Catalog

Ruth Lomon (1930-2017), Composer and Resident Scholar at the Women's Studies Research Center at Brandeis University and Composer-in-Residence with Boston Secession, and her friend Iris Graffman Wenglin, Florida-based pianist and lecturer, came to a stunning realization after Ruth traveled to London, where she looked for music written by women. There were very few scores to be found, and even fewer that were properly printed. With that, the duo set out on a mission to uncover the buried works of female composers over the years and bring them deserved recognition. The results of this endeavor come to life in HOMMAGE TO WOMEN COMPOSERS.

Nicholas Vines presents HIPSTER ZOMBIES FROM MARS, his third PARMA Recordings album. This collection of three major piano works by Dr. Vines was recorded on location at Cornell University with artist Ryan MacEvoy McCullough at the piano. For all of the flash one might expect from the album title, Vines bypasses gimmickry in order to capture something sophisticated.

HEAVY PEDAL is an all-organ disc featuring the compositions of Tadd Russo, Curt Cacioppo, Ron Nagorcka, Wilhelm Middleschulte, and Michael Summers performed by organists Michael Kraft, Robert Gallagher, David Scott Hamnes, Brink Bush, and Karel Martinek. As the title implies, the pieces on this disc are on the heavier side of classical music, reaching climaxes with real stopping power.

When listening to keyboardist Patrick Hawkins playing an 1831 William Geib square piano on his debut Navona Records release, HAYDN AND THE ENGLISH LADY, one can imagine men and women in elegant silk gowns and suits gathered in an opulently decorated drawing room of an 18th-century English estate. This collection of piano works by Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) and Maria Hester Park (1760-1813) illustrate the diversity and refinement of Classical repertoire.

HARMONY OF DISSONANCE brings together, juxtaposes, and intertwines the disparate singing styles of the regions of Dalmatia, which remain stylistically and performatively distant even today. While these musical worlds present seemingly irreconcilable musical and cultural differences, they are all connected by polyphonic singing, which forms the core of this collaboration between the Harmonija Dissonance Ensemble and the Jazz Orchestra of the Academy of Music in Zagreb.

As composer and pianist Mitch Hampton admits, HARD LISTENING, his debut solo album on Navona Records, "aims to dissolve all boundaries of style or taste," while providing an earnest yet sometimes humorous reflection on the questions of society and musical aesthetics.

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.

Composer and Clarinetist Mark G. Simon makes his PARMA debut with his first-ever recorded album, GRECIAN URN. All selections were composed by Simon, and he is the clarinetist on every track.

GREAT SOUTHERN LAND marks trumpeter Phillip Chase Hawkins’ recording debut. Hawkins’ decision to present the music of internationally renowned composer Brendan Collins in both duo and trio configurations clearly illustrates the exceptional synergy that exists between composer and artist. Each piece presents a unique scene, from Australian bushrangers escaping prison to the rich sounds of Vienna and its composers.

Inspired by a transcription by composer Franz Liszt, GÖTTERFUNKEN employs the duality of two grand pianos to reimagine and reinterpret Beethoven’s revered Ninth Symphony. As mother and daughter, pianists Eliane Rodrigues and Nina Smeets infuse their own personal flair with Rodrigues’s arrangement, following the path Beethoven paved while connecting his work to the present day with small instances of improvisation throughout that reflect his original stylistic preferences. Conceptualized in the age of social distancing, GÖTTERFUNKEN was arranged not only to reunite Rodrigues and Smeets through music, but the world as a whole with Beethoven’s magnum opus.

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.

Navona Records artist Bruce Leto’s newest album of solo piano works synthesizes the tribulations and perseverance of the human spirit in the age of COVID-19 while also taking a look at some of the more bewildering aspects of the global response. GOMITOLO! — named after the Italian expression that loosely translates to “the incomprehensibility of human life" — is a fitting tribute to the European countries heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, featuring solo piano performances of works by Poulenc, Ravel, and fellow PARMA artist Curt Cacioppo.

Described by the Oskar Morawetz Award jurors as a “legend” of Canadian musicians, Christina Petrowska Quilico joins lauded composer and champion of new music David Jaeger on GAMES OF THE NIGHT WIND, a dreamy musical landscape premiering 12 of Jaeger’s original nocturnes in addition to seven 20th century solo piano works. Each nocturne invokes a different spirit of the night: deception, memory, redemption, realization, and many more, each brought to fruition by Petrowska Quilico’s evocative musicality. Sharp staccato and an increasingly startled momentum drives the image of an encounter with the shadows in Nocturne 11, The Alarm Bell, a weighty contrast to the deep rubato and heaving nostalgia in Nocturne 1, In Memory Of — yet both hail from the same thematic darkness that expands across the entirety of the album. These sensations are ever present in Tōru Takemitsu’s starry Les yeux clos, Alexandre Tansman’s complex and lyrical nocturnes, and two works by Górecki, whose Lullaby sings GAMES OF THE NIGHT WIND off to sleep. GAMES OF THE NIGHT WIND plays to the unfettered wildness of the night, a force of nature encapsulated in every aspect of Petrowska Quilico and Jaeger’s musical and poetic collaboration, an elegant exploration for the night owl in us all.

Laurence Sherr delves deep into the spirit of resilience with FUGITIVE FOOTSTEPS: REMEMBRANCE MUSIC. Not shying away from musically pointing to suffering and despair, Sherr paints a vivid picture of persecution, trauma, and survivor's guilt but also of silent and active opposition, hope, renewal, and the eventual overcoming of adversity. Through remembrance and tribute, these compositions unapologetically aim to tell stories of Holocaust resistance and survival, not only in concept but also in their individual tonal language: at all times fully conscious of their cultural roots, vast heritage, a sacrosanct sense of belonging, and the duty of defending these treasures. But perhaps, even more, these works reveal pathways to clearer, brighter horizons.

Composer David Carpenter’s PARMA debut, FROM THE VALLEY OF BACA, features three works that illustrate the expansive scope of his compositional style. From the lyrical Trio, to the powerfully poetic title work for baritone and piano, to the romantically-inclined Sonata, FROM THE VALLEY OF BACA demonstrates the composer’s ability to express his artistic vision in a wide variety of musical genres.

Composer, author, and educator Fred Broer presents his String Quartet No. 8, as well as four colorful piano works, on his Navona release FRED BROER: MUSIC FOR STRING QUARTET AND PIANO SOLO. Broer’s adventurous String Quartet No. 8 is performed masterfully by the New England String Quartet  and is dedicated to the memory of his good friend Hilda Ayer.

Virtuoso 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.

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.

Mexican composer Felipe Pérez Santiago introduces the follow up to his 2013 album, Mantis with his first Navona release, FORMIKA, an album of chamber music. Pérez Santiago continues his series with a vast notational layering and timing propelled by traditional instrumentation. Masterful playing by choice ensembles like Tamayo and Onix, create a particularly kaleidoscopic nostalgia in this pitching album.

FOREVER BEELER represents a sampling of composer Alan Beeler’s prolific output throughout his musical career, which is generally defined by his commitment to compositional craft and structural clarity. The works featured on this album also reveal a playfulness lying just under the surface of Beeler’s compositional perspective. This quality of Beeler’s music is most notable in the seven sonatas for piano, often accompanied by another instrument, included in FOREVER BEELER.