Catalog

DILLINGER: AN AMERICAN ORATORIO from composer Matthew Heap in collaboration with librettist Darren Canady dramatizes the life of notorious Great Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger. Seen alternately as both an enemy of the state and a folk hero, Dillinger’s story is a fitting backdrop to Heap’s nuanced exploration of class warfare and the American Dream. The oratorio focuses on Dillinger’s final days and is presented in a quasi-oratorio setting, much like the opera-oratorio form that Stravinsky used in Oedipus Rex. Despite its historical source material, the music is more relevant than ever, bringing to life the struggles of Americans feeling caught between social strictures and larger economic forces.

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.

FULL FATHOM FIVE, the fifth offering in Navona Records' The Shakespeare Concerts Series, takes the story of The Tempest, from the shipwrecked crew and magical spirits to the imprisoned servants and their questions of identity, and presents a variety of works from the 18th to the 21st centuries that set texts and depict themes from Shakespeare's play.

GODDESSES is the third offering in Navona Records' The Shakespeare Concerts Series, which presents several works by composer Joseph Summer from his collection of settings of Shakespearean scenes, sonnets, and soliloquies, Oxford Songs.

Monika Gurak certainly is no ordinary songwriter: not just because of her academic background, but also because of her love of foreign cultures. Her linguistic fluency in English, Spanish, and Polish heavily influences her work on I LOVE YOU LIKE SPAIN from Navona Records: the songs are sung in English, but the music comes with a generous helping of both Iberian exoticism as well as Polish sensibility.

Few things have informed and inspired as much music as humanity's search for God. Acclaimed baritone, arranger, and conductor Courtney Carey explores the relation between the worldly and the divine on I WANNA BE READY, a set of 12 spirituals arranged for different instrumentations — and each piece packs a punch. Six of them are songs for a solo voice (soprano or baritone) and piano, and Carey, being a trained vocalist himself, deploys this setup to its fullest effect, allowing for powerful brilliance. The other half are choral pieces, which are furnished with extra layers of depth and vigor by the splendidly expressive Concert Chorale ensemble. Even individually, these spirituals would be remarkable; together, they are a tour de force.

KLEEMATION AND OTHER WORKS is the debut Navona release from Rockport-based composer Elizabeth Vercoe, featuring six of the composer's works for small ensemble and solo instruments. The title piece, Kleemation for flute and piano, draws its inspiration from five drawings by Swiss artist Paul Klee. Through her expertly crafted music, Vercoe effectively captures the moods and styles of the visual elements from which she works, ranging from wry humor to anxiety about the state of our world.

On LORD, HOW COME ME HERE?, composer Shawn Okpebholo turns the mirror of history on today’s society with his own work and a reimagined collection of spirituals by enslaved Africans and American folk hymns that draws upon music from the past to critique contemporary racial injustices in the United States and around the globe. An ensemble of mezzo-soprano (J’Nai Bridges), baritone (Will Liverman), piano (Paul Sánchez), cello, and flute poignantly bring Okpebholo’s music to life, from hopeful anthems celebrating community to laments between a mother and her Creator and hymns celebrating faith and hope over hate and fear.

Multi-award-winning composer Anthony Brandt makes his Navona Records debut with MATERNITY / ULYSSES, HOME. The album includes two very distinct compositions with equally distinct inspirations.

The history of setting literary text in music is a considerable one, from Schubert's Lieder to Benjamin Britten's Serenade to art songs of the 21st century. Composer Michael Murray presents four song cycles on PERCIPIENCE, all of which emphasize the deep connection between poetry and music as varying means of expression that can reveal different facets of the same idea.

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.

Uruguayan-born American Sergio Cervetti is sure to please listeners with MORTAL DREAMS, his ninth album with NAVONA. Cervetti, who, on previous releases, has firmly established himself as one of the most unique voices in contemporary serious music, again delivers electro-acoustic compositions that can be counted as some of his best in the genre.

MUSIC TO HEAR, Joseph Summer’s follow up to WHO IS SYLVIA from Navona Records off his Shakespeare Concerts set, is the result of the composer’s lifelong obsession with poetry. The album pairs the works of contemporary poets as well as Shakespeare with Summer’s music in order to express deeper significance than either words or music are capable of on their own.

NIGHT OF LIGHT is the latest CD from Cypriot composer Sophia Serghi featuring five of her works for orchestra and voice: Night of Light, a musical reaction to Easter in Manhattan and a document of the composer's spiritual growth; Serghi's earliest work for orchestra and voice, Cantus Integritatis, comprised of four introspective and meditative movements based on the composer's own Latin poetry; Full Moon Haiku, a collaboration with poet Nancy Schoenberger setting the mensal characteristics of the full moon to music; Ikon, inspired by an unusual Ikon in Paris; and Night of Light: Reprise.

Even the most fearful of the cold will draw warmth from Joe Summer’s comforting NO ENEMY BUT WINTER AND ROUGH WEATHER, the sixth album honoring The Shakespeare Concerts Series, of which he is founder and executive director. Track 1 is Summer’s own Concert Overture for Piano, an icy introduction performed by SangYoung Kim. Following are two settings of “Under the Greenwood Tree.” Track 2 is the inviting setting by William Walton performed by soprano Kathryn Guthrie and pianist John McGinn. Alluring, too, is Track 3 the Erich Wolfgang Korngold setting of the text performed by Kim and mezzo-soprano Thea Lobo. Kim stays at the piano for Track 4—“When Birds Do Sing”—also by  Korngold; Guthrie delivers this spritely tune.

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.

Composer Carl Vollrath and Navona Records presents OLD & NEW POETRY VOL II, a compelling musical-literary experience featuring the works of seminal poet William Blake and contemporary writer John Gracen Brown. An enticing follow-up to his 2021 release of the same title, Vollrath employs piano and clarinet with various vocal ranges in this recording, each an intimate setting reflecting his close relationship with the text itself. Deeply in tune to nature and captured from the lens of the human experience, Vollrath’s musical response to this poetic language shows his dedication to and passion for these works.

On the fourth offering in Navona Records' The Shakespeare Concerts Series, ORPHEUS WITH HIS LUTE MADE TREES, executive director and composer Joseph Summer presents original works and pieces by composers from the 18th through the 21st centuries that celebrate the myth of Orpheus.

Kamyar Mohajer’s PICTURES OF THE HIDDEN honors the composer’s “four Grand Masters:" Johann Sebastian Bach, Persian poet Hafez, and his parents. In this album, Mohajer shares his artistic upbringing by combining his roots in Persian modality with his love of Western classical music.

PREACH SISTER, PREACH showcases award-winning Katherine Jolly’s “agile, bright lyric soprano” voice (The New York Times) on a series of pieces that are distinctively individual in their inspiration while cohesively united by the passions of their composers.