September 9, 2022 New Releases from Navona and Ravello Records

This New Music Friday, Navona and Ravello Records present albums that speak to the troubles of our times, highlight new creative modes of expression in the face of adversity, and celebrate the human commonality we find within music.

Dive in and discover new music from: Lucia Lin, Jonathan Miller, Diane Walsh, Heidi Jacob, Lydia Jane Pugh, Ray Fahrner, Denice Rippentrop, Sheila Bristow, John Robertson, Marty Regan, Kühn Choir of Prague, Duo Sequenza, Karim Al-Zand, Sarah Belle Reid, and David Rosenboom.

Artists are liminal figures — they cross thresholds and collapse boundaries between past, present, and future. In THE NEW EPOCH, three musicians from the Boston Artists Ensemble interpret works by French composers Fauré, Debussy, Ravel, and Lili Boulanger, infusing these pieces with unprecedented freshness and clarity.

Navona Records presents VOICES OF EARTH AND AIR VOL. 4, a choral celebration of the human commonality we find within music. Brought to life by Prague’s Kühn Choir, these choral works are sure to entrance and entice listeners with flowing tonality and tactful text settings that demonstrate the powerful storytelling capabilities that vocal

Duo Sequenza presents YES… IT’S STILL A THING, a program geared towards building new audiences for today’s classical music and promoting the work of living composers. From emotive and introspective works to scenic vistas painted in sound, the flute-and-guitar duo once again proves their musical chops and adaptability across multiple styles on this album.

THE LEADER from Canadian-American composer Karim Al-Zand is at once timeless and also deeply relevant for the age we live in. A commentary on the rise of fascist tyranny, its titular piece tells the story of a buffoonish charlatan who is adored despite his ridiculous behavior, echoing concerns of the modern day in a chamber opera based on Eugene Ionesco’s 1953 satire Le Maître.

NOWS from David Rosenboom and Sarah Belle Reid is a captivating expression of the radical challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, conveyed through various explorations of sound. A post-genre masterpiece that speaks to our unique moment in history, NOWS examines the notion of “co-presence,” or togetherness, when experienced in isolation.