March brought a little bit of everything to the PARMA production team, from contemporary choral and vocal chamber music to large-scale orchestral works and some solo piano endeavors with a twist. Read on for an inside look at each of these sessions.
Recording New Choral Music with The Crossing
The production team kicked off the spring in the East Coast United States with longtime collaborator The Crossing, who were gearing up to record a number of works to be released on a future Navona Records album. Recorded in their native Philadelphia at St. Peter’s Church, multi GRAMMY®-winning choir performed works by PARMA artists Deborah Kavasch, Sarah Wallin Huff, Anne Kilstofte, Christopher Jessup, Carol Barnett, and two new composers, Karen Siegal and Leanna Kirchoff.
Explore our full range of Navona Records releases with The Crossing here.
The Crossing
The Crossing is a GRAMMY®-winning professional chamber choir conducted by Donald Nally and dedicated to performing new music. It is committed to working with creative teams to make and record new, substantial works for choir that explore and expand ways of writing for choir, singing in choir, and listening to music for choir.
Vocal Chamber Music by George Brandon
Choral sessions continued in the Northeast at Rockport MA’s Shalin Liu Performance Center with soprano Aliana de la Guardia and pianist Maja Tremiszewska, who were recording new music selected from a recent Featured Recording Opportunity. The chamber duo recorded composer George Brandon’s Two Dream Poems, inspired by the work of American poet Gary Snyder and Iranian poet Mavash Sabet.
Our Featured Recording Opportunity with Aliana de la Guardia and Omar Najmi is still open for submission. Learn more here.
Kristina Marinova and The Grateful Dead
What happens when you pair a world-class pianist with some of the most celebrated, culture shifting music of the 20th century? Kristina Marinova gave us a definitive answer in her recent session at Prague’s Czech TV Music Studio, where she performed a dazzling selection of works by rock legends The Grateful Dead.
More recordings are scheduled throughout the spring, with a Fall 2024 Navona Records release on the horizon.
More on Marinova here.
A Return to Glasgow with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Our March sessions concluded in Scotland’s Royal Glasgow Hall with the acclaimed Royal Scottish National Orchestra, in the good company of composers Gustav Hoyer and Tom Myron, and several members of the PARMA team.
“The sessions were a powerful and momentous artistic experience for me,” said Hoyer. “I have reflected on some of the richest musical moments in my memory and the broad palette of instrumental colors and effects in my composition were clear and varied as the players embraced the music.”
Hoyer’s first recorded symphonic work spans a variety of moods, from a tempest-tossed opening through a varied series of melodies, harmonies and textures to the consummation of the work in its majestic and hope-filled finale.
“I want people to be inspired, moved, and enriched,” said Hoyer. “I sincerely hope that people will carve out time to sit and listen attentively without other distraction and let their imaginations carry them… Writing a symphony is to a composer what writing a novel is for an author. I have created a wordless epic to connect and share with others.”
