• Flare

    Catalog #: NV6177

    Release Date: August 10, 2018

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Solo Instrumental
    Large Ensemble
    Piano
    Saxophone

    Navona Records proudly presents Flare, recordings by members of the Society of Composers, Inc. Now in its 32nd installment, it offers a veritable cross-section of some of the most original voices in composition today. The album opens with 19-year-old Vaibhav Mohanty's Rhapsody No. 1 (2017), traveling through elements of Western classical composition, jazz, and Indian traditional music with such well-proportioned naturalness and ease, it bears all the telltale signs of an instant repertoire classic.

  • Art for Two

    Catalog #: NV6185

    Release Date: September 14, 2018

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Clarinet
    Piano Trio
    Saxophone

    How can something as intimate as a musical moment shared between two people open up the door to endless possibilities? Discover the answer in ART FOR TWO, a collection of works by acclaimed composer Arthur Gottschalk and performed by Italian woodwind extraordinaires Sauro Berti and Mario Ciaccio, accompanied by the skilled hands of pianist Naomi Fujiya. In each piece, the performers call listeners into the moment as they traverse art music inspired by sources from traditional Jewish hymns to Frank Zappa.

  • When You Are Reminded by the Instruments

    Catalog #: NV6191

    Release Date: October 12, 2018

    20th Century
    21st Century
    Orchestral
    Solo Instrumental
    Choir
    Large Ensemble
    Saxophone

    Pan-Fare, the album's starting point, is a rare modern classical piece for steel pan and a motley, jazz-inflected ensemble. Fun, energetic, and brimming with rhythmic imagination, it is set against an original percussive backdrop provided by, among others, a vibraslap, a marimba, and a Chinese opera gong.

  • Spoon Hanging From My Nose

    Catalog #: NV6194

    Release Date: November 9, 2018

    21st Century
    Romantic
    Chamber
    Large Ensemble
    Saxophone
    String Orchestra

    SPOON HANGING FROM MY NOSE, the debut album by composer J.A. Kawarsky, combines spirit and wit with compositions that dance between tender and strikingly agitated. With works for orchestra, some composed by Kawarsky and others originally by Brahms but arranged and reimagined by Kawarsky, the album as a whole is a triumphant entrance into the full album release for the composer.

  • Three Scenes

    Catalog #: NV6238

    Release Date: July 12, 2019

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Brass Ensemble
    Percussion
    Saxophone

    Award-winning composer Elliott McKinley’s music has been performed throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. On THREE SCENES, he presents three powerful pieces of modern chamber music of the caliber that has earned him global recognition.

  • Second Wind

    Catalog #: NV6253

    Release Date: December 13, 2019

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Solo Instrumental
    Flute
    Piano
    Saxophone

    Saxophonist Dave Camwell's interpretations on SECOND WIND impressively demonstrate the capabilities of the instrument in music spanning three centuries. SECOND WIND presents a wide selection of saxophone music: a J. S. Bach partita with piano accompaniment added by Robert Schumann, a Vivaldi concerto, a Händel sonata, but also several contemporary, tonal saxophone compositions.

  • Figments Vol. 2

    Catalog #: NV6259

    Release Date: November 15, 2019

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Solo Instrumental
    Guitar
    Saxophone
    String Quartet

    FIGMENTS 2, which follows the success of 2016’s FIGMENTS, is a compendium of chamber music that sparks the imagination. The album features the works of Yuan-Chen Li, Peter Dayton, Hans Bakker, Navid Bargrizan, and Charles Corey—innovative composers whose works draw inspiration from the world around them, be it the tribal dances of indigenous peoples, art history, 16th-century keyboard music, the science of acoustics, or the idiosyncrasies of language.

  • Three Theatre Pieces and Chopin

    Catalog #: NV6272

    Release Date: April 24, 2020

    21st Century
    Orchestral
    Stage Works
    Orchestra
    Saxophone
    Wind Ensemble

    Longtime Navona Records artist Michael G. Cunningham showcases his penchant for storytelling on THREE THEATRE PIECES AND CHOPIN, an album rife with theatrical wonders that delight both the ears and the imagination.

  • Centennial

    Catalog #: NV6309

    Release Date: September 25, 2020

    21st Century
    Romantic
    Chamber
    Electronic
    Piano
    Saxophone

    New from Navona Records is saxophonist José Antonio Zayas Cabán’s CENTENNIAL, an album of cutting-edge solo and chamber music reflecting on the shortcomings of the 19th Amendment during its 100-year anniversary. Rather than celebrating, this album urges listeners to recognize the significant work that remains in achieving global equality.

  • Flights of Fancy

    Catalog #: NV6323

    Release Date: November 13, 2020

    20th Century
    21st Century
    Chamber
    Flute
    Guitar
    Saxophone

    Fusing European and American musical traditions, the album pairs the excitement of rock and jazz rhythms with classical orchestral and chamber music forms.

  • Old & New Poetry

    Catalog #: NV6342

    Release Date: June 11, 2021

    21st Century
    Vocal Music
    Clarinet
    Saxophone
    Voice

    Carl Vollrath’s OLD AND NEW POETRY from Navona Records is a lovingly-prepared setting of the works of seminal poets William Blake and Sara Teasdale, as well as the contemporary writer John Gracen Brown. The verses chosen by Vollrath—including such varied selections as Blake’s “The Fly,” Teasdale’s “Dusk In War Time,” and Brown’s “The Coming of a Summer Rainstorm”—all reflect the composer’s belief in the interdependency of all life on earth. Employing piano, saxophone, and mezzo-soprano, Vollrath thoughtfully pushes tonal boundaries in response to the poetic language.

  • Sustain Vol. 2

    Catalog #: NV6345

    Release Date: April 23, 2021

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Solo Instrumental
    Piano
    Piano Trio
    Saxophone

    Two years after the release of SUSTAIN comes the long-anticipated follow-up, SUSTAIN VOL. 2. This fresh collection of works centered around the piano includes a range of contemporary compositional styles: tonal, atonal, and everything in between. This volume features a new cast of composers and performers, with contributions by Sarah Wallin-Huff, Karen Tarlow, Chen-Hsin Su, Bill Sherrill, Jim Puckett, Ron Nagorcka, Gordon Monahan, Kenneth A. Kuhn, Santiago Kodela, John Craven, and John A. Carollo. The album’s varied soundscapes and arrangements—including solo piano, piano and saxophone, and piano and strings—constantly surprise and delight the ear. A fitting sequel to the first installment, SUSTAIN VOL. 2 is steeped in the dynamic complexity piano music offers.

  • Dashing Vol. 2

    Catalog #: NV6374

    Release Date: November 12, 2021

    21st Century
    Baroque
    Holiday
    Orchestra
    Piano
    Saxophone

    Navona Records presents DASHING VOL. 2, a festive assortment of new classical and jazz arrangements and compositions inspired by staples of the holiday season. Unwrap this gift from Sarah Wallin Huff, Joseph Turrin, Kristina Marinova, Jordan VanHemert, David W. Solomons, Elizabeth J. Start, Alan Rinehart, and Joseph T. Spaniola to find a variety of new works and familiar favorites. All of the traditional holiday sounds are featured in this album, embellished with distinguished compositional twists that complement seasonal standards. Experience the holidays in a refreshing way with reharmonizations of Silent Night, Carol Of The Bells for solo guitar, a jazz arrangement of Christmas Time is Here, and more.

  • El País Invisible

    Catalog #: NV6395S1

    Release Date: July 8, 2022

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Piano
    Saxophone

    Miguel Zenón composer and alto saxophone José A. Zayas Cabán soprano saxophone Ryan Smith tenor saxophone Casey Rafn piano EL PAÍS INVISIBLE “happened by accident,” says composer Miguel Zenón, like it was “almost meant to be.” Serendipitously, the project developed when Zenón was wrestling with critical questions about [...]

  • Windpower

    Catalog #: NV6404

    Release Date: December 10, 2021

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Saxophone

    WINDPOWER from composer Eric Biddington highlights the versatility of the saxophone through the proficiency and musicality of the players, the Saxcess Quartet, in a collection of 11 original works. With multiple orchestrations and movements spanning 34 tracks, Biddington’s compositions are on full display with works for solo saxophone as well as sax trio and quartet. From tender and emotional to lush and energetic, Biddington’s compositions explore every nook and cranny of musical possibility. The dextrous and emotive performance by the Saxcess Quartet unites the pieces into a whole, providing a pleasing continuity throughout the varied arrangements and orchestrations.

  • Rise

    Catalog #: NV6416

    Release Date: April 22, 2022

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Large Ensemble
    Percussion
    Saxophone

    On RISE: MUSIC IN TIMES OF UNCERTAINTY, composer David Colson employs conventional and innovative chamber combinations alike to express a wide array of emotional content. Drawing upon years of experience as a performer, conductor, and composer, his command over the music and ability to adapt is present on each piece. How We Change for brass quintet pays homage to a dear friend with quick-changing tempos and unequal phrases, which represent the flood of emotions caused by sudden loss. The Wind Is Rising, the Earth lets itself be inhaled for bassoon and percussion, simultaneously primitive and cosmic, calls for respect for the earth. The micro-concerto RISE for piano and percussion quartet highlights various percussion elements to emphasize the performers’ skill and versatility. Finally, Dionysian Mysteries, composed freeform with minimal methodology, allows the saxophone quartet to plumb the depths of their instruments’ capabilities to render raw, emotional sound.

  • 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.

  • I Give You My Home

    Catalog #: NV6513

    Release Date: March 10, 2023

    21st Century
    Opera
    Percussion
    Saxophone
    Voice

    I GIVE YOU MY HOME is a site-specific chamber opera inspired by Rose Standish Nichols and the Nichols House Museum in Boston MA that premiered June 3, 2022. This elegant new opera paints a portrait of Rose, a professional Bostonian woman, and highlights her professional work as a landscape architect as well as her efforts to affect change through activism in the Women’s Peace Movement and Women’s Suffrage. Soprano Aliana de la Guardia portrays Rose in this opera, and is joined by saxophonist Philipp A. Stäudlin and percussionist Mike Williams.

  • Romance al Campesino Porteño

    Catalog #: NV6516

    Release Date: May 26, 2023

    20th Century
    21st Century
    Chamber
    Piano
    Saxophone

    Navona Records is proud to present ROMANCE AL CAMPESINO PORTEÑO, an album threading saxophonist José Antonio Zayas Cabán’s childhood memories with music both old and new. The tunes of his childhood and his culture sonically surround a newly-composed piece, the GRAMMY®-nominated El País Invisible, that addresses Puerto Rico’s political status as a commonwealth of the United States Empire. Featuring Miguel Zenón, Ryan Smith, Casey Rafn, and Zayas Cabán himself, ROMANCE AL CAMPESINO PORTEÑO explores the textures of Puerto Rico and Latin America, and the sounds of both struggle and celebration. “ROMANCE AL CAMPESINO PORTEÑO is an artful scream into the void of forgetting,” says essayist Katheryn Lawson. “We hope you will listen. We hope you will remember.”

  • Dancing in the Palm of God’s Hand

    Catalog #: NV6522

    Release Date: May 26, 2023

    21st Century
    Orchestral
    Solo Instrumental
    Orchestra
    Saxophone
    Voice

    DANCING IN THE PALM OF GOD'S HAND from J.A. Kawarsky and Navona Records isn't at all a typical worship album; rather, it's a cross section through Kawarsky's oeuvre that encompasses minimalist solo pieces, intimate chamber music, and grand orchestral works. The themes on this album are vast and sweeping, at once lavish and carefully measured, reflecting the great and the minute, like an interplay between human and God. It's an almost philosophical experience, and one needn't be religious to enjoy its uplifting qualities.