The music of adventurer-composer Lias is performed regularly around the world by soloists and ensembles including the Boulder Philharmonic, the Oasis Quartet, the Ensamble de Trompetas Simon Bolivar, and the Russian String Orchestra. In 2011 his work Mélange of Neumes was voted Best New Published Work by the National Flute Association, and his pieces are regularly featured at major national and international conferences including the International Trumpet Guild, the North American Saxophone Alliance, and the ISCM World Music Days. 2016 will see performances by the Shreveport Symphony, the Fairbanks Symphony, the Anchorage Symphony, and the Ariana Quartet; and in 2017 a newly-commissioned orchestral work will be premiered at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Lias’s passion for wilderness and outdoor pursuits has led to a growing series of compositions about the national parks of the United States. He has served as Artist-in-Residence at Rocky Mountain, Glacier, Denali, Glacier Bay, and Gates of the Arctic National Parks, and has written over a dozen park-related pieces that have been performed in such far-flung places as Alaska, Texas, Sydney, and Taiwan. He is the founder and leader of Alaska Geographic’s annual “Composing in the Wilderness” field seminar.

Albums

Playing Favorites

Release Date: February 10, 2017
Catalog Number: NV6075
21st Century
Chamber
Piano
Trombone
Trombonist Deb Scott makes her PARMA debut with her new Navona release PLAYING FAVORITES, accompanied by pianist Ron Petti. She performs a variety of her favorite pieces that appeal to her background in jazz and to her considerable technical skill. She writes: “What I love about each one is its ability to engage a diverse audience making for enjoyable and exciting musical moments.”

Sparks

Release Date: July 8, 2016
Catalog Number: NV6050
21st Century
Orchestral
Orchestra
SPARKS, a compilation of orchestral miniature works by several composers, offers a sampling of much of what post-modern, contemporary orchestral music has to offer, and is most interesting to consider in contrast to nineteenth century orchestral transitions. Miniatures, in their brevity, defy the conventional bias that orchestral music must conform to the characteristics of large symphonies. More generally, the works on this album suggest a wide range of influences unique to contemporary postmodernism. These include the aesthetics of midcentury composers, as well as film scores and non-classical genres.