Catalog

What do you get when you cross a composer, a bassist, and a conductor? It's no joke, and neither is Aleksander Sternfeld-Dunn. It is, however, a piece called Joker's Wild which opens up Sternfeld-Dunn's debut Navona Records release FIREWORKS, and it's a doozy, a crackerjack double concertino expertly crafted and written to showcase the talents of the Cameradschaft Duo. The piece won Best in Show from the Global Music Awards in 2012.

AMERICAN SCENES, from composer Samuel A. Livingston is, as its title suggests, a painterly tribute to America. The album’s title piece, Three American Scenes, is a three-movement suite that expresses the grandeur of the American west, the serenity of a mountain lake at dawn, and the bustle of a busy day in a large city. The album opens with Celebrating the Fourth, which depicts an American Fourth of July celebration. The final two selections feature works for concert band with a solo instrument – the flute, in Silvertube Variations, and the clarinet, in Balkan Dance. In that last selection, Livingston turns his attention beyond our shores, to the harmonies and rhythms of the folk music of the Balkan countries, especially Bulgaria and North Macedonia. Altogether, AMERICAN SCENES is thoughtfully-crafted and unabashedly jubilant, expressing appreciation for America and the world beyond with refreshing sincerity.

Following their 2023 United Kingdom Remembrance tour, The Syracuse University Wind Ensemble returns to the airwaves with two world premiere recordings on ANGELS RISING: MUSIC OF REMEMBRANCE AND LIGHT. The ensemble has commissioned dozens of new works for their genre, the two most recent being Frank Ticheli’s Angels Rising and Energy and Light by Syracuse’s own Natalie Draper, both of which commemorate the 35 Syracuse University students lost in the 1988 Lockerbie bombings. Draper and Ticheli’s tributes to the 270 total lives lost in the attack on Pan Am Flight 103 are bookended by performances of George Gershwin’s An American in Paris and Rhapsody in Blue in this Navona Records release, and are all available to experience in both stereo and Dolby Atmos immersive audio formats.

BACK BEFORE BACH, the latest Navona Records release from the Philadelphia-based ‘Renaissance band’ Piffaro, is an exceptional compendium of sixteenth and early seventeenth century German and Franco-Flemish music. As the album’s title suggests, the group of composers Piffaro features can be seen as the precedent for the luminaries of the German baroque era, specifically Johann Sebastian Bach. With BACK BEFORE BACH simultaneously drawing from a wide variety of genres, yet also focusing on a geographically and temporally limited group of composers, Piffaro succeeds wildly in presenting the musical foundation from which Bach and his contemporaries emerged.

Navona’s latest compilation release, BETWEEN THE ECHOES, showcases selected recent chamber works, expressing the common theme of recollections and interpretations of past experiences. Moving across the spectrums of moods and dramatics, each piece brings a harmonic resolution to its soulful journey. This album joins multiple personalities in a collection of propulsive musical expression.

At this point, it would only be fair to call Dutch composer and conductor Johan de Meij “the Dutch King of program music.” Widely known to audiences for his 1988 Symphony No. 1 The Lord of the Rings, De Meij now presents CASANOVA, the complete recording of his compositions and transcriptions for cello and wind orchestra. Like the majority of De Meij’s oeuvre, the works on CASANOVA are committed to a late Romantic aesthetic: frequently citing Rachmaninoff, Debussy, or Puccini, and intended to conjure specific imagery. The resulting music is soothing, colorful, and pleasing to the ear.

Observing the landscape of contemporary classical, one might assume that the art music community has shifted its focus away from the melodic, harmonious, and accessible. CONVERGENCE, an album of works by David Nisbet Stewart and George Gershwin, presents just the opposite: imaginative, expressive works that appeal to performers and audiences alike.

Keyboard & Chamber Music John Bilotta composer David Gaines composer Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra | Kirk Trevor conductor

DEVISADERO features the original compositions of New Mexico-based composer Christopher Shultis. Through woodwinds, percussion and piano, Shultis is able to vividly describe the New Mexican wilderness and the significance of its beauty. Shultis' compositions invite the listener to experience not only the sound of the music, but what we see and think, and especially, how we breathe, as well.

The Society of Composers, Inc. continues its decades-long mission to promote and disseminate contemporary music on DRIFT, the 34th installment of the SCI Composers’ Series. DRIFT marks the 10th album in the series to release on Navona Records, and SCI continues to curate new works by luminaries that span generations.

Mexican composer Felipe Pérez Santiago introduces the follow up to his 2013 album, Mantis with his first Navona release, FORMIKA, an album of chamber music. Pérez Santiago continues his series with a vast notational layering and timing propelled by traditional instrumentation. Masterful playing by choice ensembles like Tamayo and Onix, create a particularly kaleidoscopic nostalgia in this pitching album.

Navona Records proudly presents HIGH VOLTAGE CHAMBER MUSIC, the latest album from composer Jan Järvlepp. Following close on the heels of CONCERTO 2000 and FLIGHTS OF FANCY, Järvlepp carries forward the momentum with this newest release. Featured on the album is String Quartet No. 1, the composer’s first full-length string quartet—an important milestone for any composer.

There is something very special about the symbiosis of a great composer and a talented performing musician: many of the great moments in musical history were born of such collaborations. This rare joy is now to be felt in our time: JOE’S TANGO features the world premiere recording Concerto for Trombone by none other than jazz legend Chick Corea, tailor-made for virtuoso solo trombonist Joseph Alessi. It's a riveting, marvelous work — classical in scope, but contemporary in rhythm and feeling. Conductor Thomas G. Leslie, his University of Nevada Las Vegas Wind Orchestra, and the Boston Brass Quintet empathetically frame this centerpiece with works by Hugo Montenegro and the young Jorge Machain, who offers the world premiere recording of his Five Cities to the mix. The resulting album — as one might expect — is altogether outstanding.

An exploration of the unique timbral characteristics and technical extensions of wind instruments, Gregory Wanamaker’s LIGHT AND SHADOWS, WAVES AND TIME is comprised of eight compositions that collectively illustrate the composer’s ability to integrate various genre influences into a distinctive whole. His music has been lauded as “pure gold, shot through with tenderness and grace” by the San Francisco Chronicle and “achingly beautiful” by the Palm Beach Daily News.

LOCK & KEY VOL II is the second presentation of five composers drawing from the well of inspiration – in highly heterogeneous ways and from a plethora of sources, yet all united by a common theme: the profound depths of the human experience. The pieces all revel exuberantly: in the natural beauty of Iceland, the nostalgia evoked by a distantly familiar melody, the random augury of a deck of tarot cards, late 19th Century anthems adapted for woodwind quintet, or the kinetic energy of musical gestures.

Follow Piffaro from Spain to the New World in the 17th century and hear a wild array of secular songs, sacred motets, dances and instrumental fantasias are all performed on Piffaro's amazing collection of period instruments. This album is an all-instrumental homage to the music of Spain that was brought from the Old World, interspersed with music that was developed in the New World and influenced by the rich native cultures that the Spaniards encountered.

Navona Records proudly presents MUSIC FOR WOODWINDS from composer Scott Pender, his fourth appearance on the label. On this album, Pender showcases his chamber works for woodwinds from the last thirty years in ensemble combinations both common and unfamiliar.

Treat yourself to the fantastical, whimsical, and sometimes mischievous nature of Paul Kopetz’s MYTHICAL CREATURES, featuring a song cycle on the poetry of Svyetlana Hadgraft and a variety of inspired portraits. Each of the 10 movements is a musical impression of a mythical creature that has existed in the folklore of various cultures around the world since the beginning of time. With an emotionally broad music that highlights Kopetz’s remarkable compositional range, there’s something for everyone in this release, especially for those with a penchant for the characteresque vocal works of the 20th century.

MYTHOLOGY SUITE from the acclaimed Nevada Wind Ensemble is a chronological cross-section through the ensemble's highly diverse repertoire: vibrant, unapologetically modern, a determined confluence of 20th century serious music and contemporary 21st-century composition. It's rare to hear a wind ensemble soaring to such lofty heights as under the baton of Reed Chamberlin, who commands the ensemble exceptionally well in this Navona Records release.

Composer 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.