• Toccata Miami

    Catalog #: NV6433

    Release Date: June 10, 2022

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Solo Instrumental
    Guitar
    Piano
    Violin

    Composer Ferdinando DeSena is no stranger to variation; from his previous electro-acoustic concoctions to this dynamic blend of chamber orchestrations in TOCCATA MIAMI, a world of enticing conversation between tonal opposites begs to be uncovered in these expressive compositions. Oboe and piano dance in an ominous sonata soundscape, harps and flutes seek to sooth in Three Attitudes, and solo piano works shine with a latin flair in the album’s titular track.

  • Figments Vol. 3

    Catalog #: NV6419

    Release Date: May 27, 2022

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Oboe
    Piano Trio
    Violin

    On FIGMENTS VOL. 3 from Navona Records, the imaginations of composers Jacob E. Goodman, Gary D. Belshaw, Andrew Lewinter, Thomas Mann Jr, Elliott Miles McKinley, and Eleanor Alberga are brought to life in a dynamic breadth of emotional performances, from soothing to exhilarating and natural to mythical. A dynamic assortment of contemporary chamber music, fantasy and reality collide to bring forth exhilarating stories spanning scenes from Greek Mythology to those of spirited animals and surreal scenic portraits. Universal melodies and rhythms find their form, short sketches evoke seasonal qualities, and fantasies float into reality in this collection.

  • 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.

  • Things In Pairs

    Catalog #: NV6392

    Release Date: February 11, 2022

    21st Century
    Classical
    Chamber
    Piano
    Violin

    Concept albums are few and far between, and rarer yet in classical music. THINGS IN PAIRS, a conceptual as well as a musical beacon by violin/piano duo Audrey Wright and Yundu Wang, fills this gap. The tracks on THINGS IN PAIRS were not just carefully curated – rather, they were selected and sorted with the precision of a steady-handed artist stacking a formidable house of cards. Spanning five centuries, these pieces contrast the classical Joseph Bologne with modern minimalist Arvo Pärt, Baroque virtuoso Biber with the contemporary Rain Worthington, all under the watchful eye of Viennese Classical Beethoven.

  • Rumpelstiltskin

    Catalog #: NV6390

    Release Date: January 14, 2022

    21st Century
    Opera
    Stage Works
    Cello
    Violin
    Voice

    Everybody knows Rumpelstiltskin’s name, but what if there’s more to his story? On RUMPELSTILTSKIN, composer Marti Epstein reimagines the classic fairy tale as a sympathetic opera, transforming the titular character into a tragic figure to propose that villains are made, rather than born. Guerilla Opera, conducted by Jeffrey Means, brings the alternate version to life across six scenes, deftly conveying the emotions and motivations of each character as they interpret Epstein’s carefully crafted soundscapes of shifting harmonic palettes and interweaving rhythmic pulses.

  • Earl Kim & Isang Yun

    Catalog #: NV6387

    Release Date: November 12, 2021

    21st Century
    Solo Instrumental
    Violin

    On EARL KIM & ISANG YUN, violinist Chi Young Song presents complete works for solo violin by the titular composers, each of whom are of Korean heritage. Blurring the lines between Western musical heritage and traditional Korean music, each piece exhibits the crosscultural and borderless qualities of music. On 12 Caprices for Solo Violin, Chi Young tackles technical, intimate passages rooted in Western standards. The three works by Yun—written after his exile to Germany—make apt use of ornamental gestures, Korean folk music, and Taoist principles to harken back to the composer’s heritage.

  • Crossroads

    Catalog #: NV6380

    Release Date: November 12, 2021

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Piano
    Violin

    True to their name, Duo Dramatique delights audiences with fierce and thoughtful performances of genre-bending programs with an undercurrent of social and emotional issues. On CROSSROADS, violinist Dominika Dancewicz and pianist Donald Doucet perform three original works written to highlight their style and talents. Arthur Gottschalk’s Sonata for Violin and Piano pays homage to great jazz violinists of the 20th century, with echoes of “Bluesette” and “When Sunny Gets Blue.” Karl Blench’s Sonata “In D” For Violin and Piano traverses distinct moods, using music to depict sarcasm, humor, and quiet serenity. Erberk Eryilmaz’s Insistent Music draws inspiration from Eastern European folk music to close out the album with percussive patterns and bursting melodic lines.

  • Telemann Fantasias

    Catalog #: NV6378

    Release Date: October 22, 2021

    Baroque
    Solo Instrumental
    Violin

    Pondering the Baroque violin repertoire, one would be forgiven to think of Johann Sebastian Bach’s works and little else. Acclaimed English violinist Thomas Bowes courageously sets out to change this preconceived notion with TELEMANN FANTASIAS, a rare and remarkable full performance of all of Georg Philipp Telemann’s solo violin fantasias.

  • 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.

  • The Priestess of Morphine

    Catalog #: NV6343

    Release Date: March 12, 2021

    21st Century
    Opera
    Cello
    Violin
    Voice

    On THE PRIESTESS OF MORPHINE, composer Rosśa Crean and librettist Aiden K. Feltkamp create a beautifully haunting portrait of a Gertrud Günther, a young Jewish lesbian caught between her two selves during the Third Reich, who bravely sought her inner truth and passions while forced to live in the shadows.

  • 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.

  • Chamber Music for Our Times

    Catalog #: NV6310

    Release Date: September 25, 2020

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Piano
    String Quartet
    Violin

    New from Navona Records and Craig Morris comes CHAMBER MUSIC FOR OUR TIMES, a stirring album of original chamber works. Following DREAMS, which was released in 2011 to critical acclaim, CHAMBER MUSIC FOR OUR TIMES is the work of a master craftsman with an ear for poignant lyricism. The album features four pieces, each of which exhaustively explores the colors and timbres available to the chamber ensembles.

  • Cortege

    Catalog #: NV6305

    Release Date: August 28, 2020

    20th Century
    Romantic
    Chamber
    Piano
    Violin

    Violinist Véronique Mathieu and pianist Jasmin Arakawa present Navona Records’ CORTÈGE. The name cortège, or “solemn procession,” covers a vast expanse of meaning — while it most often describes a funeral procession, the term also refers to a joyful wedding procession, or a group that follows a person of importance in their honor. Mathieu and Arakawa balance the solemn and the celebratory in this sensitive, dynamic performance. Exploring the works of four French composers — Claude Debussy, Lili Boulanger, Nicolas Bacri, Francis Poulenc — the album is emotional, refined, and triumphant all at the same time.

  • Six Sonatas for Solo Violin

    Catalog #: NV6281

    Release Date: April 10, 2020

    Romantic
    Solo Instrumental
    Violin

    Acclaimed English violinist Thomas Bowes seems to have a penchant for thoroughness and completion. Known and praised for his complete recording of all J. S. Bach’s sonatas and partitas, the European virtuoso has now taken it upon himself to embark on another quest for totality. This time, it is the six sonatas by Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe (1858-1931), presented on Bowes' new album, EUGÈNE YSAŸE: SIX SONATAS FOR SOLO VIOLIN. As one would expect from Bowes, they are played to passionate perfection.

  • Violin Concerto

    Catalog #: NV6277

    Release Date: April 10, 2020

    21st Century
    Concertos
    Orchestra
    String Orchestra
    Violin

    The creation of VIOLIN CONCERTO by Alicia Terzian marked the beginning of her 65-year (and counting) compositional career. Originally composed in 1954/55, this important piece of her repertoire was brought to life thanks to a collaboration between Navona Records and the Siberian State Symphony Orchestra. This album also features Terzian's Three Pieces, which listeners can remember from their previous Navona release, OFF THE EDGE.

  • Memory

    Catalog #: NV6268

    Release Date: January 10, 2020

    21st Century
    Solo Instrumental
    Violin

    The music on MEMORY, the Navona Records debut by acclaimed violinist Patrick Yim, is linked together by the themes of memory, culture, and identity. The album’s title track was composed by the Chinese-born composer Chen Yi who searched for a harmonious marriage of centuries-old Western and Chinese musical traditions as she remembered her beloved violin teacher, Lin Yaoji. In the liner notes for this bittersweet and poignant piece, the composer addresses her mentor directly, saying “…I expressed my deep sorrow in the music, to remember your fatherly mentorship.”

  • Lachlan Skipworth

    Catalog #: NV6241

    Release Date: August 9, 2019

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Clarinet
    Piano
    Violin

    Can you satisfy God with one sound? This question was repeatedly posed to Lachlan Skipworth by his shakuhachi teacher during a three-year period of intensive study in Japan. It sparked a deep exploration of cross-cultural aesthetics that finds expression in this self-titled Navona Records album. At the beginning of each shakuhachi lesson, student and master begin by repeatedly playing a single note on the end-blown bamboo flute. This focuses their minds on core questions of technique: “have I made progress? Am I closer to mastery of this, shakuhachi’s most fundamental note?”

  • Resonating Colours 5

    Catalog #: NV6242

    Release Date: July 26, 2019

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Solo Instrumental
    Brass Ensemble
    Piano
    Violin

    Wong Hok-yeung opens the Hong Kong Composers’ Guild’s RESONATING COLOURS 5 with Night Poem, a composition for cello and piano. Rhapsodic and ambling, the piece conjures nightly thoughts, welling up and vanishing with lifelike authenticity. Chan Chin-ting features with two pieces for solo violin: Cross-Currents, an exploration of the violin's full tonal range, and Postcards, an assortment of, in the composer's words, "six miniatures/musical gifts," which, quite like the name suggests, can be played as standalone pieces, but also feature a common theme that unites them.

  • Duo Fantasy

    Catalog #: NV6231

    Release Date: May 24, 2019

    Romantic
    Chamber
    Piano
    Violin

    It all began in 2011, when DuWors and Niekawa, then students at Eastman School of Music, were assigned to perform Mozart's last Sonata for Violin and Piano K. 526 together. The magnificence of the piece not only unlocked a profound musical rapport between the two young musicians, but also inspired their name as a collective.

  • In Tandem

    Catalog #: NV6227

    Release Date: May 24, 2019

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Solo Instrumental
    Clarinet
    Piano
    Violin

    Introducing the album is Lee Actor’s Duo for Violin and Cello. The track, which won the Eva Thompson Phillips Award for Composition in 1979, is a short, textured, and powerful piece. In ABA form, the energy of the stringed instruments swings like a parabola from the height of sharp, angular rhythms down into deep and gentle expressions and builds up to a sharp, explosive climax.