Instrumentaion: Piano

About 100 years ago, classical music made a jagged turn away from the harmonic structures that had comprised its underpinnings for several centuries. This departure was early-on dubbed atonalism, and opposed the functional harmony that prevailed during the great musical flourishing of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Composer Sparky Davis, who takes a "modern, not modernistic" approach to writing his music, continues this forward movement, expanding the vocabulary of music to include non-traditional elements and adding to the functional uses of long-established note combinations.

Santa Barbara-based composer Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927) is a fixture in the Californian classical music community, having received commissions and performances from orchestras and ensembles throughout the state and worked throughout her career to advance the musical community.

SHAKESPEARE'S MEMORY is the first offering Navona's The Shakespeare Concerts Series. A salmagundi of selections from composer Joseph Summer's The Oxford Songs, this album includes previously unreleased recordings spanning the life of the series. This first volume includes Summer's original chamber and vocal compositions set to Shakespeare's dramas and sonnets and the poetry of Milton and Yeats, performed by a slew of musicians: the Kalmia String Quartet, baritone Chad Sloan, soprano Andrea Chenoweth, mezzo-soprano Kellie Van Horn, tenor Justin Vickers, pianists Miroslav Sekera and Ian Watson, and harpist Lydie Härtelovä.

KEYBOARD3 Navona's second all-Sergio Cervetti album takes the listener to a world of kinetic and emotionally charged sound forged from three keyboard instruments. Sometimes it is the pianoforte, the king of instruments or the double keyboard of the harpsichord.

Praised for her "boldly inflected readings" (Jeremy Eichler, New York Times), "powerful technique" (Allan Kozinn, New York Times), and "purely pianistic panache" (Richard Dyer, Boston Globe), New York-based pianist Beth Levin has honed her interpretive and expressive skills since her days as a child prodigy in Philadelphia.

Music represents a dialogue between composer and listener, channeled through performance and observation. Much like in spoken conversation, the works in PERCEPTIONS present us with the revealing perspectives of their composers as told through small ensembles. The listener is presented with music that entrances, enkindles, jars, lingers, connects, and engrosses–perceptions both highly incisive and deeply personal.

French composer Yves Ramette's (1921-2012) music is marked by its ability to broadcast "messages of the heart," offering unflinching and distinguished representations of emotion and experience using traditional forms. A student of Honegger and contemporary of Boulez, among others, Ramette's works draw from the rhythmic and harmonic elements of mid-20th-century France.

Erik Lotichius, a composer unafraid of melody and accessibility, combines the sounds of traditional classics with those that took the 20th-century audiences by storm - in the composer's own words, his work presents "Bach, the Blues and the Beatles" in a spectacular, enthralling combination of genre and style.

LOCK AND KEY opens the door to discover harmonious, melodic chamber works tied together by a shared understanding of the most treasured aspects of humanity. Through diverse experiences and impressionism, each composer highlights that which makes us human but is all too easy to hide away. Navona presents these works together as a reminder that inspiration can be found through appreciating the beauty of nature, the thrill of a first kiss, lighthearted fun on a night out, or simply by being alive.

LA LEYENDA DEL KAKUY is the latest Navona release from acclaimed Spanish composer Osias Wilenski. Lauded for his compositional style by Gramophone, Audiophile Audition, and more, Wilenski's unique works range from narrative symphonic poems to operatic spin-offs to instrumental miniatures.

KLEEMATION AND OTHER WORKS is the debut Navona release from Rockport-based composer Elizabeth Vercoe, featuring six of the composer's works for small ensemble and solo instruments. The title piece, Kleemation for flute and piano, draws its inspiration from five drawings by Swiss artist Paul Klee. Through her expertly crafted music, Vercoe effectively captures the moods and styles of the visual elements from which she works, ranging from wry humor to anxiety about the state of our world.

A collection of works by Curt Cacioppo celebrating and lamenting the history of the Native American peoples. Composed and performed with impeccable attention to detail and historical accuracy, these vibrant and emotional tone poems urge the listener to consider the vibrancy and plight of Native American culture as they guide us through musical narratives of the past.

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.

EMERGE is a two-disc album featuring the works of Boston-based composer Keith Kramer. Kramer's constant search for new modes of expression through music nestles itself into his music, and each piece represents another discovery in his search. His exploratory journey has helped him create a prolific catalog of music, ranging from the subtle and restrained to the ferocious and demanding.

SOUND SPECTRUM features works for piano, soprano, and orchestra by composer Allen Bonde. Bonde draws from his personal experiences and feelings to craft beautiful pieces with a wide range of styles: Fantasia for Piano and Orchestra, a cohesive work cast in traditional harmony; Three Elizabethan Songs and Three Elizabethan Songs Revisited, a set of works blending simplicity and sophistication; Symphony No. 1, a kaleidoscopic orchestral piece with astounding instrumental color; Rose Window, a musical representation of the breathtaking Rose Window at Mount Holyoke Chapel; Sonus I, a 12-tonebased and freely composed piece in variation form; Four Shakespeare Songs, a fresh take on the Bard's work stylistically reflective of the 1920s; You Were The One, based on the sensitive poetry of Mary Jo Salter; and Encore Blues, a one-take improvised celebration of the recording sessions. Often performing the works himself as pianist, and in collaboration with the "Bonde Family," his oeuvres provide warmth, intimacy and compositional diversity with each piece.

CLAVIATURES is a collection of new works for piano and chamber ensemble from contemporary composers. These works by Asherov-Kalus, Scully, Tribble, Fletcher, Nagorcka, and Stölzel explore the notions of being human and observing the world around us with reflection, curiosity, and appreciation. This recording contains eight original and inspired pieces performed with talent and panache by musicians from around the world: pianists Karolina Rojahn, Lukáš Klánský, and Robert Pherigo; violinists Ondrej Lébr and Ann Marie-Brown; violist Neil Casey; clarinetist Doug Graham; flutist Lisa Hennessey; and cellist Lawrence Figg.

Although we've all heard countless variations of J.S. Bach's ubiquitous Well-Tempered Clavier, from a subtle grace note added to Prelude and fugue in D minor to a dramatic rest added to Prelude and fugue in A major, composer and pianist Don Freund takes Book 1 of Bach's masterpiece and offers analysis with "A Composer's Approach," a unique, critical eye for a series of miniatures that are typically viewed through the lens of a performer.

Swiss composer Martin Schlumpf is a man of many talents. From his early practice of jazz bass and classical cello to academic writings on composition to formal education on clarinet, piano, conducting, theory, and composition-not to mention the decades of experience as a perform across a variety of genre - Schlumpf proves that the jack of all trades can be the master, as well. With SUMMER CIRCLE, Schlumpf combines his myriad influences to craft expressive, complex chamber pieces that marry the sophisticated intricacies of jazz with the studied nuance of modern classical.

Who says eclecticism isn't a wonderful thing? Certainly not us at Navona Records. SLICES is a carefully handpicked selection of new chamber works by contemporary composers designed to showcase the diversity of modern music-making, and these pieces by Sundin, Bakker, Sainsbury, Rusnak, Beeler, and Burns cut right through the oft-repeated misconception that classical music is dead on the vine.

HEAVY PEDAL is an all-organ disc featuring the compositions of Tadd Russo, Curt Cacioppo, Ron Nagorcka, Wilhelm Middleschulte, and Michael Summers performed by organists Michael Kraft, Robert Gallagher, David Scott Hamnes, Brink Bush, and Karel Martinek. As the title implies, the pieces on this disc are on the heavier side of classical music, reaching climaxes with real stopping power.