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Figments
Mark Dal Porto composer
Richard Campanelli composer
David Nisbet Stewart composer
Paula Diehl composer
Jason R. Lovelace composer
Mel Mobley composer
Arcadian Winds | Vanessa Holroyd flute; Jane Harrison oboe;
Rane Moore clarinet; Fred Aldrich horn; Janet Underhill bassoon
Karolina Rojahn piano; Peter Sulski viola; Chiharu Naruse piano
Kevin Owen french horn; David William Ross electric guitar
Navona Records presents FIGMENTS, a compilation of eclectic contemporary works for chamber ensemble that highlight the dramatic, the mysterious, and the inventive through diverse instrument combinations and use of extended techniques. The album features music by composers Mark Dal Porto, Richard Campanelli, David Nisbet Stewart, Paula Diehl, Jason R. Lovelace, and Mel Mobley.
Mark Dal Porto’s Exotic Animals Suite illustrates an array of wildlife, from the lively call of birds, to the slithering of snakes, to the power and agility of big cats. Sonata for Piano by Richard Campanelli is a balanced three-movement work that explores the colors and tonal possibilities of the piano, whose darker second movement is a nod to Bartók’s Night music. David Nisbet Stewart highlights the rich timbre and textures of the solo viola in his Fantasy, which glides along from slow to fast and back again with dramatic passages of perpetual motion and wide leaps across the instrument’s strings. Gusts by Paula Diehl is a window into the composer’s exploration of her own system of composition called Separation, which uses overlapping 4ths as the working intervals, gradually separating them in phases until total separation is achieved. Nocturne: Inversions by Jason Lovelace portrays the atmospheric event known as a temperature inversion, a reversal in temperature layers of the atmosphere, which culminates in a storm of meter shifts, dissonance, and thickening textures. Mel Mobley’s Covering combines the electric guitar, horn, and piano to create an integrated piece that bridges the gap between the contrasting forces of the guitar and horn, supported by the stability of the piano.
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Artist Information
Mark Dal Porto
Mark Dal Porto has received numerous commissions with his works receiving hundreds of performances by many instrumental and vocal ensembles throughout the United States and abroad. In 2019, he released Peace, Nature & Renewal¸ a CD featuring some of his orchestral, choral, and chamber works. In the 2013 CODA (College Orchestra Directors Association) International Composition Contest, he was awarded first prize for his orchestral work Song of Eternity. He has also received certificates of excellence in band, choral, orchestral, and chamber music composition from The American Prize organization.
Richard Campanelli
Richard Campanelli was born in Hartford CT. When he was seven years old the family moved to Springfield, MO. There were not a lot of opportunities for an artistic education of any sort there, but he was able to finally talk his parents into getting a piano and started taking lessons from local piano teachers.
David Nisbet Stewart
David Nisbet Stewart is a composer, pianist, and organist. His career began in academia and migrated into computer technology from 1979 onward. His style of composing also changed as he pursued a new occupation. He believes that leaving academia for the business world was a great benefit to his art. Music is the business of entertainment; the composer must satisfy, even delight, the paying audience. His compositions connect with the listener’s ear and heart.
Paula Diehl
Paula Jespersen Diehl came to New Jersey from China as an infant with her Danish parents and older brother. From her time of awareness, she heard music in the home. She and each of her three brothers studied a musical instrument; her mother listened to opera and played Danish songs on the piano for the children to sing, and her father and an uncle sang Danish songs.
Jason R. Lovelace
A recipient of The Catholic University of America’s Furfey graduate fellowship and a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda music honors society, Jason R. Lovelace (b. 1980) currently serves as an adjunct instructor at Towson University in Towson, MD and Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria, VA.
Mel Mobley
A native of Texas, Mel Mobley (b. 1966) currently resides and teaches in Monroe, Louisiana. He holds degrees from the University of Texas, University of South Florida, and University of Illinois. Active as a performer, composer, and advocate of new music, Mel has been involved in new music festivals and performances all around the country. Performed here and abroad, his works include orchestral, band, chamber, choral, and electronic music. His largest work to date, a chamber opera titled Sylvan Beach, premiered in the spring of 2010. His percussion trio with piano titled [pleez], (plez), /pliz/ was released on the 2013 Revello Records compact disc, Piano Concerti with Percussion Orchestra.
Karolina Rojahn
Karolina Rojahn is a Los Angeles based pianist who has dedicated the last decade of her career to premiering and recording contemporary music repertoire. She has premiered over a hundred new works and collaborated with various classical music labels, most notably Naxos, having released over 43 recordings of chamber and solo piano music, including 5 piano concertos written specifically for her.
Arcadian Winds
Arcadian Winds was founded at Boston University in 1987. Originally a woodwind trio consisting of flute, clarinet, and bassoon, the ensemble expanded to a wind quintet in 1989. Since its formation, Arcadian Winds has premiered almost 50 new works and championed many others. With a strong commitment to education, the group has brought chamber and contemporary music into the public, private and community schools in the Boston Area.
Rane Moore
Clarinetist Rane Moore is well-regarded for her thoughtful, provocative interpretations of standard and contemporary repertoire. Fiercely devoted to the new music communities of the East Coast and beyond, Moore is a founding member of the New York based Talea Ensemble which regularly gives premieres of new works at major venues and festivals around the world. Moore has recently joined the award winning wind quintet, The City of Tomorrow, and is also a member of Boston’s Callithumpian Consort and Sound Icon.
David William Ross
David William Ross is a New England–based guitarist with roots in both classical and jazz. His recordings and performances have been lauded for their sensitivity, virtuosity, and depth of all-around musicality. Ross frequently works with composers and is active in cultivating new repertoire for the guitar. He has premiered works by Frank Wallace, Georges Raillard, Ferdinando DeSena, Peter Dayton, Pierre Schroeder, among many others. Ross’ work as a session player has led to an extensive working knowledge of the recording studio. He has developed an approach to engineering and recording that not only serves as a means to capture and present music but also as an artistic tool in its own right.
