Genre: Solo Instrumental

Composer-performer Giovanni Piacentini’s ORÍGENES is an exploration of the spirit of the Americas through the guitar. Spanish colonizers introduced string instruments like guitars and vihuelas when they arrived in America, which in turn gave rise to a series of indigenous instruments across the continent such as the Colombian tiple, the Mexican jarana, and the Panamanian mejoranera, to name a few. This blending of American and European cultures is at the heart of ORÍGENES. Drawing on the contributions of legendary guitar composers like Manuel M. Ponce, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and Astor Piazzolla, Piacentini’s ORÍGENES contributes a fresh perspective to this musical legacy.

Randy Bauer’s DIS/ENTANGLEMENTS is an album featuring two large-scale piano works written during pandemic-era isolation that explore the tumultuous emotions associated with the times. Piano Sonata No. 1: Above the River and Piano Sonata No. 2: Brighter Dreams express Bauer’s struggles with feelings of entanglement and his efforts to free himself from them through music. Composed sequentially, the two sonatas heard together suggest a movement from entrapment to deliverance. Bauer's works on DIS/ENTANGLEMENTS are deftly performed by the internationally-celebrated pianist Clipper Erickson. Featuring moments of stark tension, reassuring lyricism, and triumphant redemption, DIS/ENTANGLEMENTS resonates with anyone longing for greater freedom.

Composer Sophie Dupuis presents dazzling, profoundly eclectic compositions inspired by visual art on COMME BON LUI SEMBLE. Dupuis' musical language is measured, almost minimalist, but the colors she weaves into bright tapestries of sound certainly aren't. Pop culture or high culture, she draws inspiration from numerous sources — leading to compositions that are at once highly abstract, yet highly descriptive. It's a tightrope to walk, and at dizzying heights, but thankfully, Dupuis is not susceptible to musical vertigo.

It's no secret that brass instruments can infuse any musical setting with a hair-raising surge of untamed energy and fervor. On BRASS TACKS VOL 2 from Navona Records, the brass family finds itself the spotlight, showcasing unique tones and unhindered expressiveness that’ve been carefully extracted by a variety of seasoned composers and performers. Spanning joy rides in stylish sports cars, jazz-influenced passages, fusions with percussive instruments, and more, this release explores a wide range of emotions and compositional styles, each uncovering an inherent intensity and bravado that pushes the boundaries of brass repertoire.

THERE WILL BE RAINBOW is an elegant and captivating collection of 12 piano pieces composed by pianist Tamas Szigyarto over the past decade. Not originally planned as a complete work, it has unfolded over time as a full-length suite that shares the same overall theme of harmony and reflection. This set of 12 interconnected pieces leads a continuous narrative from beginning to end, closing with the eponymous title track. All original compositions (except for Naima, a paraphrase of the acclaimed piece by John Coltrane), it seeks to illuminate and embolden the listener. The rainbow is used as a symbol, a metaphor for a glimmer of hope that drives us forward in the times of sadness and sorrow. The themes from THERE WILL BE RAINBOW are a perfect reflection of the project's core musicality and concept.

World-renowned marimbist Mika Stoltzman and Navona Records present MARIMBA SOUL, an accurate reflection of Stoltzman’s remarkable ability to capture the very central being of every work she performs with naturally vivid emotion and visceral technical ability. Stoltzman’s abilities are highlighted especially so by a one-of-a-kind Demorrow Marimba, built with specially selected rosewood bars collected over the period of an entire decade. Mika Stoltzman, a 10-time Carnegie Hall performer and highly sought-after guest of music festivals across the world, brings her instrument to life in MARIMBA SOUL, with a passion and vivacity that only a performer of Stoltzman’s ability can hope to achieve. The artist brings a number of works from Paul Simon, Chick Corea, and more to the table in this release, and is joined by her husband, clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, on the iconic Moon River.

THE DISTANT SHEPHERD from award-winning classical guitarist & composer Santiago Kodela explores the full timbral and emotive range of the instrument in a solo setting. His performance deftly employs iso-rhythms, metric modulation, and chord harmonization to breathtaking effect. Also known for his work in chamber and choral music, Kodela showcases the virtuosic prowess that won him the 1st Prize Gold Medal in the category of Senior Classical Guitar at the 125th edition of the Feis Ceoil, Ireland’s largest classical music competition. Through notes and chords, Kodela’s THE DISTANT SHEPHERD offers an evocative portrait of a lone shepherd tending to his flock.

Latin America is renowned for its many dances – the tango, salsa, bachata, merengue, samba, to name but a few – and it's thus not surprising that the same rhythmic intricacy and emotive depth dwells in its piano music. Hong-Kong-born pianist and musicologist Po Sim Head presents two Latin American composers, the Peruvian Francisco Pulgar-Vidal as well as Ecuadorian Blanca Layana Gómez, and performs their rich works with great verve and precision. The pieces selected for BETWEEN THE ANDES & THE AMAZON are imbued with their composers' respective cultural heritage and eclectic style: blending influences of Peruvian folk music with atonality, Latin polyrhythms with European counterpoint, and musical forms such as the sonata with elements of local dance and song.

Fall immersed into a collection of innovative stories and sounds on David Colson’s CONVERSING WITH SPIRITS. Colson’s distinctive push-and-pull textures are both an inviting and invigorating in the aptly named Un raz-de-marée de terreur et de joie (A tidal wave of terror and of joy) for bari sax and marimba, a welcome that drifts into a call back to classical trumpet repertoire: the long lamentations and surges of havoc discovered within Duo for Trumpet and Piano. This being closely followed by Ghost Music, a virtuosic marimba solo featuring Matthew Coley, a composition most reminiscent of uncanny whisperings in shadowy atmospheres—no doubt with a touch of whimsy, and a whimsy that is no stranger to the nature of cats, or more specifically, Cat Tales, a touching tongue-in-cheek collection of saxophone and piano vignettes invoking the personality of eight cats familiar to Colson. The River within Us concludes the collection, an at-once bubbly and fluttering two-movement work featuring the Western Michigan University Percussion Ensemble. Treat yourself to CONVERSING WITH SPIRITS, and enjoy the endless surprises it has to offer.

The aptly-titled HEAVY PEDAL VOL. 2 from Navona Records is the second installment of an organ-centric series of albums. Featuring the music of composers Christopher Hoh, Deon Price, Richard E Brown, and John Rommereim, the collection lives up to its name; these organ works are some of the most powerful that classical music has to offer. From Hoh’s Concertino Corona, inspired by the hardships and seeds of hope from COVID-19, to Brown’s Six Chorale Preludes on Favorite Hymn Tunes, which were composed using Brown’s encyclopedic understanding of historical hymns, HEAVY PEDAL VOL. 2 brings the organ down from the choir loft to allow all listeners a greater appreciation of this incredibly dynamic instrument.

DANCING IN THE PALM OF GOD'S HAND from J.A. Kawarsky and Navona Records isn't at all a typical worship album; rather, it's a cross section through Kawarsky's oeuvre that encompasses minimalist solo pieces, intimate chamber music, and grand orchestral works. The themes on this album are vast and sweeping, at once lavish and carefully measured, reflecting the great and the minute, like an interplay between human and God. It's an almost philosophical experience, and one needn't be religious to enjoy its uplifting qualities.

On BOWED COLORS 2, violist Brett Deubner tackles a vibrant collection of Bach-inspired compositions for the viola. A bonafide virtuoso of international acclaim, Deubner set his sights on the works of seven American composers, and the result is a dynamic album of showstoppers for the alto voice of the string family. Baroque structure unites with contemporary fervor in this program, and Deubner's solo viola (occasionally accompanied by piano) entwines both, brimming with vigor and precision.

Allison Brewster Franzetti makes a charming return with PIANISTA, a new collection of recordings that the artist herself describes as a “rich musical tapestry.” Centered around Carlos Franzetti’s Minotaur in the Labyrinth suite, and supplemented with works by Kapustin and Salgán, PIANISTA colors itself in Franzetti’s signature style, a combination of jazz and tango alongside an always enticing homage to Argentinian sound, both folk and urban. These elements come together to drape PIANISTA in playful rhythms, warm harmonies, and the certain éclat only the pianista herself can deliver.

Jeffrey John Hall resists conventionality, both in his compositions as well as in their titles. Hence the album consisting of his Seven Piano Pieces isn't called a suite or a cycle, but simply ARTIFACTS. Immaculately performed by pianist Steven Beck, these profoundly cerebral works, written between 1976 and late 2019, mesmerize with a sober exploration of contemporary compositional techniques and the expressive potential of the piano. Often minimal, always highly subjective, Hall's works embrace a flawless balance of communicative functionality and aesthetics, perfectly encapsulating their respective pocket of time, in quite the same manner as an archeological artifact, indeed.

Very few genres are as difficult to interpret pianistically as that of contemporary serious music: it often requires a superhuman degree of both virtuosity and patience, and the potential pitfalls of expression are ever-present. Enter Korean pianist Koeun Grace Lee, who zestily breezes through the most varied contemporary repertoire imaginable, with a level of self-assurance and musical competence that borders on being a revelation. While also featuring folkloristically-inspired works by David Burge and Jean Ahn, the heart of VARIATIONS ON A THEME BY STEFAN WOLPE is the similarly-titled work by Robert Gross, spanning no less than twenty variations on a theme by Stefan Wolpe, the German-American interdisciplinary modernist. Sprawling yet precise, decisive yet eclectic, it's the perfect canvas for Lee, and the resulting symbiosis is mesmerizing.

Nothing has ever gripped intellectuals as firmly as reflections about the conditio humana, with all the perceptions, joys and miseries it entails. Israeli pianist and prolific recording artist Hagai Yodan sounds the depths of existence on his new release, THE HUMAN CONDITION, and with great panache. Featuring both piano and the harpsichord, Yodan skillfully navigates through the seas of Being as described by no fewer than six international composers. There is a persistent sense of melancholy, but also of truculence and a certain rage de vivre – an indomitable will to live. In this, THE HUMAN CONDITION isn't merely another contemplation; it's a self-assured declaration.

Deeply expressive and melodic, the English horn boasts a unique texture in the woodwind family. On Elizabeth Masoudnia’s aptly titled ENGLISH HORN EXPRESSIONS, the instrument has found itself in the spotlight, guided by Masoudnia’s soothing tone, and lending a distinguished voice to the works of several composers. The vast lyrical range of the English horn shines throughout this album, emphasized by Masoudnia’s adept artist skill set. Containing works inspired by paintings and poetry, works written explicitly for Masoudnia, and more, the Philadelphia native’s Navona Records debut carries a healthy balance of sentimentality and musical prowess.

Navona Records and pianist Gerry Bryant are proud to present THE COMPOSERS, an album consisting solely of music by exceptionally talented and prolific Black classical music composers who have been overlooked throughout history. Featured within are the works of Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins, a slave who was perhaps the first Black American classical music composer, and Florence Price, whose music has so moved Bryant that he has included her in his list of favorite composers. Violinist Mark Cargill joins Bryant on select works throughout the album, a perfect addition to Bryant’s passionate approach to the keys.

British-American violist Peter Sulski superbly demonstrates his instrument’s true expressive potential on BOWED COLORS from Navona Records. Sulski, who was a member of the London Symphony Orchestra for seven years, has published seminal solo viola recordings of works by Telemann, J. S. Bach, and Hindemith. Combining Sulski’s signature sound with the works of five composers, BOWED COLORS delivers an exquisite selection of contemporary solo viola pieces that range from the neoclassical to the just barely tonal, all tightly knit together by Sulski’s sublime bow control and finesse as a performer.

Composer Simon Proctor and pianist Tyler Hay join forces to bring a dynamic collection of Proctor’s original compositions to life on VIRTUOSO PIANO WORKS from Navona Records. With works spanning decades of his musical career, Proctor delivers a variety of celebrated classical styles with his own personal twists on this album. From rhapsodies to nocturnes, and everything in between, the composer-pianist duo’s mutual love for virtuosic piano music shines throughout, a perfect pairing that makes for a vicariously exciting listening experience.