E. Thomas (b. 1971) is an active composer, teacher, and scholar whose music has been presented around the United States and overseas. Working in both electronic and acoustic mediums for instrumentation ranging from solo works to large orchestra, his main compositional interest is working with layered structures. His music has been performed by ACME (the American Contemporary Music Ensemble), Composer's Chamber Ensemble, Contemporary Chamber Players, HELIX! Ensemble, Ionisation, Nodes Performing Arts, and Tony Oliver.

Willem Van Twillert

Composer

Willem Van Twillert (The Netherlands, b. 1952) studied the organ and piano at the Regional Music School in Amersfoort with Henk Seldenthuis. Starting in 1970, he studied the organ, improvisation, and composition at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam with Piet Kee and piano with Willem Brons. In 1975 he commenced a 3-year course of orchestral conducting studies with the Dutch orchestra conductor Anton Kersjes. In 1979, he obtained a diploma for Church Music and Performing Musician Cum Laude, with a teaching-endorsement for improvisation. A scholarship afforded him the opportunity to specialize in historic music between 1978 and 1981, including studies with Gustav Leonhardt (organ). In 1976, van Twillert was the first Dutch organist to reach the final of the 'Grand Prix de Chartres' in France.

Lucie Kaucká

Pianist

The pianist Lucie Kaucká was born on March 31, 1978 in Kraslice near Karlovy Vary, where she began studying music at the age of seven. She continued her piano studies at the Conservatory of Teplice and the Conservatory of Pardubice with Martin Hröel. After graduation from Pardubice she concentrated on the study of musicology at the Palacky University in Olomouc and finished successfully there in 2003.

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