What the Press Is Saying

This is just the kind of material that inspires [Lauren] Flanigan to the dramatic heights. And does she ever soar!

…a carefully constructed score that supports the texts…quite a show!

--Charles H. Parsons, American Record Guide (about release by Albany 106 – Pasatieri: Monologues) May/June, 2009

…a 21st-century symphony…urbane, expressive, filled with touches of whimsy and expansively American in its artistic references.

…the past century of American music percolated intelligently and originally throughout: A bluesy riff, syncopated rhythms, bold percussive turns, vigorous melodies and confident brass chorales balanced against moody swirls of woodwinds.

--Jeanne Claire van Ryzin, Austin360.com May 6, 2009

Welcher…had in mind a symphony of the old school, with the sweep, lush colors, and unfettered musical energy of a Sibelius of Shostakovich.

Welcher managed a score of admirable complexity and splendor, encompassing moments of contemplation and exclamation within a richly textured musical framework that was always pressing forward, growing and deepening in feeling.

--Robert Faires, The Austin Chronicle May 8, 2009

…three ways of looking at China. Chen begins her impassioned 1998 10-minute score with a piccolo imitating a Chinese flute playing a folk tune. She builds up into a ferocious holocaust of sound but somehow the sweetness of folksong survives in the strings.

--Mark Swed, The Los Angeles Times May 10, 2009

…her affection for [Chinese folk music] forms combines with darker memories of Mao’s oppressive government. The clash resonates throughout the work, finding a sense of calm individuality only in the solo cello…

--Rob Hubbard, St. Paul Pioneer Press April 30, 2009

…an extrovert energy, a keen ear for instrumental color and a fusion (or hybridization) of disparate styles that is both distinctive and assured.

--Larry Fuchsberg, Minneapolis Star Tribune May 1, 2009

Inspired by music of the Renaissance composer Johannes Ockeghem, Mr. Wernick constructed the work as a four-part mensuration canon…

Despite the work’s technical rigor, it was reasonably easy to discern how the parts related to one another on first hearing. The music was gaunt and serious, but never severe.

--Steve Smith, The New York Times April 10, 2009

Zwilich has…challenging ideas that she explores with passion, decisiveness and humor…

[The Septet] bristled with passion, intensity and color…

--Joan Reinthaler, The Washington Post May 7, 2009

…a friendly charmer in three movements. The music is unabashedly tonal and jazzy, purring with urbane sensuality and rippled with stop-and-go rhythms and bebop curlicues. Zwilich has an alluring way of spreading chords across the quintet, the saxophone perched on top with a harmonically piquant melody note.

--Mark Stryker, Detroit Free Press April 20, 2009

…superb craftsmanship, lyrical melodicism and audience-friendly voice…it typically seduces my ear with its confidence, skill and piquant harmony.

Zwilich deftly juggles the soloists. Violin and cello diverge in rhapsodic flights, whisper intimate secrets to each other and merge in big-tune unisons.

--Mark Stryker, Detroit Free Press May 23, 2009

…luxurious…

…mesmerizing…

…simply outstanding…

--Chris Shull, Dallas Morning News April 17, 2009

Lyre of Orpheus is a chamber work, and the notion of chamber music as a discussion among equals prevailed…

…Ms. Ran has stepped away from the abstruse characteristics of her earlier works and is now writing in a direct, accessible (if still texturally complex) style.

--Allan Kozinn, The New York Times March 18, 2009

…expertly constructed with vivid orchestration, and virtuoso solo writing…

--Victor Carr, Jr., Classics Today.com March 30, 2009

The work shimmered with a liquid translucence and a mysterious, nocturnal beauty. A celesta added an ethereal charm.

--Steve Siegel, The Morning Call.com March 28, 2009