The Tower and the Garden
Catalog #: NV6303
Release Date: February 12, 2021
21st CenturyVocal MusicChoirOn THE TOWER AND THE GARDEN, the multi-GRAMMY winning choir The Crossing and conductor Donald Nally ponder the fragility of the earth, the awe of nature, and the power of language to unite, or divide, society.
Transit Voices
Catalog #: NV6332
Release Date: February 12, 2021
21st CenturyChamberCelloClarinetPianoNavona Records is proud to release TRANSIT VOICES from composer Carl Vollrath. Featuring a series of works for clarinet, the album grapples with existential questions; who were the humans of prehistory, and what defining qualities do our spirits share in common with theirs? Vollrath imagines these clarinet pieces as found archaeological objects, voices from long ago that have somehow made their way to our present-day ears. Inspired by Andrew Robinson's book Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts, the music plums a cavernous underworld for clues toward a deeper understanding of human existence.
Breaking the Silence
Catalog #: NV6326
Release Date: January 8, 2021
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalCelloClarinetOboeNavona Records proudly presents BREAKING THE SILENCE from legendary Australian composer George Palmer. The works featured on this new album draw inspiration from centuries-old poetry as well as the composer’s own life experience; Breaking the Silence unpacks a 17th-century pastoral haiku depicting a lone frog’s leap into a still pond, while Not Going Quietly is a touching tribute to a concert pianist whose life was cut short by a brain tumor.
American Ivory
Catalog #: NV6328
Release Date: January 8, 2021
20th Century21st CenturySolo InstrumentalPianoFor Richard Fountain, piano music is as American as apple pie and baseball. On AMERICAN IVORY, his debut album on Navona Records, the well-versed pianist celebrates the variety and vitality of American art music by performing a decades-spanning collection of works by time-honored and contemporary composers alike.
Three Perspectives
Catalog #: NV6279
Release Date: January 22, 2021
21st CenturyChamberPiano TrioThe piano trio Pangaea Chamber Players explores the fickle nexus between music and visual art in their Navona release THREE PERSPECTIVES. While the ensemble's flute-cello-piano setup might evoke ideas of Baroque music, there are no such reminiscences to be found. Instead, the young trio presents three new compositions by contemporary composers. Although recent works, all pieces on THREE PERSPECTIVES are tonal – perhaps owing to their descriptive, illustrative purpose.
The Suite
Catalog #: NV6324
Release Date: January 22, 2021
21st CenturyBaroqueOrchestralOrchestraThough there are thousands of languages and countless political differences across the world, people tend to come together through equally endless forms of music and dance. On THE SUITE, the Lowell Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Orlando Cela, focuses the lens on the Baroque dance suite as a method of expression that’s ripe for international flavor, artistic individualism, and human storytelling.
Fanfare Suite
Catalog #: NV6329
Release Date: January 22, 2021
21st CenturyOrchestralOrchestraFANFARE SUITE, the latest from composer Mark John McEncroe and Navona Records, features six pieces originally scored for full orchestra on McEncroe’s 2015 album Affirmations & Aspirations. Now, with the help of the Sydney Scoring Orchestra, these sweeping and provocative pieces have been reimagined and rearranged for concert band. Evoking the promise of big horizons and wide open spaces, McEncroe’s compositions are reminiscent of Aaron Copland and Western films from the golden age of Hollywood.
Symphonies No. 4 & 5
Catalog #: NV6325
Release Date: January 8, 2021
21st CenturyOrchestralOrchestraIn an age accustomed to three-minute pop songs being the norm, does the world need more full-length symphonies? Yes, says New Zealand Canadian John Robertson with his new release, SYMPHONY NO 4 & 5. Like their predecessors, these orchestral works make no sacrifices in terms of scale and style: they aim to be grand, aesthetic compositions, and are intended to be enjoyed as such.
Forever
Catalog #: NV6316
Release Date: October 23, 2020
21st CenturySolo InstrumentalPianoComposer and pianist Antonija Pacek impresses with FOREVER, an album of soulful, aesthetic piano music – in a minimalist style somewhere between classical and popular music. Pacek, who holds a degree in psychology, is no stranger to the conditio humana, and while the temperament of her pieces is distinctly melancholy, their gentle expressiveness spans the whole gamut of human emotions.
Drift
Catalog #: NV6318
Release Date: November 13, 2020
21st CenturyChamberClarinetElectroacousticWind EnsembleThe Society of Composers, Inc. continues its decades-long mission to promote and disseminate contemporary music on DRIFT, the 34th installment of the SCI Composers’ Series. DRIFT marks the 10th album in the series to release on Navona Records, and SCI continues to curate new works by luminaries that span generations.
Brush Strokes
Catalog #: NV6320
Release Date: December 11, 2020
21st CenturyChamberFluteOboeBRUSH STROKES from Athenia Trio features works for flute, oboe, and bassoon. The program harnesses the impressive versatility of the trio, with six pieces by six different composers, including two commissioned specially for the ensemble: Alyssa Morris’s Brush Strokes, and Robbie McCarthy's The Blind Men and the Elephant.
Contemporary Colours
Catalog #: NV6322
Release Date: November 20, 2020
21st CenturyOrchestralOrchestraConductor Sergey Smbatyan leads the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra on their new album CONTEMPORARY COLOURS. Featuring music exclusively by Maltese composers, the album combines full orchestration with pre-recorded elements, traditional instruments, and contemporary sounds to bring the pieces to life.
Centennial
Catalog #: NV6309
Release Date: September 25, 2020
21st CenturyRomanticChamberElectronicPianoSaxophoneNew from Navona Records is saxophonist José Antonio Zayas Cabán’s CENTENNIAL, an album of cutting-edge solo and chamber music reflecting on the shortcomings of the 19th Amendment during its 100-year anniversary. Rather than celebrating, this album urges listeners to recognize the significant work that remains in achieving global equality.
Chamber Music for Our Times
Catalog #: NV6310
Release Date: September 25, 2020
21st CenturyChamberPianoString QuartetViolinNew from Navona Records and Craig Morris comes CHAMBER MUSIC FOR OUR TIMES, a stirring album of original chamber works. Following DREAMS, which was released in 2011 to critical acclaim, CHAMBER MUSIC FOR OUR TIMES is the work of a master craftsman with an ear for poignant lyricism. The album features four pieces, each of which exhaustively explores the colors and timbres available to the chamber ensembles.
World Map
Catalog #: NV6312
Release Date: September 25, 2020
21st CenturyChamberCelloClarinetViolinThroughout history, music has overcome culture and borders to bring people together through a universal language. Composer Shuying Li and Four Corners Ensemble present WORLD MAP, a collection of five mini-concertos for quintet, which takes listeners on a journey around the world, opening their ears to music’s evolution as an international unifier.
Mortal Dreams
Catalog #: NV6313
Release Date: October 23, 2020
20th Century21st CenturyVocal MusicElectronicPianoVoiceUruguayan-born American Sergio Cervetti is sure to please listeners with MORTAL DREAMS, his ninth album with NAVONA. Cervetti, who, on previous releases, has firmly established himself as one of the most unique voices in contemporary serious music, again delivers electro-acoustic compositions that can be counted as some of his best in the genre.
Playing on the Edge 2
Catalog #: NV6315
Release Date: October 23, 2020
21st CenturyChamberString QuartetPLAYING ON THE EDGE 2 follows up Navona Records' first Gramophone-lauded album in this series for string quartet. Like the first installment, the award-winning Sirius Quartet plays the entire catalogue to perfection.
E Pluribus Unum
Catalog #: NV6300
Release Date: August 28, 2020
21st CenturySolo InstrumentalPianoNavona Records presents E PLURIBUS UNUM, an album of solo piano works performed by internationally acclaimed pianist Liza Stepanova, praised by The New York Times for her “thoughtful musicality” and “fleet-fingered panache.” It features recordings of eight renowned composers including Lera Auerbach, Anna Clyne, Gabriela Lena Frank, Kamran Ince, Pablo Ortiz, and world premiere recordings by Chaya Czernowin, Badie Khaleghan, and Eun Young Lee.
The Adventures of Florian
Catalog #: NV6301
Release Date: October 9, 2020
21st CenturyOrchestralStage WorksOrchestraOn his seventh release on Navona Records, THE ADVENTURES OF FLORIAN, Michael J. Evans presents an epic, modern adaptation of Henry Beston’s fairytale of the same name. Over the course of four orchestral acts, Evans reframes the story as a tale of trans heroship, with Prince Florizel marrying Florian himself presenting as a boy, rather than revealing Florian as Isabella.