December 9, 2022 New Releases from Navona, Ravello, and Big Round Records

This New Music Friday, Navona, Ravello, and Big Round Records present a dynamic assortment of albums with a focus on new music, celebrated styles, and unearthed gems.

Dive in and discover new music from: Garth Baxter, Patricia Morehead, Richard Vella, Jay Anthony Gach, Deems Taylor, NOTUS, Dominick DiOrio, Erik Rohde, Jacob Tews, Khemia Ensemble, Paul Cohen, and Muir String Quartet.

Composer Garth Baxter’s ASK OF ME WHAT THE BIRDS SANG presents a wide variety of instrumental works as well as vocal music; each of these unique pieces has a special connection with a song. An unabashedly lyrical composer, Baxter combines the traditions of form and clear melodic writing with contemporary approaches to harmony and other elements.

INVITING WORLDS VOL 3 offers a fresh look into the Navona Records series with a new roster of modern composers. Building on the canon of orchestral works presented thus far, this edition of the series features works inspired by historic poetry, iconic stories, and memories, tied together and brought to life by the raw power of today’s ensembles.

On WHAT IS OURS, choir director Dominick DiOrio conjures a formidable cross-section of music by a range of contemporary composers that not only reflects the diversity and multiplicity of modern-day America, but also its underbelly of struggle, challenge, and an eventual triumph of humanity.

What happens when you combine a love for uncovering new gems in classical music with two highly skilled performers? Violist Jacob Tews and violinist Erik Rohde answer this very question with SONIC APRICITY: an album consisting of works they have either commissioned or championed, and the namesake of their musical coalescence.

INTERSECTIONS from Khemia Ensemble invites listeners to meditate on the confluence of beginnings, endings, and the hope and grief that can accompany those events. By showcasing commissioned music by five living composers, the ensemble demonstrates their commitment to reflecting broader perspectives in contemporary classical chamber music.

On CENTER CHAMBER, wind, string, and keyboard instrumentalists come together to perform a collection of original and intimate compositions that include the saxophone — particularly Paul Cohen’s conn-o-sax, a rare and long forgotten instrument given new life in contemporary works.

The buoyant and soothing nature of Klezmer music speaks in a new tone on CELEBRATION MUSIC. Clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein and the critically acclaimed Muir String Quartet deftly handle the genre with passion and unbridled musicality in this modern setting, arranged for the concert stage where audiences can enjoy its timeless, uplifting qualities.