Figments Vol. 3
Jacob E. Goodman composer
Gary D. Belshaw composer
Andrew Lewinter composer
Thomas Mann Jr. composer
Elliott Miles McKinley composer
Eleanor Alberga composer
On FIGMENTS VOL. 3 from Navona Records, the imaginations of composers Jacob E. Goodman, Gary D. Belshaw, Andrew Lewinter, Thomas Mann Jr, Elliott Miles McKinley, and Eleanor Alberga are brought to life in a dynamic breadth of emotional performances, from soothing to exhilarating and natural to mythical. A dynamic assortment of contemporary chamber music, fantasy and reality collide to bring forth exhilarating stories spanning scenes from Greek Mythology to those of spirited animals and surreal scenic portraits. Universal melodies and rhythms find their form, short sketches evoke seasonal qualities, and fantasies float into reality in this collection.
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Track Listing & Credits
| # | Title | Composer | Performer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Variations for a Rainy Afternoon | Jacob E. Goodman | Kimberly Reighly, flute; Trio Casals | Alexandr Kislitsyn, violin; Ovidiu Marinescu, cello; Anna Kislitsyna, piano | 11:23 |
| 02 | Piccolo & Chalumeau | Gary D. Belshaw | Jessica Lizak, flute and piccolo; Sandra Mosteller, clarinet; Richard Fountain, piano | 4:33 |
| 03 | Trio for Oboe, Horn, and Piano: I. Allegro Moderato | Andrew Lewinter | John Dee, oboe; Bernhard David Scully, horn; Casey Robards, piano | 8:31 |
| 04 | Trio for Oboe, Horn, and Piano: II. Romanza | Andrew Lewinter | John Dee, oboe; Bernhard David Scully, horn; Casey Robards, piano | 4:38 |
| 05 | Trio for Oboe, Horn, and Piano: III. Theme and Variations | Andrew Lewinter | John Dee, oboe; Bernhard David Scully, horn; Casey Robards, piano | 7:43 |
| 06 | Dance of the Lizards | Thomas Mann Jr. | Juventas New Music Ensemble | Oliver Caplan, artistic director; Sho Kato, flute; Wolcott Humphrey, clarinet; Ryan Shannon, violin; Minjin Chung, cello | 6:28 |
| 07 | Three Autumn Sketches: I. Morning Frost | Elliott Miles McKinley | Slovak Radio Symphony Chamber Music Players | Kirk Trevor, conductor | 4:06 |
| 08 | Three Autumn Sketches: II. Night Rain | Elliott Miles McKinley | Slovak Radio Symphony Chamber Music Players | Kirk Trevor, conductor | 7:00 |
| 09 | Three Autumn Sketches: III. Evening Colors | Elliott Miles McKinley | Slovak Radio Symphony Chamber Music Players | Kirk Trevor, conductor | 3:29 |
| 10 | Shining Gate of Morpheus | Eleanor Alberga | Richard Watkins, horn; Ensemble Arcadiana | Thomas Bowes, violin; Oscar Perks, violin; Andres Kaljuste, viola; Hannah Sloane, cello | 13:11 |
Variations for a Rainy Afternoon
Recorded October 31, 2021 at Morningstar Studios in Norristown PA
Session Producer Brad Michel
Session Engineer Glenn Barrat
Editing & Mixing Lucas Paquette
Piccolo and Chalumeau – A Scherzo
Recorded May 21, 2021 at Futura Productions in Roslindale MA
Session Producer, Editing & Mixing Brad Michel
Session Engineer John Weston
Trio for Oboe, Horn, and Piano
Recorded June 28-29, 2021 at Krannert Hall, University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana IL
Recording Session Engineer Richard Scholwin
Session Producer Carlos Carillo
Dance of the Lizards
Recorded Oct 28, 2021 at Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport MA
Session Producer, Editing & Mixing Brad Michel
Session Engineer Tom Stephenson
Three Autumn Sketches
Recorded July 2011 in Bratislava, Slovakia
Session Engineer Hubert Geschwantner
Session Producer Emil Nižnansky
Shining Gate of Morpheus
Recorded October 7-8, 2019 at Wyastone Concert Hall in Monmouth, United Kingdom
Recording Session Producer & Editing Stephen Frost
Session Engineer Simon Eadon
Executive Producer Bob Lord
Executive A&R Sam Renshaw
A&R Director Brandon MacNeil
A&R Danielle Lewis, Laura Ramsey, Chris Robinson
VP of Production Jan Košulič
Production Director Levi Brown
Audio Director Lucas Paquette
Production Assistant Martina Watzková
Mastering Brad Michel
VP, Design & Marketing Brett Picknell
Art Director Ryan Harrison
Design Edward A. Fleming, Morgan Hauber
Publicity Patrick Niland, Brett Iannucci
Content Manager Sara Warner
Artist Information
Jacob E. Goodman
Jacob E. Goodman (November 15, 1933 – October 10, 2021), founder of the New York Composers Circle in 2002, was Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the City College of New York. He studied musical composition with, among others, Ezra Laderman and David Del Tredici. His works have been performed in Delaware, Nebraska, Toronto, Buenos Aires, and Tokyo, and various venues in both New York City and the Bay Area of California. Recent compositions include a set of variations for piano trio; three song cycles; a set of variations for orchestra on a Beethoven theme; a quintet for flute, piano, and strings; a set of intermezzi for piano; a prelude for saxophone and piano; two sets of variations for piano; a duo for cello and piano; a string quartet; and three bagatelles for piano; as well as the score for the documentary film Meet Me at the Canoe, produced for the American Museum of Natural History by his daughter Naomi Goodman-Broom.
Gary D. Belshaw
The music of Gary D. Belshaw (ASCAP) has been performed throughout the United States and abroad, including England, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Russia, and Spain. Most notably, Belshaw’s Victory Day Overture for concert band received its world premiere in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. His Oofdah Fanfare premiered in the Imperial Concert Venue of the Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria.
Andrew Lewinter
Before turning his attention to composition, Andrew Lewinter had a long and varied career as an orchestral horn player and soloist. As a composer, Lewinter has a decidedly tonal and neo-romantic style that is often very contrapuntal and always emotionally gripping. His works include sonatas for each of the brass instruments and piano, a quartet for trumpet, horn, trombone and piano, quintets for both horn and string quartet and oboe and string quartet, a woodwind quintet, a string quartet, and a trio for oboe, horn, and piano, among other works scored for a variety of chamber ensembles. Lewinter’s compositions have been widely performed and recorded, and are available on Navona Records and Ablaze records.
Thomas Mann Jr.
Thomas Mann graduated with a B.A. in Music at Texas State University with a focus on piano and composition and completed his Master of Music in Composition in December, 2018. Mann is currently Director of Orchestras and Classical Guitar Ensembles as well as the Fine Arts Department Chair at W. Charles Akins High School in the Austin Independent School District of Texas. Mann is a board member of The National Association of Composers, USA-Texas Chapter as well as an active member of several other organizations and associations. He plays Piano, Hammond Organ, Rhodes, Guitar, and Bass in several genres and with various artists around Texas. Along with teaching and live performances, he does studio work, arranging and composing for pop, jazz, and modern works.
Elliott Miles McKinley
Elliott Miles McKinley’s music has been performed throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Commissions include those from the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Music Society, the SOLI Chamber Music Ensemble, Transient Canvas, Hub New Music, the Semiosis String Quartet, the Estrella Consort, the Janàček Trio, and the Martinů String Quartet. His orchestral works have been performed by the Minnesota Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic, and the Czech Radio Symphony, and his music has been featured on international festivals including the Ernest Bloch Music Festival, the SPARK Electroacoustic Music Festival, Society of Music Inc and College Music Society Conferences, the North American Saxophone Alliance National Conference, and the Contemporary Music Festival at Bowling Green State University.
Eleanor Alberga
Born 1949 in Kingston, Jamaica, Alberga decided at the age of five to be a concert pianist. Five years later she was composing works for the piano. In 1968 she won the biennial Royal Schools of Music Scholarship for the West Indies, which she took up in 1970 at the Royal Academy of Music in London, studying piano and singing. But a budding career as a solo pianist — she was one of three finalists in the International Piano Concerto Competition in Dudley, UK in 1974 — was further augmented by composition with her arrival at The London Contemporary Dance Theatre in 1978. Under the inspirational leadership of its Artistic Director, Robert Cohan, she became one of the very few pianists with the deepest understanding of modern dance and her company class improvisations became the stuff of legend.
Trio Casals
Since making a highly-praised debut at the 1996 edition of the Pablo Casals Festival in Puerto Rico, Trio Casals has delighted audiences with spectacular virtuosity, engaging enthusiasm, and exquisite musical elegance. The ensemble released several commercial albums with PARMA Recordings and Navona Records to critical acclaim with Ovidiu Marinescu and past members including Anna Kislitysyna, Alexandr Kislitsyn, and Sylvia Ahramjian, from the beloved MOTO series to A GRAND JOURNEY and more. Marinescu remains in the current ensemble line up, with Mădălina-Claudia Dănilă and Timothy Schwarz joining in 2024.
Juventas New Music Ensemble
Juventas New Music Ensemble is a contemporary chamber group with a special focus on emerging voices. Juventas shares classical music as a vibrant, living art form. They bring audiences music from a diverse array of composers that live in today’s world and respond to our time. Since its founding in 2005, Juventas has performed the music of more than 300 living composers. The ensemble has earned a reputation as a curator with a keen eye for new talent. It opens doors for composers with top-notch professional performances that present their work in the best possible light.
Notes
Juventas New Music Ensemble at Shalin Liu
