Dinah Bianchi: First Impressions
Dinah Bianchi composer
Award-winning Michigan composer, Dinah Bianchi, shares an impactful creative vision on her self-titled album, DINAH BIANCHI: FIRST IMPRESSIONS. Performed by 10 world-class musicians, many of whom frequently showcase their talents with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Detroit Opera House, this collection embodies the composer’s belief that music should be sublimely beautiful and communicative. Spanning chamber and larger symphonic works, this Navona Records release is a captivating array of compositions that illustrate the fusion of intricate melodic content with a progressive, harmonically-charged palette, delivering a refreshingly unique yet easily approachable encounter.
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Track Listing & Credits
| # | Title | Composer | Performer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Aere Perennius: Fanfare for Brass Quintet | Dinah Bianchi | David "Cookie" Koch, Michael McGowan - trumpet; Colin Bianchi, horn; Stefan Stolarchuk, trombone; Anthony Flores, tuba | 2:33 |
| 02 | Chasse Noir | Dinah Bianchi | Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra | Jan Kučera, conductor | 5:59 |
| 03 | Scintilla: Spark in Motion | Dinah Bianchi | Nickolas Hamblin, clarinet; Sander Kostallari, violin; Jinn Shin, cello; Robert Conway, piano | 5:46 |
| 04 | Vitula | Dinah Bianchi | Sander Kostallari, violin; Robert Conway, piano | 7:19 |
| 05 | Folio: Chartreuse | Dinah Bianchi | Andrew Buckley, clarinet; Sander Kostallari, violin; Dominic Hayes, horn; Robert Conway, piano | 7:31 |
| 05 | Folio: Rouge | Dinah Bianchi | Andrew Buckley, clarinet; Sander Kostallari, violin; Dominic Hayes, horn; Robert Conway, piano | 6:19 |
| 07 | Pelaga: When Sea Encounters Sky | Dinah Bianchi | Dominic Hayes, horn; Robert Conway, piano | 5:30 |
| 08 | Mild Effrontery | Dinah Bianchi | Michael McGowan, David "Cookie" Koch - trumpet; Ron Kischuk, Stefan Stolarchuk - trombone | 3:47 |
| 09 | Illumine Divergence | Dinah Bianchi | Kayla Noelle, flute; Robert Conway, piano | 7:52 |
| 10 | Meditation on Kokoschka's Painting | Dinah Bianchi | Andrew Buckley, clarinet; Sander Kostallari, violin; Bronwyn Hagerty, cello; Robert Conway, piano | 7:22 |
| 11 | Isolation | Dinah Bianchi | International Symphony Orchestra | Douglas Bianchi, conductor | 5:30 |
Tracks 1 & 8
Recorded August 28, 2023 at KGR Recording Studios in Detroit MI
Recording Session Producer Dinah Bianchi
Recording Session Engineer Kenneth Robinson – KGR Music Productions, Dinah Bianchi
Track 3-10
Recorded July 5-7 & August 16, 2023 at Wayne State University’s Recording Studios & Music Recital Hall in Detroit MI
Recording Session Producer Dinah Bianchi
Recording Session Engineer Kenneth Robinson – KGR Music Productions, Dinah Bianchi
Track 11
Recorded October 14, 2022 at the Port Huron Performing Arts Center in Port Huron MI
Recording Session Engineer Kenneth Robinson – KGR Music Productions
This is a recording of a live performance. Permission granted by Executive Director, Anthony Wing.
Mastering Melanie Montgomery
Executive Producer Bob Lord
VP of A&R Brandon MacNeil
VP of Production Jan Košulič
Audio Director Lucas Paquette
VP, Design & Marketing Brett Picknell
Art Director Ryan Harrison
Design Edward A. Fleming
Publicity Chelsea Kornago
Artist Information
Dinah Bianchi
Award-winning Michigan composer Dinah Bianchi creates vibrant and exciting music; music that is sublime, beautiful, and full of the communicative power of art. She is well versed in a variety of musical genres with a portfolio that includes music for orchestra, concert band, string ensemble, chamber ensemble, solo works, and electronic music. Well received both nationally and internationally, Bianchi’s music has been performed in concert halls in Europe, Asia, Canada, and the United States. Recently, she completed a recording session for Chasse Noir with the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava in the Czech Republic. The recording was released in August of 2022 and is anticipating an album release with PARMA in the Spring of 2024.
Robert Conway
Robert Conway is an associate professor of piano at Wayne State University, where he is also the divisional director of the piano program. Since 1989, he has performed regularly as orchestral keyboardist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and has been a soloist with them on several occasions. In 2013, he performed the solo piano part to Symphony No. 4 by Charles Ives at Carnegie Hall as part of the Detroit Symphony’s presentation of the complete symphonies of Ives. Conway has served as a musical representative of the United States as an Artistic Ambassador of the United States Information Agency. In this role, he embarked on a month-long tour of South Asia and the Middle East in 1997, and acted as a Department of State Cultural Envoy to Jamaica in 2005 and Azerbaijan in 2008.
Sander Kostallari
Originally from Albania, Sander Kostallari is the Concertmaster of the International Symphony Orchestra, the Associate Concertmaster at the Dearborn Symphony Orchestra, and also with the Rochester Symphony. In addition, he is a member of the Grand Rapids, Oakland, and Warren symphonies. In 2000, Kostallari completed his studies in violin performance at Wayne State University, graduating with a degree in violin performance where he was the winner of the Wayne State University Concerto Competition. He has since appeared as soloist with several orchestras including a recent highly-acclaimed performance of the Sibelius Violin Concerto. Besides performing orchestral repertoire, Kostallari has an immense passion for chamber music and values the distinctive dynamics and challenges of working closely with other musicians within a more informal, yet detailed, setting.
Nickolas Hamblin
Nickolas Hamblin is an active chamber and orchestral musician in Ann Arbor MI. He currently serves as principal clarinet with the Dearborn Symphony Orchestra, 2nd clarinet with the Adrian Symphony Orchestra, and regularly performs as principal clarinet with the Michigan Philharmonic and Orchestra Sono. As a soloist, Hamblin has appeared with the National Repertory Orchestra—in collaboration with Teddy Abrams and Ken-David Masur—the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Sono, and the Dearborn Symphony Orchestra, performing concerti of Mozart, Copland, Nielsen, and Bruch.
David “Cookie” Koch
David “Cookie” Koch is an orchestral trumpeter, content creator, mouthpiece designer, and avid brass bander. In addition to his playing schedule, he regularly makes videos in his home studio. He is a co-founder of the Trumpeter’s Multi-Track Competition and is an Artist in Association with Brookwright Music, promoting their publications. Koch is proudly sponsored by Van Laar Trumpets and Flugelhorns, Vennture Mouthpieces, and Barkley Microphones.
Stefan Stolarchuk
Trombonist Stefan Stolarchuk is a native of Ann Arbor MI. He holds degrees in trombone performance from Bowling Green State University and the University of Michigan, and completed doctoral studies at Michigan State University. Known for his versatility, he has appeared on both bass and tenor trombone with numerous orchestras across Michigan, as well as with jazz ensembles, chamber ensembles, pit orchestras, and also routinely as a featured soloist. He currently serves on the faculty of Saginaw Valley State University.
Jinn Shin
Born in South Korea and currently based in West Michigan, Jinn Shin is a member of the Grand Rapids Symphony. In the past, she has served as the assistant principal of Eugene Symphony Orchestra and was a fellow with the Orchestra Now at Bard College. Her orchestral and chamber music experiences come from various music festivals, such as Tanglewood Music Center, Music Academy of the West, Aspen Music Festival, and Bard Music Festival. Shin completed her M.M. at Manhattan School of Music with Julia Lichten. She also holds a B.M. from the Eastman School of Music and a B.A. in Brain & Cognitive Sciences from University of Rochester.
Kayla Noelle
Kayla Noelle is a flutist and teacher based in Greenville SC. She received her Bachelor of Music from Eastern Michigan University, studying with Dr. Julie Stone, and her Master of Music from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, studying with Dr. Tadeu Coelho. Nationally, Noelle won the opportunity to perform in the United States Premier Air Force Band Collegiate Symposium as one of two flutists and performed in the National Flute Association Collegiate Flute Choir in 2018. Noelle currently runs a thriving studio, the Kayla Noelle Flute Studio, open to all levels of playing.
Michael McGowan
Michael McGowan is a sought-after trumpet player in the Metro Detroit area. McGowan has appeared on numerous occasions with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and has performed touring Broadway shows at the Fisher Theater, Masonic Temple, and Detroit Opera House. He has played with various musical legends such as Neil Sedaka, Burt Bacharach, and Dionne Warwick. He is Principal Trumpet of the Dearborn Symphony and has been a frequent guest principal trumpet with many orchestras including the Ann Arbor, Flint, and Saginaw Symphonies.
Colin Bianchi
Colin Bianchi is the principal horn of the Detroit Opera Orchestra and performs regularly with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Grand Rapids Symphony, and the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. On numerous occasions, he has appeared with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony Orchestra, and the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra. In addition, Bianchi has performed as featured soloist with the International Symphony Orchestra, where his performance of the Strauss Horn Concerto No. 1 was both powerful and mesmerizing. Prior to his professional career, Bianchi studied with Denise Tryon in Detroit, MI and went on to attend the University of Michigan and Northwestern University. While at university, he studied with Adam Unsworth, Gail Williams, Jon Boen, Bryan Kennedy, and Karl Pituch.
Dominic Hayes
Dominic Hayes is an active freelance horn player based in Michigan and is currently serving as Principal Horn of the Adrian Symphony Orchestra, the Michigan Philharmonic, and the Dearborn Symphony Orchestra. He is a member of Pure Winds, an award-winning woodwind quintet based in Lansing that performs across Michigan and the United States. When Hayes is not performing, he is active in his role as the French Horn Instructor at the Flint School of Performing Arts.
Notes
DINAH BIANCHI: FIRST IMPRESSIONS is Bianchi’s first album and consists of a melange of her chamber and larger symphonic works. This potpourri of purely instrumental works, many the results of recent commissions, was recorded in Detroit and features some of the finest Michigan-based artists, including members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Detroit Opera House. A symphonic musician herself, Bianchi’s music is influenced by the sonorous colors and virtuosity of the large symphonic repertoire, as well as the progressive chamber works with which she is intimately familiar. The result is a fascinating collection of dynamically powerful compositions that display the confluence of rich melodic material with a progressive harmonically charged palette that is refreshingly unique, yet accessible to the listener.
Eschewing programmatic ideas with the usual tropes of ersatz sentimentality or vapid extra musical meaning, Bianchi’s works are composed along the lines of pure musical invention. Whether the composition be a fanfare, a chamber work, or something scored for a large symphony orchestra, the message is always consistent; here is powerful absolute music to arrest the attention of any music lover, leaving the listener to find their own meaning, the beauty, or perhaps a story, encased in the listening experience itself.
