• Quickening

    Catalog #: NV6121

    Release Date: September 8, 2017

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Vocal Music
    Piano

    British composer Robert Hugill’s new release QUICKENING is an enthralling and intimate showcase of contemporary art song. Across the album, Hugill demonstrates an exceptional sensitivity to text and melody, both of which shine through his clear and lyrical musical language. The four sets of songs on the album are consummate modern lieder, and one can easily imagine hearing them at a private vocal recital alongside the Romantic song cycles of the nineteenth century.

  • Missa Charles Darwin

    Catalog #: NV6126

    Release Date: October 13, 2017

    21st Century
    Vocal Music
    Choir

    Around 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.

  • No Enemy but Winter and Rough Weather

    Catalog #: NV6134

    Release Date: January 12, 2018

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Vocal Music
    Voice

    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.

  • Music in the Listening Place

    Catalog #: NV6142

    Release Date: February 9, 2018

    21st Century
    Liturgical
    Vocal Music
    Choir

    We 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.

  • She

    Catalog #: NV6150

    Release Date: April 13, 2018

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Vocal Music
    Piano
    Voice

    For her debut album on PARMA recordings SHE, Emily Sternfeld-Dunn serves as the voice of two of history’s strongest female characters. The poetic musings in the lyrics soar with Sternfeld-Dunn’s unmistakable soprano under the current of the tender, delicate melodies performed by pianist Amanda Pfenninger.

  • The Life Before Us

    Catalog #: NV6153

    Release Date: April 13, 2018

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Vocal Music
    Piano
    Voice

    Bearing musical witness to the versatile talents of two acclaimed northern California-based composers, THE LIFE BEFORE US combines works from John G. Bilotta and Allan Crossman. Bilotta’s cycle of Yeats Songs, performed by baritone Andrew R. White, highlights five of the poet’s shorter lyrics in predominantly bi-tonal or atonal settings. His collection of Renaissance Songs is based on the work of several Elizabethan poets, including John Donne and Thomas Lodge (whose poem “Rosalynde” was the source of Shakespeare’s As You Like It). They’re brilliantly delivered by tenor Justin Marsh.

  • Cosmic Wheel of the Zodiac

    Catalog #: NV6160

    Release Date: May 11, 2018

    21st Century
    Vocal Music
    Choir
    Piano
    Voice

    So many of us wonder about the big picture questions in life. Why are we here? What is the best I can do in my lifetime? COSMIC WHEEL OF THE ZODIAC, with lyrics by astrologer Benita Rainer, presents a cosmic rumination for meditation upon these great questions. These songs guide you through the labyrinth of the Cosmos, which, as perfectly attested to in “As above, so below,” is also the labyrinth of your mind; as what is without has its genesis in what is within.

  • Birds of the Psalms

    Catalog #: NV6176

    Release Date: July 1, 2018

    21st Century
    Romantic
    Liturgical
    Vocal Music
    Choir

    German philosopher Immanuel Kant defined the Sublime as "beauty accompanied by awe" – a thought which perfectly encapsulates the spirit of Cappella Clausura's second PARMA release, BIRDS OF THE PSALMS. Evocatively conducted by Amelia LeClair, the ensemble interprets a magnificent choral repertoire spanning six centuries.

  • Pictures of the Hidden

    Catalog #: NV6180

    Release Date: September 14, 2018

    21st Century
    Chamber
    Vocal Music
    String Quartet
    Voice
    Wind Ensemble

    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.

  • Whispers of Heavenly Death

    Catalog #: NV6198

    Release Date: November 9, 2018

    21st Century
    Vocal Music
    Piano
    Voice

    First up in this compelling collection is a selection of Walt Whitman's oeuvre, including the work that inspired the album's title, which Perkins' music hauntingly elucidates as the lament of a soul hovering on the brink between life and death. Intriguingly, the composer preserves the mood for the Holy Sonnets by John Donne, a Petrarch-style, English Renaissance collection of sonnets auguring the later Baroque period's preoccupation with the contrast between carnality and mortality.

  • When The Soul Speaks

    Catalog #: NV6205

    Release Date: January 25, 2019

    21st Century
    Vocal Music
    Choir

    The Bonifantes Boys Choir showcases the best of the best of the Czech boy singers and composer Jan Jirásek over the past 20 years. WHEN THE SOUL SPEAKS demonstrates the abilities of both the ensemble and its leaders through the performance of Latin Christian masses, Buddhist mantras and Quran excerpts, and traditional Czech hymns -- together presenting the idea that different religions and cultural customs can stand together side by side.

  • RenMen Laments

    Catalog #: NV6210

    Release Date: February 8, 2019

    21st Century
    Vocal Music
    Choir

    Despite 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.

  • Voices of Earth and Air Vol II

    Catalog #: NV6221

    Release Date: April 26, 2019

    21st Century
    Vocal Music
    Choir

    VOICES OF EARTH AND AIR VOL II presents the best that modern choral compositions have to offer. Settings of traditional prayers are mingled with ethereal stories and otherworldly visions, and each of the eight compositions both stand unique and work together harmoniously to create a collection that nods to the future of choral music.

  • Ecumenical Spirit

    Catalog #: NV6222

    Release Date: April 26, 2019

    21st Century
    Liturgical
    Vocal Music
    Choir

    Composer Michael G. Cunningham introduces the beauty of sacred choral compositions with the unique energy of the live recording. “Ecumenical” is defined as the promotion of unity among different Christian churches across the world, and ECUMENICAL SPIRIT celebrates the unifying powers of music as it transcends the borders of all differences.

  • In Heaven

    Catalog #: NV6228

    Release Date: May 24, 2019

    21st Century
    Liturgical
    Vocal Music
    Choir
    Organ

    The Jitro Czech Girls Choir, under the leadership of conductor and music director Jiří Skopal, presents yet another vivid exploration of the depths of traditional Czechoslovakian music on their fourth release with Navona, JITRO IN HEAVEN. The tone for the album is set by Liturgical Chants, five pieces which express the spiritual and musical code of European culture. These pieces are composed by Petr Eben, an icon of 20th-century Czech music.

  • Summer & Winter Songs

    Catalog #: NV6236

    Release Date: June 14, 2019

    21st Century
    Vocal Music
    Piano
    Voice

    Hailed by the New York Times as "An interesting composer” and "attractive and tonal" with music described as "a passionate duet “ and "a sprightly songfest,” prolific contemporary composer Mira J. Spektor’s career spans decades, languages, and disciplines. With a compositional repertoire including chamber operas, musicals, film scores, art songs, and cabaret, Spektor has written English, French, and German songs and performed and recorded in the United States, Europe, and Israel. She is also a published poet and brings her wealth of knowledge, experience, and musical passion to her Navona Records debut SUMMER & WINTER SONGS.

  • Evolutionary Spirits

    Catalog #: NV6218

    Release Date: June 28, 2019

    21st Century
    Vocal Music
    Choir

    EVOLUTIONARY SPIRITS brings together the artistry of Grammy Award-winning chamber choir The Crossing with innovative works of six contemporary composers. Ranging from songs of praise from the Biblical era to present day, and from contemporary poetry to the reimagining of a Shakespearean sonnet, EVOLUTIONARY SPIRITS explores humanity in all its facets.

  • The Arc in the Sky

    Catalog #: NV6240

    Release Date: July 12, 2019

    21st Century
    Vocal Music
    Choir

    Multiple Grammy Award-winning chamber choir The Crossing moves listeners with their new release THE ARC IN THE SKY, a breathtaking performance of the eponymous work by accomplished choral composer Kile Smith. Based on texts by Robert Lax (1915–2000), it constitutes an American pilgrimage into spirituality.

  • Preach Sister, Preach

    Catalog #: NV6244

    Release Date: August 9, 2019

    21st Century
    Vocal Music
    Piano
    Voice

    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.

  • Harmony of Dissonance

    Catalog #: NV6255

    Release Date: October 25, 2019

    21st Century
    Jazz
    Vocal Music
    Choir
    Large Ensemble
    Piano

    HARMONY OF DISSONANCE brings together, juxtaposes, and intertwines the disparate singing styles of the regions of Dalmatia, which remain stylistically and performatively distant even today. While these musical worlds present seemingly irreconcilable musical and cultural differences, they are all connected by polyphonic singing, which forms the core of this collaboration between the Harmonija Dissonance Ensemble and the Jazz Orchestra of the Academy of Music in Zagreb.