Instrumentation: Percussion

CULTURE SAMPLES was originally released in 2008 and features the McCormick Percussion Group with flutists Kim McCormick and Margaret Lancaster performing works by Chihchun Chi-sun Lee, Andre Jolivet, Zack Browning, David Rogers, Daniel Adams, and Michael Sidney Timpson.

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.

SHADOWS OF ANCIENT DREAMS was originally released in 1997, and features clarinetist F. Gerard Errante performing the works of Charles Bestor, Robert Scott Thompson, Todd Winkler, Douglas Quin, and Michael Lowenstern.

GODS, DEMONS, AND THE EARTH was originally released in 1995 was lauded as "awesome" (ClassicalNet) and "surreal" (Twentieth Century Music).

CONCERTO FOR PIANO WITH PERCUSSION ORCHESTRA is the fifth Ravello release from the acclaimed McCormick Percussion Group. Living up to their reputation as vanguards of percussion repertoire, the Group uses this album to explore the possibilities of collaboration between piano and percussion wherein neither steals the spotlight. Along with Ji Hyun Kim ("a masterful pianist" - Piano Magazine), the McCormick Percussion Group performs the works of Igor Santos, Mel Mobley, David Gillingham, and David Noon with precision, emotion, and purpose.

TRACER, a collection of recent chamber works by composer Richard Cornell, explores the nature of art and the collaboration that occurs naturally among artists and the interaction between creator and influence. Comprised of live recordings, this album highlights the performers' instincts to respond to one another, interpreting the music as individuals and as a group, and exploring the intricacies of the works as they are played. This release includes a visual version of Tracer, the centerpiece of the album, which serves as a computer-rendered survey of art and culture that guides and morphs the music to match the viewer's progress through time and space; as the viewer travels among an imagined world, the music responds to the imagery.

The McCormick Percussion Group returns to Ravello Records for their sixth release, SOLI FOR SOPRANO WITH PERCUSSION ORCHESTRA. In the vein of their past work, this album showcases the collaboration of solo soprano, featuring critically acclaimed soprano Jamie Jordan and percussion orchestra. Lyrically, the pieces are influenced by the modernist texts of poet Wallace Stevens, the holy influence of the Bible, and the concept of opposites. This unique combination of voice and percussion explores traditional human values, freedom as a necessity of expression, and the sensuality of sound and imagery.

Ravello Records is pleased to announce the first installment of its compilation series, VANGUARDS VOL. 1, presenting a deep cross-section of the label's contemporary and eclectic catalog. The album features performances by the London Symphony Orchestra, pianist Kate Boyd, the McCormick Percussion Group, the New Hudson Saxophone Quartet, pianist Amy Briggs, the Grammy-nominated Strung Out Trio, and many more in works by contemporary composers such as Alan Beeler, Stefan Poetzsch, Michael Veloso, Lisa Miles, Hubert Howe, Scott Brickman, Alan Schmitz, and others.

SOLO NON SOLO, the debut Ravello Records release of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma's bass clarinetist Sauro Berti, presents contemporary works for solo bass clarinet as well as for traditional and unusual duos, including those with percussion, saxophone, narration, and electronics.

Ravello Records announces the second installment of its compilation series, VANGUARDS 2, presenting a deep cross-section of the label's contemporary and eclectic catalog. The album features performances by the London Symphony Orchestra, pianist Gregory Hall, the McCormick Percussion Group, mezzo-soprano Elaine Huckle, the Kiev Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Musica Viva, guitarist Alex Lubet, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and many more in works by contemporary composers including Mary Ann Joyce-Walter, Herbert Deutsch, Walter Ross, Rachel Lee Guthrie, Mark Vigil, Kim Halliday, Andrew May, Mel Mobley, Marga Richter, and others.

Our human history, our search for something greater than ourselves, and our discoveries in the process are reflected in the tales we tell. As with words, music can express our stories, and composers David Liptak and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon present several sonic narratives, referencing authors, poets, astronomers, folk musicians, and more on their debut Ravello Records release, STARS STORIES SONG.

Presenting contemporary works that blend multiple genres, from classical and avant-garde to heavy metal and world music, the McCormick Percussion Group, hailed as "a very skilled and important contemporary percussion ensemble" by Audiophile Audition, expands the boundaries and possibilities of the percussion ensemble's repertoire on their latest Ravello Records release BETWEEN ROCK AND A HARD PLACE.

Using Igor Stravinsky's final percussion solo from L'histoire du soldat (The Soldier's Tale) as inspiration, James M. Stephenson's theatrical narrative, THE DEVIL'S TALE, picks up right where Stravinsky leaves off. But on this Ravello Records release, the protagonist, Joseph, wakes up at the final drum-stroke and realizes that the Stravinsky was all a dream. He is relieved to still be in Las Vegas with Hannah, his showgirl girlfriend, at his side, where the story begins to unfold. The dramatic and astute plot about Joseph, a pit musician, and Hannah centers around their attempt to escape the city by tricking Sam, a devilish blackjack dealer and Hannah's manager.

Weaving together vocal musical styles of the past and present, composer and conductor Thomas Juneau, with the Juneau Vocal Alliance and Summit Chorale, present their debut Ravello Records release, VISIONS ETERNAL. Replete with transcendent performances and sweeping moments of musical euphoria, Juneau creates a stunning choral vision of eternal serenity and triumph.

On their seventh Ravello Records release, PLOT: MUSIC FOR UNSPECIFIED INSTRUMENTATION, the McCormick Percussion Group, directed by Robert McCormick, delivers a diverse collection of works that explore and expand the bounds of the percussion ensemble, featuring the use of improvisation, taped field recordings, and computer-generated graphical scores.

On his debut Ravello Records release IMMERSION, ABSORPTION, CONNECTION., composer Edgar Barroso presents a retrospective collection of works that explore his interest with modern science and technologies, social customs, spirituality, and more, using a variety of ensemble combinations and extended techniques for an array of textures and tonal colors.

The Ravello Records release ACE COMPOSERS features the music of three composers in the same family: Alan Schmitz and his two sons, Christopher and Eric. Though Alan describes the three composers as having different influences, their music is linked by connections to popular musical genres, which each references in some manner in a work featured on the album.

On his debut Ravello Records release ROSE, composer Michael Laurello offers a personal and refined style marked by rhythmic invention, visceral directness, and earnest emotional depth. His music reflects his diverse stylistic influences, which include Western classical music, jazz-fusion, progressive rock/metal, and EDM/IDM. Intricate polyrhythms, high-energy grooves, and a sophisticated harmonic palette are distinctive features of his music. Laurello composes for both traditional and non-traditional musical forces, including symphony orchestra, acoustic chamber ensembles, and works conceived specifically for the recording studio. He has recently collaborated with groups such as So Percussion, the Yale Philharmonia, Sandbox Percussion, and HOCKET.

On MARIMBA CONCERTI WITH PERCUSSION ORCHESTRA (2006), Robert McCormick conducts his McCormick Percussion Group – an ensemble comprised of 20 marimbists and accompanied by guest pianist Corey Holt Merenda throughout. Guest conductor Cayenna Rosa Ponchione appears on her composition The Creation, the album’s concluding track.

Ravello Records proudly presents the digital single PIECE BY PIECE, the PARMA debut of composer Beth Mehocic (ma•ho´•sick). Her work of the same name is scored for flute, bass clarinet, trumpet, bass trombone, violin, contrabass, and percussion and is performed by the Moravian Philharmonic Chamber Players. Piece by Piece was commissioned by the Erick Hawkins Dance Company of New York City in honor of their former director and composer-in-residence, Lucia Dlugoszewski. Dlugoszewski is known for her developments in avant-garde music technique and experimental music; thus, Mehocic includes a number of these techniques in the piece, including pitch bends, rapid glissandi, muting techniques, and extreme ranges.