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Release Date: March 13, 2020
Catalog #: NV6273
Format: Digital & Physical
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Through Time and Place

Compositions By James Lentini

Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra
Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra
Wayne State University Symphonic Chorus & Orchestra
Wayne State University Wind Symphony
Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra

PARMA is proud to present THROUGH TIME AND PLACE, an ambitious cross-section of James Lentini's extensive catalog. The award-winning guitarist and composer impresses with massive tonal landscapes which can be considered exemplary in contemporary American serious music.

THROUGH TIME AND PLACE's title is aptly chosen: the album contains a collection of previously unreleased recordings made over the course of Lentini's long career. Almost all of them are commissioned works or competition winners, which is obvious at first listen. They are united by the same level of craftsmanship and recurring qualities: for instance, there is a deceptive calm to Lentini's pieces – characteristic, one might even say. Expectations of tonality and form are often confirmed, only to be shattered in the very next measure. Then, of course, one finds the inevitable contrast of mood and expression: energetic phrases juxtaposed with serene lyricism, sadness mixed with humor, the sacred next to the secular. The only exception to this rule may well be Three Sacred Meditations, which powerfully remains committed to simplicity and unity. Thanks to this, in combination with the gigantic orchestral and choir setup, these works may well be the hidden gem of the album.

But it's not all ethereally objective. In fact, there are plenty of personal notes on THROUGH TIME AND PLACE, such as the intimate The Angel's Journey. Lentini wrote the piece in memory of his grandparents, utilizing the letters of their names to create the main motifs.

With this level of creativity on display, it is easy to see why James Lentini is such a popular choice, not only for festivals and competition committees. After all, his compositions perfectly embody the spirit of which all American contemporary music is capable. There is the fittingly vast grandeur, a sheer endlessness of sound, a tremendous spaciousness and almost otherworldly concept of time – filled to the brim with elaborate expression.

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"It’s easy to get lost in the embrace of these sounds"

Chicago Tribune

Track Listing & Credits

# Title Composer Performer
01 Sinfonia di festa James Lentini Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra | Anthony Iannaccone, conductor 8:35
02 Symphony No. 1 "Through Time and Place": I. Reflection James Lentini Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra | Ricardo Averbach, conductor 9:44
03 Symphony No. 1 "Through Time and Place": II. A New Destiny James Lentini Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra | Ricardo Averbach, conductor 8:57
04 3 Sacred Meditations: No. 1, Peace I Leave with You James Lentini Dana Lentini, soprano; The Wayne State University Symphonic Chorus & Orchestra | Norah Duncan IV, conductor 5:28
05 3 Sacred Meditations: No. 2, Renew a Right Spirit James Lentini Dana Lentini, soprano; The Wayne State University Symphonic Chorus & Orchestra | Norah Duncan IV, conductor 5:30
06 3 Sacred Meditations: No. 3, Trust in the Lord James Lentini Dana Lentini, soprano; The Wayne State University Symphonic Chorus & Orchestra | Norah Duncan IV, conductor 4:45
07 The Angel's Journey James Lentini The Wayne State University Wind Symphony | Douglas Bianchi, conductor 11:31
08 Dreamscape James Lentini Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra | Jerzy Swoboda, conductor 6:56

SINFONIA DI FESTA
Recorded June 1998 at the Zlin Congress Center in Zlin, Czech Republic
Recording Producer Petr Řezníček
Recording Engineer Otakar Tajovský
Editing James Lentini

THROUGH TIME AND PLACE
Recorded May 11, 2012 at the Bulgaria Concert Hall in Sofia, Bulgaria
Recording Producer Stefka Mazhdrakova
Recording Engineer Michael Ditshev

THREE SACRED MEDITATIONS
Recorded April 23, 2001 at Old Main, Wayne State University in Detroit, MI
Recording Producer James Lentini
Recording Engineer Thomas Court
Editing James Lentini

THE ANGEL’S JOURNEY
Recorded April 6, 1999 at Orchestra Hall in Detroit, MI
Recording Session Producer, Engineer & Editor James Lentini

DREAMSCAPE
Recording Producers Andrzej Sasin, Andre Lupa
Digital editing CD ACCORD
Recorded December 1994 at Philharmonic Hall in Krakow, Poland
Originally released on the MMC label, Volume VIII, 1997

All recordings are first-time releases, except Dreamscape

Executive Producer Bob Lord

Executive A&R Sam Renshaw
A&R Director Brandon MacNeil
A&R Chris Robinson

VP, Audio Production Jeff LeRoy
Audio Director Lucas Paquette
Mastering Shaun Michaud

VP, Design & Marketing Brett Picknell
Art Director Ryan Harrison
Design Edward A. Fleming
Publicity Patrick Niland, Sara Warner

Artist Information

James Lentini

Composer

Award-winning composer and classical guitarist James Lentini is a recipient of the Andrés Segovia International Composition Prize, the Atwater-Kent Composition Award (first prize), the McHugh Composition Prize, a grant from "Meet the Composer," a Hanson Institute of American Music composer-performer grant, and multiple awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP).

Learn More

Anthony Iannaccone

Conductor

Born in 1943, composer-conductor ANTHONY IANNACCONE supported himself as a teacher (Manhattan School), violinist, and conductor in the 1960s, and later taught at Eastern Michigan University. He has conducted widely in the United States and abroad, has received many awards, and his works are performed by major orchestras and chamber ensembles.

He received 2nd prize in the London Symphony Masterprize competition from a field of 1,151 submissions. Of his music, The New Grove Dictionary states, “organic growth inspires music of great strength and formal clarity, as opening bars generate the textural and thematic contours that forge contrasting sections of reflection and cross-rhythmic dynamism.”

Dana Lentini

Dana Lentini

Soprano

DANA LENTINI is a lyric soprano who has performed many leading roles with regional opera companies and symphony orchestras. Lentini regularly performs chamber music and appears on a recording with her husband, James Lentini, entitled The Four Seasons for Guitar. She has also performed with harpist Kerstin Allvin, being featured on her album entitled An Affair of the Harp.

As a voice teacher, Lentini is the founder of Born 2 Sing Kids LLC, a voice program designed to meet the needs of children ages 5-13 in the development of beginning singing and performing techniques. Her manuscript entitled Teaching the Child Singer in the Private Voice Studio is under contract with Hal Leaonard. She maintains an active career as a vocal pedagogue, writing about and teaching the art of singing in Rochester Hills, MI.

Douglas Bianchi

Douglas Bianchi

Conductor

Conductor DOUGLAS BIANCHI is Director of Bands at Wayne State University and conducts the Wind Symphony, Concert Band, and Chamber Winds. He also serves as Music Director of the International Symphony Orchestra (Port Huron/Sarnia). He is a MSBOA adjudicator and has performed at the Michigan Music Educators and College Band Director National Association conferences several times.

His extensive conducting experience includes orchestral, choral, ballet, opera, and musical theater, and his portfolio includes numerous premiere performances, commissions, and published articles. Bianchi has guest conducted in England, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Taiwan, and has had the privilege of having several of his compositions performed nationally.

Jerzy Swoboda

Jerzy Swoboda

Conductor

ConductorJERZY SWOBODA  graduated with honors in 1982 from the Academy of Music in Kraków, in the class of Krzysztof Missona. From 1982 to 1986 he was head of the State Philharmonic Choir in Kraków, and conductor of the ensemble “Capella Cracoviensis.” From 1986-1990 he was a permanent conductor of the Polish Chamber Orchestra and the orchestra “Sinfonia Varsovia.”

He has served as the artistic director of the International Chopin Festival in Duszniki-Zdrój and served as managing and artistic director of the State Silesian Philharmonic in Katowice from 1990-1998. He has collaborated with such eminent artists as Katia and Marielle Labeque, Gidon Kremer, and Yehudi Menuhin. Swoboda has made numerous recordings for Polish Radio and Television and appears on both the RCA and Aperto labels.

Norah Duncan IV

Norah Duncan IV

Conductor

NORAH DUNCAN IV is a multi-faceted musician. As an organist, he has performed extensively in both the United States and Europe. He has presented organ recitals in Trier, Germany and Sydney, Australia. He served as music director for the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament for over 26 years. Among his greatest achievements as a liturgical musician is his role as director of music for the historic visit of Pope John Paul II to Detroit in 1987.

As a choral director, Duncan has presented major concerts under the Cathedral Cultural Series with the Archdiocesan Chorus and has collaborated in concerts with the Wayne State University choral ensembles, the Brazeal Dennard Chorale ensembles, and the Detroit Symphony Civic Orchestra. In 2004 and 2005, he directed the Michigan Youth Choral Ensemble at Carnegie Hall. Duncan has prepared many choruses for performances with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under the direction of its music director, Leonard Slatkin. An active composer of liturgical music, his works are published exclusively by GIA Publications. Duncan is Professor and Chair of the Department of Music at Wayne State University.

Ricardo Averbach

Ricardo Averbach

Conductor

Director of Orchestral Studies at Miami University of Ohio since 2002, Brazilian conductor RICARDO AVERBACH has also served as President of the College Orchestra Directors Association (CODA) and guest conductor of orchestras in over 15 countries. In 2018 he was the recipient of the Ohio Governor’s Award in the Individual Artist category, the state’s most prestigious artistic and cultural achievement.

Averbach has performed and recorded several world premieres for major labels, which have sold more than half a million copies around the globe. The American Prize recognized his work in the College/University Division in multiple categories, including as Winner of the 2010 American Prize in Conducting.

Notes

(“Overture of Celebration”) was commissioned by the Plymouth Symphony (Michigan) to commemorate its 50th season in 1995-96. The piece was composed between the months of November 1995-February 1996, and received its premiere in concerts by the Plymouth Symphony on May 16 and 17 of 1996. Intended to capture the spirit of a celebration, Sinfonia opens with the full orchestra playing a fanfare-like theme. Gradually, the piece journeys through several melodic passages, including solos for many instruments. The melodies are interspersed with sharp attacking motifs in the brass and woodwind section, eventually returning to the fanfare gesture that opens the piece. The final section is based on ideas previously introduced, gradually building to a dramatic close.

— James Lentini

THROUGH TIME AND PLACE (SYMPHONY NO. 1) for symphony orchestra was composed in 2009-2010 for the Miami University Symphony Orchestra and conductor Ricardo Averbach to celebrate the Bicentennial of Miami University, which was founded in 1809.  Rather than composing a work in the fashion of a short “fanfare” that would be typical for a celebratory piece, the composer chose to write a work in two movements to express depth, complexity, development, and change that musically connects to the long history of Miami University.

The musical landscape of Through Time and Place is constructed to show a range of character, from sections that are peaceful and reflective to those that exhibit tension and dissonance. The first movement, entitled ”Reflection,” begins with a four-note motive that serves as an important building block for the entire movement.  Overall, the movement is intended as a gesture to the memory of days past, while the second movement, ”A New Destiny,” begins with optimistic energy that musically anticipates an exciting future.

— James Lentini

THREE SACRED MEDITATIONS for chorus, soprano soloist, and orchestra was composed in 2000 with the support of a Creative Artist Grant from The Michigan Council for the Arts. The first movement of Three Sacred Meditations is performed frequently as a stand-alone piece and has been awarded prizes in national competitions including the Bluffton College Choral Composition Contest (first prize, 2004) and the Waging Peace Through Singing Competition (Oregon Bach Festival, 2002). The work was premiered by the Wayne State University Symphonic Chorus and Orchestra at Old St. Mary’s Church in Greektown, Detroit, on November 19, 2001, with soprano soloist Dana Lentini (the composer’s wife), to whom the work is dedicated. Texts are drawn from Scripture as follows:

Movement I: Peace I leave with you (Text from John 14:27) Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Movement II: Renew a right spirit (Text from Psalms 51:10) Renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

Movement III: Trust in the Lord (Text from Proverbs 3:1-6) The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments. For length of days, and long life, and peace shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him.

— James Lentini

THE ANGEL’S JOURNEY was commissioned by conductor Douglas Bianchi and the Wayne State University Wind Symphony, receiving its premiere in Ann Arbor, MI in January, 1999.  The work presents sections of contrasting moods and colors, ranging from atmospheric to rhythmic and driving. The harmonic language and musical texture of the work is also varied, balancing dissonant counterpoint with pan-diatonic lyricism. Written in memory of the composer’s grandparents, the work utilizes the letters of their names to create the three primary musical mottos that form the basis of the composition.

— James Lentini

DREAMSCAPE is a one-movement composition for chamber orchestra with the instrumentation of flute, oboe, clarinet in Bb, bassoon, horn in F, trumpet in Bb, trombone, percussion, and strings. The three main musical ideas in the work include a melodic passage, a short percussive background motive, and a “floating” accompaniment pattern (marked “dreamlike”). These three ideas migrate from one section of the orchestra to another, often appearing in different guises through development and variation. Many of the musical materials for the entire work are derived from the opening flute solo. The title of the piece was inspired by Roger Zelazny’s novella entitled The Dream Master. Dreamscape was composed in May-June 1994 and was recorded by the Krakow Philharmonic (Poland) in December 1994.

Thanks to Oakland University and to Wayne State University for so much support over the years that helped to make this project a reality. Special thanks to my wife, Dana Lentini, for her artistry and lifelong inspiration and support.

— James Lentini

Scores

Through Time and Place (excerpt)

James Lentini