Missa Charles Darwin
Catalog #: NV6126
Release Date: October 13, 2017
21st CenturyVocal MusicChoirAround the world, millions of readers eagerly await the impending release of the new thriller ‘Origin’ by Dan Brown, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of ‘The Da Vinci Code.’ According to Brown, the initial spark of inspiration for his highly anticipated novel struck him when he first heard a provocative piece of classical music entitled Missa Charles Darwin — a piece composed by award-winning composer Gregory W. Brown, who also happens to be the author’s brother. The composition is featured at a crucial moment in the ‘Origin’ narrative.
Moonstrung Air
Catalog #: NV5989
Release Date: February 10, 2015
21st CenturyVocal MusicChoirThe human voice: A forceful yet delicate instrument. The weight of its expression can be as heavy as a ringing bell or as light as the whisper of an autumn breeze. Composer Gregory W. Brown presents a collection of his vocal and choral works on the Navona Records release MOONSTRUNG AIR, capturing the wonder of the human voice as our rooted connection with nature.
Motion Studies
Catalog #: NV6614
Release Date: April 5, 2024
21st CenturyVocal MusicChoirSaxophoneThe Crossing, conducted by Donald Nally, returns to Navona Records with MOTION STUDIES, performing works by commissioned artist Justine Chen’s Shallow Breath and Stealth and commissioned artist Nicholas Cline’s watershed. Reflecting on a culture where data mining and government traceability have become normalized to the point of population complacency, Chen encapsulates the dissecting points of poet Jena Osman’s musings on the 21st-century reframing of paranoia, privacy, and the pervasive desire to run away from the data that follows us. Evidence of these reflections is present in the tittering, whispering, and often frantic conveyances of the ensemble in an unnerving collection of sequences that paint an antagonistic image of the modern machine. watershed designates motion as boundary rather than as escape: the movement of water as a crux point of political power and community resource. Joined by Matthew Levy on tenor sax, the ensemble ebbs with lap and flow as the American history of water is sung and dictated, leading the question of the damage nationalistic attitudes towards shared water resources have caused to our environment. A 2024 Best Choral Performance GRAMMY® nominee and multi-GRAMMY® winning ensemble, The Crossing continually proves itself to be at the forefront of new choral literature and performance. MOTION STUDIES is a release not to be missed.
Music in the Listening Place
Catalog #: NV6142
Release Date: February 9, 2018
21st CenturyLiturgicalVocal MusicChoirWe welcome Tucker Biddlecombe to the PARMA Recordings family with the debut of Music In The Listening Place, a collection of choral works performed by the Vanderbilt University Chorale and conducted by Biddlecombe. Biddlecombe demonstrates masterful programming in his ability to curate a modern listening experience based on mostly classical texts. Of particular note is Three Songs of Faith, an elegant collection of settings of e.e. cummings texts by Eric Whitacre.
Openings
Catalog #: NV6288
Release Date: May 8, 2020
Folk MusicLiturgicalVocal MusicChoirTheir fourth release with Navona Records, OPENINGS by the Jitro Czech Girls Choir and conductor Jiří Skopal presents the rich beauty of the Czech Republic’s national dances, folk texts, and songs for audiences around the world.
Out of the Ashes
Catalog #: NV6597
Release Date: January 5, 2024
21st CenturyFolk MusicVocal MusicChoirThe highly lauded and honored USD Chamber Singers, directed by Dr. David Holdhusen, bear a message of resilience to Navona Records with their newest release OUT OF THE ASHES, a collection of beloved choral works given a refreshing new voice. Featuring choral favorites like Biebl’s Ave Maria, Hogan’s Ain’t That Good News, and Whitacre’s Sleep, the Chamber Singers, like a phoenix, paint a narrative of rising from the ashes after a time of destruction, rising on the wings of a song. The artists wish that these recordings would provide comfort and reassurance after times of struggle, and offer a modicum of hope to those still facing great challenges of faith and courage. The Chamber Singers have given a new life to treasured gems of the choral repertoire and portray a bright future for artists and listeners alike.
Parallel Worlds
Catalog #: NV6101
Release Date: June 9, 2017
21st CenturyLiturgicalVocal MusicChoirWith PARALLEL WORLDS, Czech composer Jan Jirásek provides a portal into his intricately textured and resonant choral music. These works are enhanced by Czech children’s choir JITRO, whose singers imbibe Jirásek’s delicate and earnest compositions with authority, maturity, and captivating grace.
Peace, Nature, & Renewal
Catalog #: NV6220
Release Date: March 22, 2019
21st CenturyChamberOrchestralChoirOrchestraWind EnsembleComposer Mark Dal Porto's award-winning, neo-Romantic Song of Eternity for Orchestra starts off THE MUSIC OF MARK DAL PORTO in epic fashion. If Mahler and Prokofiev had collaborated on a composition, it would probably have sounded a lot like this: pensive, evocative, and nostalgic. Song of Eternity describes the eternal renewal of nature with cinematic impact. It is inspired by an ancient Chinese poem, as is the next piece, I Seek Rest for My Lonely Heart for A-Cappella Choir. This work continues the subject of nature, albeit in a more individualized fashion, capturing the sentiment of a distressed soul in search of peace in a pastoral setting.
Polyhymnia
Catalog #: NV5867
Release Date: February 1, 2012
21st CenturyOrchestralVocal MusicChoirOrchestraString OrchestraWith works described as "an inspired creation" (Music & Vision), "original and quite brilliant" (Fanfare), and "immensely poetic" (Tempo), Jonathan Little has planted himself as a luminary contemporary composer. On POLYHYMNIA, his first release on Navona Records, Little is able to transform traditional influences into rich, intense, and finely structured music that lives up to his reputation.
RenMen Laments
Catalog #: NV6210
Release Date: February 8, 2019
21st CenturyVocal MusicChoirDespite the frequent crescendos to the sonic peaks of each composition, RENMEN LAMENTS is an exploration into the valleys of the soul. For most, creating art in the realm of somber moods poses challenges. For the Renaissance Men, the melancholic nature of their musical exploration is not only achieved individually but shared amongst the talents of the vocalists.
Requiem: For the Living
Catalog #: NV6009
Release Date: September 11, 2015
21st CenturyVocal MusicChoirOrchestraFrom 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.
Rethinking the Well-Tempered Clavier
Catalog #: NV6593
Release Date: January 19, 2024
BaroqueSolo InstrumentalVocal MusicChoirPianoWith its innumerable recordings by the greatest pianists in history, one would think the book has been written on Johann Sebastian Bach's timeless pianistic masterpiece, The Well-Tempered Clavier. Renowned Swedish-Ukrainian pianist Natalya Pasichnyk now adds her name and interpretation to this illustrious list with RETHINKING THE WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER. Her intellectual yet spiritual take on the matter is likely to be exactly what the composer envisioned. Guided by Bach's assertion that music's ultimate purpose is to glorify God and rejuvenate the spirit, Pasichnyk explores the intersection between divine inspiration and human existence. The result is a veritable tour de force of strength and sensitivity; of rational perspicuity, yet with the most tender sentiment; of surging vigor and might, but also of nonchalant lightness. A triumph.
Seeking & Finding
Catalog #: NV5877
Release Date: August 1, 2012
21st CenturyVocal MusicChoirNatural beauty, emotion, and enlightenment. These are but a few of the common threads of SEEKING & FINDING, an album of choral works by two composers whose pointed explorations of humanity resonate in perfect pitch.
Separation
Catalog #: NV6044
Release Date: June 10, 2016
21st CenturyOrchestralVocal MusicChoirOrchestraThe 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.
Skyborn
Catalog #: NV6128
Release Date: November 10, 2017
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalChoirPianoString QuartetShocking, gripping, and thought-provoking, Mara Gibson's new album SKY-BORN conjures a flurry of emotions through its moody music. In one moment, the busy strings create a fury of anxious, energetic sounds; the next, the strike of a lone piano chord paints a brooding soundscape.
Soundtrack of the American Soldier
Catalog #: NV6297
Release Date: August 28, 2020
20th Century21st CenturyOrchestralVocal MusicChoirOrchestraNavona Records presents SOUNDTRACK OF THE AMERICAN SOLDIER, an album of contemporary works for wind band performed by The United States Army Field Band. Led by Colonel Jim R Keene, the Army Field Band is the U.S. Army’s premier touring musical organization. In SOUNDTRACK OF THE AMERICAN SOLDIER, the Army Field Band presents music of classic American films and video games, and in doing so celebrates the stories they portray and the men and women who inspired them. Monitored and mixed in IMMERSIVE DOLBY ATMOS® (5.1.4), SURROUND (5.1), and STEREO, the album immerses the listener in a multi-dimensional soundscape that creates a deeply meaningful connection to the music and the stories it portrays.
Spells
Catalog #: NV6096
Release Date: May 12, 2017
21st CenturyChamberOrchestralChoirOrchestraString QuartetSPELLS, a new retrospective collection highlighting the music of poet and composer Juli Nunlist, marks a touching journey through the earnest, romantic, and dramatic sounds of the late artist’s compositional language. The album’s works demonstrate Nunlist’s appreciation for tradition and grandeur, and are driven by her remarkable gift for melody and clear fascination with instrumental texture.
Spirit of Humanity
Catalog #: NV6292
Release Date: June 26, 2020
21st CenturyOrchestralVocal MusicChoirOrchestraVoiceA historical feast awaits listeners on Ganesh Kumar's first NAVONA release SPIRIT OF HUMANITY. Half intended as an homage to Beethoven, half a musical portrayal of a little-known refugee crisis in World War II, it aims to be an epically emotional orchestral experience.
Stars & Distances
Catalog #: NV6011
Release Date: November 13, 2015
21st CenturyOrchestralVocal MusicChoirClarinetOrchestraThe 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.
Sunset at Noon
Catalog #: NV6072
Release Date: February 10, 2017
21st CenturyChamberVocal MusicChoirClarinetPianoSergio Cervetti returns with an exciting collection of works on his sixth Navona Records release, SUNSET AT NOON. A diverse composer, his works range from instrumental and vocal music to electronic compositions, often reflecting his South American, French and Italian heritage. His vocabulary draws from an early interest in twelve-tone and minimalism, and his current approach is flexible and free of constraint. With SUNSET AT NOON, Cervetti focuses on keyboard-based compositions for half of the album, with a foray into chamber music on the other half.