String Quartet No. 1 The Music of Erich Zann
Catalog #: NV6083
Release Date: February 10, 2017
21st CenturyChamberString QuartetComposer Michael J. Evans’ THE MUSIC OF ERICH ZANN is a startling and surreal musical interpretation of H.P. Lovecraft’s 1922 tale of the eponymous violist – a mysterious old man who seemingly protects himself from dark, magical forces by playing the viol. Evans is a gifted melodist, and his other PARMA Recordings and Navona albums showcase his predilections for the rich textures and harmonic language of late European Romanticism.
Forever Beeler
Catalog #: NV6085
Release Date: March 10, 2017
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalClarinetOboePianoFOREVER BEELER represents a sampling of composer Alan Beeler’s prolific output throughout his musical career, which is generally defined by his commitment to compositional craft and structural clarity. The works featured on this album also reveal a playfulness lying just under the surface of Beeler’s compositional perspective. This quality of Beeler’s music is most notable in the seven sonatas for piano, often accompanied by another instrument, included in FOREVER BEELER.
Lines to Infinity
Catalog #: NV6070
Release Date: January 13, 2017
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalFlutePianoPARMA Recordings artists Peter Greve and Hans Bakker have come together to give us LINES TO INFINITY, a stunning album that revolves around emotive and dramatic scores for primarily piano and flute. The two composers hail from the Netherlands and share a knack for creating thoughtful contemporary chamber works that appeal to the listener’s imagination.
Butterflies in the Labrynth of Silence
Catalog #: NV6071
Release Date: January 13, 2017
21st CenturySolo InstrumentalGuitarIn his second project with PARMA Recordings, Swiss composer Georges Raillard gifts us with 12 solo classical guitar compositions on BUTTERFLIES IN THE LABYRINTH OF SILENCE, all performed by renowned guitarist David William Ross.
The album follows the Sinking Islands suite, Raillard’s first project with PARMA Recordings, which appeared on BETWEEN THE ECHOES, a Navona Records compilation album featuring chamber works.
Sunset at Noon
Catalog #: NV6072
Release Date: February 10, 2017
21st CenturyChamberVocal MusicChoirClarinetPianoSergio Cervetti returns with an exciting collection of works on his sixth Navona Records release, SUNSET AT NOON. A diverse composer, his works range from instrumental and vocal music to electronic compositions, often reflecting his South American, French and Italian heritage. His vocabulary draws from an early interest in twelve-tone and minimalism, and his current approach is flexible and free of constraint. With SUNSET AT NOON, Cervetti focuses on keyboard-based compositions for half of the album, with a foray into chamber music on the other half.
Clay Jug
Catalog #: NV6073
Release Date: February 10, 2017
21st CenturyVocal MusicChoirThe choral music of Minnesota-based composer Edie Hill shines on CLAY JUG, a compendium of large and small works for a cappella choir and choir accompanied by chamber ensemble. Though the works featured on CLAY JUG vary in scope, they all demonstrate Hill’s keen sensitivity to ensemble texture and harmonic density, as well as the incorporation of text across four languages.
Playing Favorites
Catalog #: NV6075
Release Date: February 10, 2017
21st CenturyChamberPianoTromboneTrombonist Deb Scott makes her PARMA debut with her new Navona release PLAYING FAVORITES, accompanied by pianist Ron Petti. She performs a variety of her favorite pieces that appeal to her background in jazz and to her considerable technical skill. She writes: “What I love about each one is its ability to engage a diverse audience making for enjoyable and exciting musical moments.”
The Spectra Series
Catalog #: NV6077
Release Date: January 13, 2017
21st CenturySolo InstrumentalVocal MusicChoirOrchestraPianoIn 2008, PARMA Recordings acquired Capstone Records, the highly respected New York-based classical label founded by composer Richard Brooks in 1986, with the intent of shepherding the company and its music into the digital era. This album was originally released on Capstone and is being re-released by PARMA Recording's Navona Records.
The Stolen Child
Catalog #: NV6067
Release Date: January 13, 2017
21st CenturyVocal MusicChoirIn THE STOLEN CHILD, Scott Perkins builds vast and stunning worlds out of a handful of voices. Vibrant, facile, and confident, Perkins’ choir writing is state-of-the-art and makes a modern musical statement while retaining a clear attachment to choral music’s longstanding tradition. To this end, Perkins’ compositions seem to balance the fluid and direct expression of late Renaissance a cappella masterpieces, while also possessing a decidedly contemporary approach to timbre and texture.
The Passing Sound of Forever
Catalog #: NV6068
Release Date: January 13, 2017
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalFluteString QuartetViolinSound and space are two elements that emerge at the heart of Jane O’Leary’s THE PASSING SOUND OF FOREVER. The collection showcases O’Leary’s compositional gifts through a variety of her chamber compositions. O’Leary’s string writing soars in THE PASSING SOUND OF FOREVER, and demonstrates her remarkable sensitivity to the instruments’ sonic palette and expressive potential. Every color, from ethereal natural harmonics to frenetic bowing, is at O’Leary’s disposal, and is exploited beautifully to produce evocative and compelling soundscapes.
Exultet Terra
Catalog #: NV6069
Release Date: January 13, 2017
21st CenturyLiturgicalVocal MusicChoirNavona Records welcomes Cappella Clausura, directed by Amelia LeClair, to the family with their new release of the choral works of Hilary Tann, entitled EXULTET TERRA. For the first half of the album, LeClair and Tann juxtapose Tann’s works for women’s voices, a cappella, with pieces by Hildegard von Bingen, in soaring arrangements by LeClair.
Splash of Indigo
Catalog #: NV6064
Release Date: November 18, 2016
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalPianoPiano TrioString QuartetAmerican composer Marty Regan specializes in composing music for traditional Japanese instruments, a fascination he has developed since 2000. Regan describes his Japanese-style compositions as, “hybrid musical soundscapes that reflect the age in which we live, an era based not necessarily on globalization, but of partnership based on global cultural interaction.” In contrast, SPLASH OF INDIGO features a complementary side of Regan’s output, containing only works for Western orchestral instruments and voice.
Sursum
Catalog #: NV6062
Release Date: November 18, 2016
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalPianoString QuartetWith his new album SURSUM, composer Michael Slayton presents six compelling compositions, each performed by a different ensemble or solo performer. Despite the album’s varied & esteemed assemblage of performers, there lies a common thread throughout in both the form of Slayton’s distinguished composing style – dreamy but focused, and equal parts smooth and dissonant – as well as the imagery that the music conjures.
Early Musings
Catalog #: NV6063
Release Date: November 18, 2016
21st CenturySolo InstrumentalViolinEARLY MUSINGS presents a comprehensive collection of new works for solo violin composed by American and American-based composers, almost all of whom were born after 1990. Though young, these composers’ music speaks to the core strengths of solo violin repertoire, a genre that has represented a prominent pillar in the Western chamber music canon since the seventeenth century.
Selected Piano Works by Robert Casadesus and Henri Dutilleux
Catalog #: NV6053
Release Date: September 9, 2016
21st CenturySolo InstrumentalPianoPianist, chamber musician, and educator Cicilia Yudha presents her Navona Records release SELECTED PIANO WORKS BY ROBERT CASADESUS AND HENRI DUTILLEUX, featuring her expertise as a solo pianist, as well as the exploration of the compositions of Robert Casadesus. Yudha’s skillful approach is demonstrated in the opening piece, Sonata No. 3, Op. 44, which has an energetic and rhythmically exciting first movement followed by a vibrant second movement, which exhibits a slow and reflective texture.
The Crossroads Project
Catalog #: NV6054
Release Date: September 9, 2016
21st CenturyChamberString QuartetThroughout history, musicians and activists have enlisted the power of music to connect us to the pressing issues of our times. The brainchild of physicist Robert Davies, THE CROSSROADS PROJECT comprises two performances, Rising Tide and Emergence, performed by the Fry Street Quartet in multi-disciplinary collaboration.
Dashing
Catalog #: NV6055
Release Date: September 9, 2016
21st CenturyHolidayOrchestraNavona Records is delighted to present DASHING, a festive album for the holiday season featuring brand new works and arrangements of holiday favorites by several outstanding composers, with performances by The Stanbery Singers, the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Salt Lake City Jazz Orchestra.
Between The Echoes
Catalog #: NV6057
Release Date: September 9, 2016
21st CenturyChamberSolo InstrumentalGuitarWind EnsembleNavona’s latest compilation release, BETWEEN THE ECHOES, showcases selected recent chamber works, expressing the common theme of recollections and interpretations of past experiences. Moving across the spectrums of moods and dramatics, each piece brings a harmonic resolution to its soulful journey. This album joins multiple personalities in a collection of propulsive musical expression.
Energy Diamond
Catalog #: NV6058
Release Date: September 9, 2016
21st CenturyChamberOboePianoComposer Lawrence Ball has long been fascinated by the intersection of subjective human emotion and algorithmic mathematical objectivity. In his 2012 Navona Records release METHOD MUSIC, produced by Pete Townshend of The Who and PARMA Recordings CEO Bob Lord, he took Townshend’s long-gestating concept of automatic musical portraiture first explored in LIFEHOUSE and WHO’S NEXT and turned it into reality, creating a system which could translate personal information and experiences into sound.
Let Me Fly
Catalog #: NV6060
Release Date: October 14, 2016
21st CenturyVocal MusicChoirLET ME FLY showcases the extraordinary talents of the University of South Dakota Chamber Singers in a compilation of American choral music under the direction of Dr. David Holdhusen. The album, recorded from 2014 to 2016, primarily draws on two mainstays of contemporary American choral repertoire – traditional folk song and spiritual arrangements and new works featuring a lyrical, lush harmonic language.