Genre: Chamber

Daniel Adams’ SHADOW ON MIST was originally released in 2002 and was lauded as “unique and non-predictable” (Percussive Notes) and “delightful” (Twenty-First Century Music). Featuring stellar performances by the New Music Tampa Symphonic Wind Ensemble and the McCormick Percussion Ensemble, SHADOW ON MIST provides a cross-section of Daniel Adams’ works for wind ensemble, large percussion ensemble, and solo instruments.

“What music encapsulates the 90s?” This question is usually answered with grunge, alt-rock, manufactured pop, hip-hop, or any combination thereof. With 90S TIMEFLOW, composer Alan Schmitz steers us in another direction with a collection of contemporary classical works that represents the overarching themes of his work throughout the decade. The melodic, evocative, and accessible works on this release cap off a revolutionary century of classical composition with the perfect balance of influence and ingenuity.

PHANTASM is a digital release featuring the culmination of Missouri-based composer, saxophonist and audio engineer Eric Honour’s two-year project to blend all of his interests into one entity. Honour received these compositions for saxophone and computer and took them on tour, finally recording the program in studio. The resulting music explores the connections between old and new, ranging from rural folk sounds to experimental microtones and explorations of saxophone technique to physically triggered computer processing.

McDUO is the latest Ravello release from Robert McCormick and Kim McCormick. The Tampa-based husband-and-wife duo are the featured performance on this release, which includes compositions from James Lewis, Daniel Adams, Paul Reller, Stephen Montague, Howard Buss, Chihchun Chi-Sun Lee and Hugo Weisgall. The McCormick Duo has been featured on several recordings since forming to develop and perform repertoire in the flute/percussion and flute/marimba idioms.

DREAMS is the latest release from New York-based composer Craig Madden Morris. This album features a variety of Morris’ compositional styles, including the passionate Violin Concerto, the Caribbean-flavored Tropical Dances, the intimate Piano Trio, the elegiac Cello Rhapsody and the loving, gentle Dream Songs. Known for his intelligently complex and unique-yet-accessible compositions, Morris complements his works with his knowledge of the instruments for which he composes.

THE MUSIC OF GUI SOOK LEE is the latest release from Ravello veterans the McCormick Percussion Group, featuring the works of South Korean composer Gui Sook Lee. The McCormick Percussion Group, directed by Robert McCormick, has recorded and released over two dozen CDs since its formation.

THE FOUR SEASONS was originally released in 2008 and was lauded as “consistently absorbing” and “one of a new kind” (AllMusic). Featuring stellar performances from sixteen performers, THE FOUR SEASONS highlights Pierre Schroeder as a master of jazz-classical fusion.

CONCERTI FOR STRINGS WITH PERCUSSION ORCHESTRA is the fourth Ravello release from the McCormack Percussion Group. Featuring a series of works for solo string with percussion ensemble, this album further highlights the Group's dedication to furthering the repertoire and performance of percussion instruments. This release includes Baljinder Sekhon's Lou, Stuart Saunders Smith's Nightshade, David Liptak's Concerto for Viola and Percussion, Michael Sidney Timpson's DongXiDongXi, and Daniel Adams' Camouflage.

MUSIC FOR SOLO PIANO AND VIOLIN AND PIANO was originally released in 2006 and was lauded as “an attractive release” (American Record Guide) and as having “distinctive harmonic and melodic language” (JIAWM). Featuring the complimentary performances of pianists Robert Conway, Lenore Hall, and Tomoko Deguchi and violinist William Bouton, MUSIC FOR SOLO PIANO AND VIOLIN AND PIANO highlights Laurel Firant as an expert of small ensemble and instrumental composition.

RESONANT EDGES was originally released in 2007 and features performances by pianists Dianne Frazer Cross, Peter Henderson, Mark E. Hussung, and Denise Fillion, clarinetist Karen Dannessa, flutists Deanna R. Little and Lisa A. Jelle, soprano Dorothy Maddison, and the Seattle New Music Ensemble.

This release from Robert Baksa was originally released in 1991 and was lauded as “brilliantly stated” (Phoenix Gazette) and “courageously and attractively retrograde” (Arizona Daily Star). Featuring stunning interpretations by The Virtuosi Quintet and pianist Aeree Kim, this album is a highlight in contemporary collections of accessible classical music.

Throughout his musical career and childhood, American composer Scott Brickman has gathered influences ranging from the European-American classical tradition of the 2nd Viennese School to Elvis Costello and The Beatles. On WINTER & CONSTRUCTION, his debut release on Ravello Records, Brickman maintains these disparate influences and brings them together into well-crafted whole to create sharp, pointed, and modernistic 12-tone pieces for guitar, piano, and violin.

WHEN WIND COMES TO SPARSE BAMBOO was originally released in 2003. Saxophonist Demetrius Spaneas performs works by Bach, Rands, Britten, Persichetti, Debussy, Martino, Tower, and Heim with contemporary grace, providing new and varied settings to standard and contemporary works.

ESSAYS AND SKETCHES is an album unreleased works of American composer and longtime Sam Houston State University faculty member Newton D. Strandberg. Featuring performances by orchestras and ensembles from around the globe, the four pieces on this recording—Essay for String Orchestra, Amenhotep III, String Trio, and Acts for Orchestra—serve as an astute collection of Standberg's output as a composer. More than a musical release alone, ESSAYS AND SKETCHES serves as a retrospective of Strandberg's prolific career, housing a collection of writings, visual art, scores, and more, all compiled by Strandberg's peers, students, and admirers from SHSU.

TRAVELER’S TALE was originally released in 2007 and features on-disc performances by flutist/composer Byron Petty, pianist Shuko Watanabe, clarinetist Roger Quigley, hornist Wallace Easter, guitarist Robert Trent, trumpeter Chris Magee, organist Daniel Brinson, and violinists Mark Taylor and Janice Vincent.

REFLECTED LIGHT was originally released in 1995 and features stunning performances by pianists Jerome Reed, Jeananne Albee, and Sibylle Dotzauer; cellist Mary Lou Rylands; harpsichordist Ursula Trede-Boettcher; clarinetist Markus Lucke; The Constitution Brass; and the Chamber Choir of the Staatliche Jochschule fur Musik.

A CONCERT OF MUSIC BY ALLEN BRINGS was originally released in 2008 and features stunning performances by pianists Allen Brings and Eric Huebner, soprano Jennifer Foster, the Atlantic String Quartet, Talujon, and Flexible Music.

Violist Shelly Tramposh has led an extensive career as chamber musician, orchestral player, and teacher, and her varied experiences allow her to play her instrument with an effortless grace that can only be described as having SPREZZATURA. Tramposh, accompanied by Cullan Bryant—one of the most active collaborative pianists in New York—performs works by Paul Chihara, Paul Siskind, Benjamin Britten and Paul Hindemith with the emotion and intensity of each piece’s inspiration, whether it be the doldrums of illness and celebration of health in Chihara’s Sonata for Viola and Piano or Hindemith’s tumultuous sonata, written after being blacklisted by the Nazi party in Germany. Tramposh and Bryant form a masterful duo, and are able to capture the tone of each piece with virtuosic flourish and clarity.

Bruce Mahin's SHADOWS was originally released in 1991, and features adept performances by Elizabeth Curtis, Al Wojtera, Caryl Conger, Adam Mahonske, Mark Lortz, Kujit Rehncy, and David Shunway.

Bruce Mahin’s TIME CHANTS was originally released in 1995, and was lauded as “a well-constructed essay” by Twentieth Century Music.