• PARMA Music Festival Live 2013

    Catalog #: NV5950

    Release Date: April 1, 2014

    21st Century
    Jazz
    Orchestral
    Cello
    Electronic
    Orchestra

    10 concerts, 7 venues, 3 days. The inaugural PARMA Music Festival in 2013 featured more than 100 composers and performers in works for orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo instruments, and jazz groups, as well as improvised collaborations between indie rockers and classical instrumentalists. This release collects some of the finest performances from the Festival, as recorded by the PARMA Recordings production team.

  • At the Precipice

    Catalog #: NV5948

    Release Date: May 1, 2014

    21st Century
    Orchestral
    Orchestra

    AT THE PRECIPICE, the third release on Navona Records featuring the music of the late composer Yves Ramette (1921-2012), showcases four world premiere recordings of the composer's works. Recorded with the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra in the summer of 2013 after his passing, these four orchestral pieces follow on the heels of Ramette's albums CASCADING INTO REVERIE for piano and orchestra and WITH PASSION for solo piano, and offer interesting insight into not only the composer himself but also the times in which he worked.

  • Symphony No. 2, Foundations

    Catalog #: NV5957

    Release Date: May 1, 2014

    21st Century
    Orchestral
    Orchestra

    Throughout an individual's life, certain experiences, places, and people remain fundamental to his or her identity. As in a memoir, composer and conductor Paul John Stanbery depicts some of the experiences that have substantially influenced his character in SYMPHONY NO. 2, FOUNDATIONS, his digital-only release on Navona Records.

  • Luminescence

    Catalog #: NV5969

    Release Date: September 1, 2014

    21st Century
    Orchestral
    Orchestra
    String Orchestra

    LUMINESCENCE brings to light six works for small and large orchestra, showcasing the inspired directions and composers of contemporary orchestral music. Marvin Schluger's Manhattan Suite for full orchestra is being released 14 years after its recording. New York, 2013 by Raymond Bokhour is another piece alluding to the Big Apple, as experienced by the composer that year. 

  • Darkness To Light

    Catalog #: NV5974

    Release Date: October 14, 2014

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Orchestral
    Orchestra
    String Quartet

    Occasionally, moments of happiness and comfort can rise from experiences of anxiety and doubt, during which we learn about ourselves and our limits. Composer and pianist Jeffrey Jacob depicts the experiences of struggle and pain, and of triumph and joy on his debut Navona Records release DARKNESS TO LIGHT.

  • The Real Beeler

    Catalog #: NV5976

    Release Date: October 14, 2014

    21st Century
    Concertos
    Orchestral
    Clarinet
    Orchestra
    Violin

    On his debut solo Navona Records release, THE REAL BEELER, composer Alan Beeler presents his refined and distinguishable orchestral voice, exploring various harmonic and melodic forms and structures as well as the serial techniques of the Second Viennese School. In Symphony No. 1 and No. 4, the composer creates intricate atmospheres and moving textural soundscapes, generally derived from the composer's preset tone rows.

  • Paragonia

    Catalog #: NV5982

    Release Date: November 11, 2014

    21st Century
    Orchestral
    Orchestra
    Piano
    Trumpet

    On his latest Navona Records release, PARAGONIA, composer Michael G. Cunningham explores ways in which the orchestra can interact with itself on several levels. Counter Currents presents contrary phrases and themes simultaneously stated while TransActions portrays dimensions of density, emphasizing orchestral blur and presenting gestures and passages that prompt interplay between the sections of the orchestra.

  • Piano Concerto

    Catalog #: NV5986

    Release Date: February 10, 2015

    21st Century
    Concertos
    Orchestra
    Piano

    Maestro Kirk Trevor praises composer Lee Actor as "one of the refreshing new classical voices ... who can still use a traditional language with a freshness that makes the music alive and interesting." On his latest Navona Records release PIANO CONCERTO, Actor presents three orchestral works, performed by Trevor and the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra, that are engaging and tonal yet dramatic and modern.

  • PARMA Music Festival Live 2014

    Catalog #: NV6002

    Release Date: June 9, 2015

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Orchestral
    Cello
    Orchestra

    14 concerts, 12 venues, 4 days. The 2014 PARMA Music Festival featured a diverse range of events, from concert performances of orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo instruments, and jazz groups, to an outdoor presentation of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and panel discussions about music licensing and multimedia composition, as well as improvised collaborations between indie rockers and classical instrumentalists.

  • Requiem: For the Living

    Catalog #: NV6009

    Release Date: September 11, 2015

    21st Century
    Vocal Music
    Choir
    Orchestra

    From Verdi and Mozart to Stravinsky and Britten, the requiem has been a musical tradition used by many composers to remind us of life's indeterminacy. American composer Arthur Gottschalk's momentous masterwork, REQUIEM: FOR THE LIVING, an 8-movement, 45 minute work for full orchestra, chorus, and four soloists, including tenor Alberto Mizrahi and Grammy-nominated soprano Lauren Snouffer, resigns the fear of uncertainty by celebrating the rich narrative of Western art and culture.

  • Stars & Distances

    Catalog #: NV6011

    Release Date: November 13, 2015

    21st Century
    Orchestral
    Vocal Music
    Choir
    Clarinet
    Orchestra

    The most recent recording of music by internationally renowned and critically acclaimed composer, Fredrick Kaufman, is a mystical journey through Kaufman's compositional explorations of the unknown, the natural order, and universal human experience. The two feature works are world premieres of his atmospheric choral & instrumental pieces that depict the cosmos in Stars & Distances and Seven Sisters.

  • Astral Travels

    Catalog #: NV6015

    Release Date: November 13, 2015

    21st Century
    Orchestral
    Orchestra
    Saxophone

    With an innate sense of curiosity and a drive for knowledge, humans constantly push the boundaries of their physical and psychological environments, attempting to break through and discover the unexpected. On his debut Navona Records release ASTRAL TRAVELS, composer and double bassist David Arend explores several frontiers, including perceived boundaries between musical genres, earth and outer space, humanity and nature, and perception and reality.

  • Rojak Rocks

    Catalog #: NV6019

    Release Date: January 8, 2016

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Concertos
    Orchestra
    Piano
    Trombone

    For decades, John Rojak has been a staple in American brass music, performing with a number of chamber ensembles and orchestras such as American Brass Quintet, Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the Boston Symphony; in Broadway shows including Les Misérables and The Producers; in big bands of Mel Lewis, Bob Mintzer, and Gerry Mulligan; and contributing to the pedagogy of the bass trombone as a faculty member of several institutions, including The Juilliard School, The Hartt School, and Aspen Music Festival and School. Needless to say he has taken the bass trombone and its repertoire to new heights in the classical, contemporary, jazz, and commercial genres.

  • Dream Vapors

    Catalog #: NV6025

    Release Date: February 12, 2016

    21st Century
    Orchestral
    Orchestra

    Music can possess the power to take hold of our emotions, guiding us along an imagined journey that stirs our inner being, a concurrently unique and familiar experience. New York composer Rain Worthington writes music to captivate the listener, creating textural and lyrical worlds that are inhabited by various colors and tones. On DREAM VAPORS, her full-length solo debut on Navona Records, the composer offers a selection of her orchestral works, presenting intense dreams, intangible perceptions, and musically evocative elaborations.

  • Fresh Dimensions

    Catalog #: NV6026

    Release Date: February 12, 2016

    21st Century
    Concertos
    Orchestral
    Orchestra
    Violin

    The modern romanticism of composer Craig Morris is one simultaneously deeply personal and broadly meaningful. His albums DREAMS (2011) and CIRCLE OF LOVE (2015), both on the Ravello Records label, in large part deal directly with musical representations of universal emotional states and concepts.

  • Concerto For Soprano Saxophone & Orchestra

    Catalog #: NV6032

    Release Date: March 11, 2016

    21st Century
    Concertos
    Orchestra
    Saxophone

    I met the Swedish saxophonist Anders Paulsson in the early 90s through my friend and mentor John Corigliano. Anders, always a very entrepreneurial sort of musician, was to be the focus of a 1996 concert on Swedish Public Television. Fortunately for me, the program included funding for a commission of a new concerto, and Anders kindly asked me to compose something for soprano sax and large orchestra.

  • The Conference of the Birds

    Catalog #: NV6037

    Release Date: April 8, 2016

    21st Century
    Orchestral
    Orchestra

    Depicting 12th-century Persian poet Farid ud-Din Attar’s dramatic narrative, New York-based composer and GRAMMY-nominated conductor Jonathan Sheffer presents his orchestral work The Conference of the Birds, commissioned for the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, on Navona Records. Attar’s poem of the same name is a journey of transformation and conviction, in which the birds of the world seek to find an illustrious leader, ultimately ending with new insight into their spiritual identities. The allegory portrays our own doubts, fears, and faults, how we confront these issues, and how we seek to understand identity and our relationships with other humans, the natural world, and what lies beyond.

  • Three Pastels For Piano & Orchestra

    Catalog #: NV6039

    Release Date: May 13, 2016

    21st Century
    Concertos
    Orchestra
    Piano

    On his Navona Records release THREE PASTELS FOR PIANO & ORCHESTRA, composer Carl Vollrath presents his three piano concerti, written between 2012 and 2015. Representing some of his most recent work, these concerti are connected to each other thematically, and in a way portray a different hue of the same color.

  • Sensations – Wind, Waves, Birds & Fire

    Catalog #: NV6041

    Release Date: May 13, 2016

    21st Century
    Orchestral
    Orchestra
    Piano
    String Orchestra

    Australian composer, music educator, and pianist Margaret Brandman presents her debut Navona release SENSATIONS, featuring several of her celebrated compositions, each one presenting a unique musical experience and sensation. The Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra skilfully performs the orchestral portion, opening with the joyful Love Brings Change (Adagio for Strings). Pianist Lucie Kaucká joins the orchestra for Lyric Fantasy, an emotional and accessible two-movement work with contrasting moods for piano and strings.

  • Separation

    Catalog #: NV6044

    Release Date: June 10, 2016

    21st Century
    Orchestral
    Vocal Music
    Choir
    Orchestra

    The clichéd trope of the isolated artist toiling over their work in a virtual vacuum, alone and against the trends of the day, is not a new one. But in the case of Paula Diehl, it is as true as it comes. It isn’t an easy task to be a composer, a job which (to paraphrase Aaron Copland) holds few material rewards, and often even fewer good notices in the paper the next morning – it requires an inner strength and conviction in order to persevere through the challenges, be they artistic, financial, or social.