Instrumentation: Clarinet

Douglas Anderson's music may follow a guiding thread of atonality, but since the New York native's tastes are eclectic, so are his works. MUSIC IN DIVERSE STYLES is a showcase of Anderson's genre-busting creativity, a deep exploration of musical paradigms. As the album cycles through different chamber setups from duo to septet, Anderson presents his evolving, idiosyncratic serialism through the prism of heterogeneous genres including bluegrass and rock. Most impressive, perhaps, is the consistency in quality, despite the works spanning four decades. As a composer, Anderson has woven quite the tapestry in this Ravello Records release.

NOCTUARY DUOS from composer Gerardo Dirié explores sonic worlds of shifting hues, puzzling lyricism, and dramatic trajectories. Inspired by the enigmatic beauty of the night sky and the rich astronomical knowledge of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, NOCTUARY DUOS is a collection of contemporary chamber music featuring Diego Montes on bass clarinet and Johanna Rose on viola da gamba. The compositions borrow from Gregorian chant, heavy metal, and even include a quote from Stephen Hawking and a nod to particle physics. At once playful and deeply reflective, NOCTUARY DUOS invites listeners to consider their place in the cosmos.

Lauded by critics as “interesting and captivating” (Cinemusical), the MIND & MACHINE series from Ravello Records returns in its fourth installment with a fresh roster of today's electro-acoustic composers. From the depths of the sea to the wildlife that populates our atmosphere and the breaths that form within us, a myriad of mystifying soundscapes await discovery. Innovatively-captured sound samples intertwine with contemporary social issues in this album, commenting on climate change, justice and inequality, and more. Our fragility and recovery are revealed in Gasp, human influence on the environment manifests in green line 2065 and Water Birds, and resilient voices respond in the face of oppression in Hanggang sa Takipsilim.

On INTO THE GREEN, clarinetist Wesley Ferreira takes listeners on an aural journey through a world of musical possibilities where digital and analog become one. Works for solo clarinet place it in the midst of sprawling electronic soundscapes, providing ethereal backdrops for its earthy timbre. With technical flair and blistering speeds, Ferreira perfectly blends the instrument with industrial beats, atmospheric arpeggios, and reverberating effects, creating a seamless juxtaposition of computer-based composition and classical, folk, and world music. In doing so, Ferreira and the composers create a sense of old meeting the new, where the lushness and abundance of nature live in harmony with the exciting possibilities of technology.

CON MOTO, VOLUME 1 is a new series of digital releases featuring unreleased works for orchestra. Included on this volume are the modern orchestral compositions of J. Windel Brown, Jerry Sorcsek, William Prince, Robert Ehle, Eric Funk, and Mitch Hampton. All of the pieces on this release are completely original, contemporary compositions for orchestra and solo instruments.

CASINO UMBRO is the debut Ravello release from Israeli composer Amos Elkana, bringing listeners into a sonic world comprised of thoughtful, expressive, and emotional works for chamber ensemble, voice, and orchestra. Ranging from the dreamy, jazz-like Casino Umbro to the linguistic and tumultuous Arabic Lessons to the imaginative and fanfaric Tru'a, CASINO UMBRO conveys the essence of humanity and international relations through communicative and sophisticated musical expression.

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.

MUSIC FROM 3 CONTINENTS presents the choral works of Bruce Mahin and Graham Hair performed by Scottish Voices, harpists Jacqueline Pollauf and Helen Thompson, and clarinetist Alex South. Representing an international collaboration between artists from around the globe, the works on this album draw from various texts and inspirations, uniting to illustrate the connectedness of music and its influence. Included on MUSIC FROM 3 CONTINENTS are Bruce Mahin's Time², three settings of poems by Robert Penn Warren, unified by the nexus of "time passing," and Whitman Psalms, a piece considering the enormity of God and attempting a hypothetical conversation between man and God; and Graham Hair's O Venezia, a progressively accumulating song cycle drawing texts from Venetians and visitors, and Songs from the Turkish, a piece exploring the mysticism of Islam.

Joyous and energetic, sad and lyrical, images of light and cascading colors-these varied striking moods can all be used to describe composer Kirk O'Riordan's six chamber works on his premiere Ravello Records release, STRANGE FLOWERS. The six pieces on the album tell a story together, captivating the audience with its accessible but nuanced sound.

On TRIUMVIRATE, composer Walter Ross' second release on Ravello Records, the concerto is showcased as a genre, illustrating that tension and opposition can create balance and richness. Throughout the three concerti, themes, timbres, rhythms, and tempos juxtapose each other, building webs of contrasting musical elements and textures. In Ross' Clarinet Concerto, the two outer movements, "Fantasia" and "Capriccio," move with the energy of dance rhythms while the middle movement, "Romanza," drifts with dreaminess and impressionistic lyricism.

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.

The conch shell exemplifies the versatility, sublimity, and transcendence of nature - a natural dwelling, a biological work of art, and, as shown by the City of Tomorrow, an instrument. NATURE, the debut Ravello Records release by the City of Tomorrow wind quintet - consisting of Elise Blatchford, flute; Stuart Breczinski, oboe; Camila Barrientos Ossio, clarinet; Laura Miller, bassoon; and Leander Star, horn - showcases works by four contemporary composers that explore the evolution of humanity's relationship with nature.

As a ferocious wind storm spins up all things in its path, The Tornado Project, conceived by composers Ricardo Climent and Paul Wilson, cuts a path through the repertoire of 21st-century electroacoustic music, presenting a collection of works for flute, clarinet, and computer-generated sound that explore the chaotic beauty of this trio. With performances by two American wind virtuosi - clarinetist Esther Lamneck and flutist Elizabeth McNutt - these works showcase the skills of the musicians, their dynamic relationships with the computer, and the composers' innovative, colorful, and resourceful styles.

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 trumpet is a robust instrument which has been widely employed in several genres of music, from the jazz and free form music of Miles Davis, to the world and electroacoustic music of Jon Hassell. Trumpeter James Zingara continues to expand the performance repertoire of the trumpet with TEXTURES, his debut release on Ravello Records. Hinged on the 21st-century art music style of composition, the works in this collection, all written after 2002, strengthen the trumpet’s diversity and adaptability in settings with computer-generated sounds, syncopated rhythms, blues forms, and atonal harmonic structures.

World-renowned clarinetist F. Gerard Errante’s latest Ravello release NEW MUSIC FOR CLARINET … ANOTHER LOOK is a retrospective compilation of avant-garde works previously recorded by Errante in the LP era. These innovative works of the late 20th century, mostly written for or dedicated to Errante, display his wide-ranging mastery and consummate musicality in an idiom that is challenging as well as engaging and compelling.

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.

First released in 2002 on Capstone Records, Phillip Schroeder’s TURNING TO THE CENTER is a subdued, atmospheric tour de force of songs written primarily for an ensemble of baritone voice, clarinet, and keyboards. Featuring texts by Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, and Rumi, the three song cycles on this release offer atmospheric and varied writing for the expected baritone, clarinet, and keyboards with occasional forays into the unexpected sound worlds of synthesizer and added percussion.

Scott Barton, contemporary composer and Assistant Professor of Music at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, engages in a rather unusual hobby: He designs and builds musical robots. Hardly unexpected then, that Barton's first Ravello Records release STYLISTIC ALCHEMIES is an electroacoustic box of surprises. Balancing diverse musical elements with the virtuosity of a skilled playwright, Barton takes the listener on a journey that pushes the boundaries of established genre definitions.

MANY NEW TRAILS TO BLAZE showcases three musicians in an intellectually driven, globally inspired set of compositions. Each work, from the genre-crossing Sonata for Three to the tonal balancing act in Flying Over Water, presses boundaries, and the three instruments work together to draw every ounce of potentiality from the notes. Notable trumpet and cornet player James Zingara has performed around the globe and his album of trumpet recordings, Textures, is already a key member of the Ravello Records catalog. With his colleagues, pianist Chris Steele and clarinetist Denise Gainey, Zingara performs a collection of works that show off the virtuosity of each musician alongside intricate compositions.