• Flux

    Catalog #: NV6252

    Release Date: October 11, 2019

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Cello
    East Asian
    Flute

    The Society of Composers, Inc. is a “professional society dedicated to the promotion, performance, understanding and dissemination of new and contemporary music.” Having brought dozens of unique and compelling compositions to Navona Records over the years, they are now back with the latest in SCI’s series: FLUX, a collection of striking, innovative, and altogether unignorable music.

  • Daytime & Night Songs

    Catalog #: NV6256

    Release Date: October 25, 2019

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Vocal Music
    Cello
    Guitar
    Voice

    Composer Mira J. Spektor presents both sensitivity and passion in her new album DAYTIME & NIGHT SONGS. She combines masterful, original compositions with thought-provoking poetry written by a number of artists.

  • Moto Celeste

    Catalog #: NV6266

    Release Date: January 24, 2020

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Solo Instrumental
    Cello
    Piano Trio

    In MOTO CELESTE, the fifth installment in Navona Records’ MOTO series, the internationally-acclaimed Trio Casals takes on eight new works by eight preeminent composers. It is an electrifying collection, full of drama and adventure. The compositions borrow from an eclectic array of musical traditions, including rhumba and flamenco music. MOTO CELESTE is forged into a cohesive work by the trio’s sensitive and highly-organic performances.

  • Transparent Boundaries

    Catalog #: NV6290

    Release Date: June 12, 2020

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Vocal Music
    Cello
    Piano
    Voice

    For centuries, writers have documented the awe brought about by the pristine wilderness and untamed expanses of the American Midwest and West. Three authors in particular—Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickinson—beautifully documented the boundless optimism and sense of opportunity that the country’s vast natural resources inspired and heralded a new era of American thought.

  • Cantilena

    Catalog #: NV6293

    Release Date: June 26, 2020

    20th Century
    Romantic
    Chamber
    Vocal Music
    Cello
    Voice

    Since the late 18th century, art songs have combined poetic vocals and equally intricate instrumental accompaniments to delight listeners with intimate compositions across the globe. The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra Trio’s CANTILENA spans the centuries and continents to highlight the form’s enduring appeal.

  • World Map

    Catalog #: NV6312

    Release Date: September 25, 2020

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Cello
    Clarinet
    Violin

    Throughout history, music has overcome culture and borders to bring people together through a universal language. Composer Shuying Li and Four Corners Ensemble present WORLD MAP, a collection of five mini-concertos for quintet, which takes listeners on a journey around the world, opening their ears to music’s evolution as an international unifier.

  • Breaking the Silence

    Catalog #: NV6326

    Release Date: January 8, 2021

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Solo Instrumental
    Cello
    Clarinet
    Oboe

    Navona Records proudly presents BREAKING THE SILENCE from legendary Australian composer George Palmer. The works featured on this new album draw inspiration from centuries-old poetry as well as the composer’s own life experience; Breaking the Silence unpacks a 17th-century pastoral haiku depicting a lone frog’s leap into a still pond, while Not Going Quietly is a touching tribute to a concert pianist whose life was cut short by a brain tumor.

  • Transit Voices

    Catalog #: NV6332

    Release Date: February 12, 2021

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Cello
    Clarinet
    Piano

    Navona Records is proud to release TRANSIT VOICES from composer Carl Vollrath. Featuring a series of works for clarinet, the album grapples with existential questions; who were the humans of prehistory, and what defining qualities do our spirits share in common with theirs? Vollrath imagines these clarinet pieces as found archaeological objects, voices from long ago that have somehow made their way to our present-day ears. Inspired by Andrew Robinson's book Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts, the music plums a cavernous underworld for clues toward a deeper understanding of human existence.

  • Wild Blue Yonder

    Catalog #: NV6346

    Release Date: April 23, 2021

    20th Century
    21st Century
    Chamber
    Cello
    Oboe
    Violin

    Eleanor Alberga explores the whole gamut of the human experience in  WILD BLUE YONDER, an equally diverse and coherent set of four contemporary chamber music pieces. While written over the course of twenty-two years, these pieces burst the limits of both space and time. No-Man’s-Land Lullaby reaches back over a century to World War I; Shining Gate of Morpheus enters the realm of the mystical; Succubus Moon explores the dark sides of the  human psyche; and The Wild Blue Yonder offers a glimpse into a world that is at once alien and  wonderful. Undauntedly, positively unsettling album; perfect listening for these unsettling times and a worthy addition to the much hailed album of Alberga's three string quartets from 2019.

  • Division of Memory

    Catalog #: NV6373

    Release Date: October 8, 2021

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Cello
    Piano

    Navona Records presents DIVISION OF MEMORY, a comprehensive collection featuring a variety of sound production methods displayed on the cello by Thomas Mesa. The works of composers Lydia Jane Pugh, George Holloway, Ben Yee-Paulson, Jonathan Chenette, and Elizabeth Start are featured on this album, each with their own compositional personality and a repertoire dedicated to the multifaceted soundscape of the cello.

  • Modern Muses

    Catalog #: NV6377

    Release Date: October 22, 2021

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Vocal Music
    Cello
    Voice

    MODERN MUSES is an entirely new presentation of captivating music in its first commercial recording and release, showcasing works composed by women and works representing female perspective. Inspired by Greek and Roman mythology, Josefien Stoppelenburg’s arresting soprano is juxtaposed with Jean Hatmaker’s poetic cello in this recording, fostering a rich musical dichotomy that blends together in a refreshingly powerful way.

  • Passages Through Time

    Catalog #: NV6398

    Release Date: March 11, 2022

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Orchestral
    Cello
    Orchestra
    Violin

    In PASSAGES THROUGH TIME, composer Rain Worthington explores the mystery of instrumental music’s ability to communicate the universality of human experiences. She invites the listener into the realm of the nonverbal to reveal our primal commonality, directly touching the heart and soul with music that is delicate and subtle, yet powerful and transporting. Worthington’s music has been hailed as “a fusion of styles—ancient, medieval modality and sonorities, modernist minimalist ostinato, and classical” (IAWM Journal). Embark on a journey through the currents of Worthington’s musical streams and the emotional forces that drive her unique voice.

  • Anthelion

    Catalog #: NV6402

    Release Date: January 28, 2022

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Solo Instrumental
    Cello
    Orchestra
    Viola

    Navona Records presents ANTHELION, showcasing favorite works from composer Adrienne Elisha (1958-2017). The works that comprise the album are technically demanding and rich in philosophical significance. Anthelion, for one, is a sonic contemplation of a natural phenomenon in which the sun’s light is projected across the sky, reflecting itself on the opposite horizon. The two-movement work, scored for flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello, percussion, and piano, expresses moments of “sonic abstraction” and continuous reverberation by way of unique instrumental timbres. In TranscenDance, on the other hand, Elisha makes a humanistic statement about the Syrian civil war, borrowing joyful melodies from Arab music and reimagining them in an orchestral setting. In this way, the music of ANTHELION is at once abstract and deeply contextual, challenging yet ultimately transcendent.

  • Stories Out of Cherry Stems

    Catalog #: NV6424

    Release Date: May 13, 2022

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Vocal Music
    Cello
    Saxophone
    Voice

    Composer Peter Dayton and Navona Records present STORIES OUT OF CHERRY STEMS, an album of original vocal chamber music with carefully curated texts spanning multiple centuries. Soprano Katie Procell and numerous selected performers navigate a persistent tension between simplicity and complexity delicately threaded throughout the program, providing a solid stage for the texts of notable poets Pablo Neruda, Oscar Wilde, and more. The strengths of vocal and instrumental chamber music merge into a cohesive powerhouse in this recording, brimming with sung stories that compliment Dayton’s compositional style.

  • Between Us

    Catalog #: NV6432

    Release Date: June 24, 2022

    20th Century
    Chamber
    Cello
    Piano
    Violin

    Throughout her storied career, composer and music activist Mary Howe elevated the status of women composers and the Washington DC music scene and gained notoriety for her orchestral works. Many of her pieces for smaller ensembles, however, remain unpublished. On BETWEEN US, premiere recordings of Howe’s duos at last see the light of day and showcase her knack for drawing out the melodic qualities and dynamic timbres of the piano, voice, and stringed instruments. The pieces transcend time, simultaneously pulling from the sensibility and formal structures of romanticism and 20th-century idioms, spanning and bridging the gaps that typically pigeonhole music into a specific milieu.

  • Memories Unsettled

    Catalog #: NV6437

    Release Date: July 8, 2022

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Cello
    Piano

    MEMORIES UNSETTLED explores music that has too often been marginalized from the historical musical canon. Sun Min Kim and Hilary Glen joined forces during the height of the pandemic, forming the Gibbs Street Duo. This piano-cello duo tours colleges and universities across the country, sharing their inspiring music with students, faculty, and other patrons of the arts. The album features composers from diverse backgrounds including Dorothy Rudd Moore, James Lee III, Ching-chu Hu, and HyeKyung Lee. Moore’s Dirge and Deliverance is a sonata in two movements written in 1971 that uses music to reflect on the Black experience in 1960s America. Abraham’s Sons written by James Lee III was written in 2013 to express horror and outrage at the killing of Trayvon Martin. Through these pieces and more like them, the Gibbs Street Duo demonstrate the power and relevance of music as a catalyst for change.

  • Time And The Hour

    Catalog #: NV6439

    Release Date: July 22, 2022

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Cello
    Flute
    Piano

    TIME 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.

  • 2020 Visions

    Catalog #: NV6444

    Release Date: August 26, 2022

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Cello
    Piano

    2020 VISIONS from the Fischer Duo celebrates the piano-cello group’s 50 years of performances together. The Duo is known for performing music from the likes of Beethoven alongside the works of emerging composers. The pair celebrated the anniversary of their formation in 1971 during the height of the pandemic; though the performance was given virtually, the resulting recording is a declaration of love and resilience. This album features three works commissioned for the Duo including Pulitzer Prize and GRAMMY Award-winning composer William Bolcom's Second Sonata, as well as three recent compositions from promising new composers. Expressing the pain of loss as well as the hope for a better tomorrow, 2020 VISIONS showcases this duo’s versatility and musicianship.

  • Sandman’s Castle

    Catalog #: NV6462

    Release Date: October 14, 2022

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Solo Instrumental
    Cello
    Percussion
    Piano

    From natural scenes of beauty to mystical dreamscapes and vivid characters of villainy, a dynamic assortment of music awaits in SANDMAN’S CASTLE from composer Vincent Ho. A compendium of uniquely-orchestrated and masterfully executed solo and duo works are brought to life from a roster of renowned performers: Vicky Chow, Susanne Ruberg-Gordon, Ben Reimer, Beth Root Sandvoss, and Evelyn Glennie, who serves as a listener’s guide on a mystical journey into the world of dreams in the albums titular track. Between explorations of uncharted territories with tam-tam and music boxes and thoughtful juxtapositions of the drumset with mainstays in classical music, Ho pulls out all of the stops with the renowned featured performers, and his dexterous compositional tool-kit throughout.

  • The New Epoch

    Catalog #: NV6463

    Release Date: September 9, 2022

    20th Century
    Chamber
    Cello
    Piano
    Violin

    Artists are liminal figures — they cross thresholds and collapse boundaries between past, present, and future.  In THE NEW EPOCH, three musicians from the Boston Artists Ensemble interpret works by French composers Fauré, Debussy, Ravel, and Lili Boulanger, infusing these pieces with unprecedented freshness and clarity. Each celebrated in their own right, cellist Jonathan Miller, violinist Lucia Lin, and pianist Diane Walsh join forces in every duo setting possible from this assortment of instruments. Exploring works written at the threshold of the First World War — with the world crossing into the violent twentieth century and composers reacting with music that looked both nostalgically back and innovatively forward — they underline the commonalities between each composer’s unique voice and reinterpret this music for our turbulent present. Each celebrated in their own right, cellist Jonathan Miller, violinist Lucia Lin, and pianist Diane Walsh join forces in every duo setting possible from this assortment of instruments. Exploring works written at the threshold of the First World War –– with the world crossing into the violent twentieth century and composers reacting with music that looked both nostalgically back and innovatively forward –– they underline the commonalities between each composer’s unique voice and reinterpret this music for our turbulent present.