Author: Ai Lynn Ang

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Leaf Music Distributes New Album from Anders Muskens – Vogler: Travel Souvenirs for Keyboard

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS)Leaf Music announces the distribution of a new recording from early music specialist Anders Muskens, being released in digital format on April 18.

Travel Souvenirs for Keyboard – Georg Joseph Vogler features compositions by German composer Georg Joseph Vogler (1749 – 1814), performed on original instruments. Muskens recorded on a Square Pianoforte by Longman & Broderip (John Geib), London 1788 (restored by Paul Kobald in 2018), and a Grand pianoforte by John Broadwood & Songs, London, 1806 (restored by Paul Kobald in 2022). He tuned and tempered the instruments (both from his own collection), using the method described by Vogler himself in 1807.

The album celebrates Carl Theodor’s Jubilee Year (2024). Vogler was a key Kappelmeister in Theodor’s court. Many pieces were published during Vogler’s tenure in Sweden.

Vogler’s wanderlust inspired many of the pieces he composed, and he was well-regarded for his intricate, complex variation sets for keyboard, which he often improvised in dazzling public concerts on organ and fortepiano. The new recording includes a work from 1798 (Pieces de clavecin) and Variations sur l’Air de Marlborough from 1791. Georg Joseph, known as Abt or Abbé Vogler, never spent more than a few months in one place; he was always travelling, literally crisscrossing Europe, and even venturing to the Arctic Circle and North Africa. His fascination with folk melodies can be heard woven into his harmonic and structural innovations for keyboard.

Prolific early music specialist Anders Muskens has had other recordings distributed by Leaf Music, including Beethoven: Waldstein & Appassionata Sonatas and Army of Generals Volume II: Carl Theodor’s Court Orchestra in Mannheim 1742-1778. Muskens is a Canadian fortepianist, harpsichordist, conductor, and musicologist whose work focuses on the revival of eighteenth-and early nineteenth-century performance traditions, equally active in Europe and North America. He completed a Masters in Fortepiano at the Royal Conservatoire of the Hague under Dr. Bart van Oort and Petra Somlai, with Fabio Bonizzoni and Patrick Ayrton for harpsichord. He is represented as a performer by the Sonus Agency for Early Music and is the founder of the ensemble Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester, an international initiative to revive the music of the Mannheim School in the second half of the eighteenth century.

The new album was produced with support from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and Forschungszentrum HOF/MUSIK/STADT, and was recorded at the Pfleghofsaal at the Musicology Institute of the University of Tubingen

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Nashville, Tennessee, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across North America. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.
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Leaf Music and Bela String Quartet present their latest EP 

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music and Bela String Quartet announce the March 28 release of their new EP (LM2047). 

Sharing with its release title, Bela String Quartet presents a collection of Nordic folk melodies reimagined through the lens of classical and folk traditions. Inspired by the Danish String Quartet’s celebrated collections Wood Works and Last Leaf, this EP captures the joy, camaraderie, and timeless beauty of traditional Nordic tunes. They recorded three beloved arrangements by the Danish String Quartet: Waltz after Lasse in Lyby, Stædelil, and Sønderho Bridal Trilogy, Pt. 2 at the St. George’s Round Church, a National Historic Site built in 1812.

From left to right: Catherine Little (cello), Anna Wedlock (violin), Carrie VanSlyke (viola), Anthony Rissesco (violin) 

For over a decade, the Bela String Quartet has delighted audiences across Canada’s East Coast. They blend their diverse musical backgrounds to create heartfelt and refined performances. 

Anna Wedlock is a fiddler and violinist. She’s collaborated with many pop and folk artists, including India Gailey, Cassie Josephine, and The Big Country Ramblers. As the leader of the Bela String Quartet, Anna has arranged and performed work with Terra Spencer, Jenn Grant, and Gianna Lauren. She lives in Halifax with her partner and dog.  

Anthony Rissesco is a versatile violin player and teacher who tours regularly with award-winning singer-songwriter Lennie Gallant and with roots-rock band Pogey. As a member of the neo-traditional trio Papilio, Anthony has garnered ECMA and Nova Scotia Music Awards nominations. He is also a member of the popular Halifax band The Gig Dogs. Anthony has played with Symphony Nova Scotia, Anne Murray, and Peggy Seeger. 

Carrie VanSlyke is a classical violist who has performed worldwide, from the Sydney Opera House to Aspen and Banff Music Festivals. A regular with Symphony Nova Scotia since 2014, she has collaborated with Rod Stewart, Nelly Furtado, and Weezer. She relocated to Nashville after over a decade in Nova Scotia. Carrie holds Viola Performance degrees from the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati and McGill University. 

Nova Scotia-born cellist Catherine Little is dedicated to bridging classical music with diverse audiences. She has performed with Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Symphony Nova Scotia, and the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia. As part of Trio KLM, she engages her audiences by performing arrangements of classical greats, as well as well-loved pop and rock. Catherine’s discography includes two albums with pianist Gregory Myra – the 2022 Nova Scotia Music Award-winning “Taking Five” (2021) and “Light & Dark” (2024). Catherine holds an Honours Bachelor of Music degree from Wilfrid Laurier University (2007) and a Master’s in Music Performance from the Université de Montréal (2010). 

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Nashville, Tennessee, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers across North America. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada. 

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,   

peggy@leaf-music.ca 

(902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell). 

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Leaf Music, Angel Wang and Phoenix Rising Present Phoenix Rising

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music, violinist Angel Wang and the Phoenix Orchestra announce the March 14 release of their new recording Phoenix Rising (LM299) on both digital and physical CDs.

Phoenix Rising, featuring violinist Angel Wang with the Phoenix Orchestra conducted by Claudio Vena, presents a cornucopia of Chinese and Western classical music that transcends borders. The album includes the beloved Butterfly Lovers Concerto by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang, a 2023-commissioned work by Alice Ping Yee Ho (Phoenix Rising), plus traditional Chinese songs like Jasmine Flower and Galloping Horses, arranged by Claudio Vena, offering a captivating blend of contemporary and traditional music.

Phoenix Orchestra was founded by Angel Wang to perform Western and Chinese classical music of all eras including contemporary works, and was invited to perform at the prestigious Meet in Beijing International Arts Festival. Its purpose is to foster a deeper appreciation of both cultures through live and digital performances.

The album’s closing piece, Phoenix Rising, by Canadian Alice Ping Yee Ho, is a single-movement tone poem for solo violin and orchestra, encapsulating the timeless idea of the phoenix rising from its ashes, symbolizing hope and rebirth.

Angel Wang

Angel Wang has established herself as a violinist of exceptional ability in both Canada and China, where she was a member of the Tianjin Orchestra and where she toured with her chamber group, Angel’s Trio. Her multimedia concerts have sold out in Toronto and Beijing, and she’s appeared in concert with celebrities such as international piano star Richard Clayderman. She is also a faculty member of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and guest professor at the Wulanchabu Conservatory in China.

Italian-born Canadian Claudio Vena is a Gemini Award-winning composer, conductor, producer and musician who writes for film, television and stage, as well as scores for the Stratford Festival, Canadian Stage and The Shaw Festival. He has been music Director and Conductor of the Academy Chamber Orchestra and of the original Toronto production of Miss Saigon. He co-founded the group Quartetto Gelato, which released three CDs, including two nominated for JUNO Awards.

The album was recorded by Pouya Hamidi in Toronto in November of 2024, with assistance from the Ontario Arts Council, the National Bank of Canada, and the Jackman Foundation.

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Nashville, Tennessee, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers across Canada and USA. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf-music.ca 

(902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

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Angel Wang
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Leaf Music and Allison Ernst present Ravel: Sonatine

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music and Allison Ernst announce the March 7 release of her new EP, Ravel: Sonatine (LM2048), a technically demanding three-movement piano work just twelve minutes long.

Dr. Allison Ernst is a dedicated and passionate performer and teacher. Her work as a pianist has taken her all over the United States, performing solo, chamber, and concerto works. She has also competed in the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition and the Bay Area Piano Competition. An avid leader within music education, she serves as the Newsletter Editor for Tennessee Music Teachers Association, Treasurer for the Nashville Area Music Teachers Association, and as an adjudicator for piano festivals around Nashville. She is the owner and founder of Dr. Allison’s Piano Studio, previously known as Aunt Ali’s Music Studio. She also held a position as Adjunct Professor of Music for three academic years at Volunteer State Community College in Tennessee. 

Allison’s commitment to serving the community through musical performances has inspired her to create two projects, which include The Riverside Arts Walk Concert Series and The Mission Inn Concert Series. She continues to perform free events through her newest community outreach program, The Music City House Concert Series. Creating a greater sense of community through the power of music remains central to her ideals in all the roles that she plays. As a scholar, she plans to publish her latest research entitled, “Playing with Time: Understanding and Notating Tempo Rubato,” in the next issue of the academic journal Historical Performance Practices.

Originally from Kalispell, Montana, Allison received a Doctor of Musical Arts in Historical Performance Practices from Claremont Graduate University, a Master of Music in Piano Performance from California Baptist University, and a Bachelor of Arts-Music from Seattle University. Her primary teachers include Jenny Soonjin Kim, Tina Kouratachvili, and Kay Lund.  When not practicing or teaching piano, Allison loves to travel, swim, and cook new recipes with her husband.

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf-music.ca 

(902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

About Allison
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Leaf Music Distributes Drew Jurecka & Maurice Ravel: String Quartet

“Captivating…breathtaking tour de force… The Venuti String Quartet plays with joie de vivre!” – The Whole Note

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music and the Venuti String Quartet announce the distribution of their new recording Drew Jurecka & Maurice Ravel: String Quartets (VSQ202401).

Drew Jurecka & Maurice Ravel: String Quartets celebrates Ravel’s 150th birthday but begins with member and co-founder Drew Jurecka’s string quartet, a composition that explores and blends classical and jazz influences. This is followed by Ravel’s only string quartet in F Major, composed during this student years at the Paris Conservatory. The album concludes with The Spider, a collaborative piece at breakneck speed by Jurecka and Jay Danley, paying tribute to Carl Stalling, who wrote music for Looney Toons and Merry Melodies cartoons.

The Venuti String Quartet brings together four of the most in-demand musicians in Toronto’s vibrant music scene (Rebekah Wolkstein and Drew Jurecka, violins; Shannon Knights, viola and Amahl Arulanandam, cello), hailing from esteemed Toronto ensembles including the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, Payadora Ensemble, Schmaltz & Pepper and VC2. Founded with genre-flexibility in mind, the group is equally at home in recording studios or onstage playing alongside a range of artists in almost any genre (e.g. Alessia Cara, Laila Biali, Jill Barber and her recent release, Encore, Donovan Woods) as they are performing the great classics and original compositions and arrangements. In concert, the Quartet enjoys pairing nonclassical music with works of the great composers, as they have done with their debut album, combining the original composition of Grammy-nominated multi-instrumentalist, producer, arranger and composer Drew Jurecka with one of his great inspirations, the beautiful and dynamic Quartet by Maurice Ravel.

Drew Jurecka’s string quartet was completed over a ten-year period from 2010-2020. An accomplished jazz and classical violinist, Jurecka’s composition explores his diverse musical experiences through the rich vocabulary of the string quartet. Each movement takes its inspiration from a different style of music, seen through the lens of classic string quartet form and composition, including impressionism, jazz improvision and tango techniques. In 1903, Maurice Ravel composed his only string quartet at the age of 28; the work is considered one of the greatest masterworks of the string quartet repertoire.

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Nashville, Tennessee, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf-music.ca 

(902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

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Leaf Music Distributes Unbroken: Music from Ukraine

“Music should show how fragile our civilization is with all its power.” – Valentin Silvestrov, composer.

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music and Ukrainian Canadian violinist Viktoria Grynenko announce the February 28 distribution of the new recording Unbroken:  Music from Ukraine (VG2025).

Unbroken:  Music from Ukraine features works for violin by contemporary Ukrainian composers, including Zoltan Almashi, Boris Loginov, Valentin Silvestrov and Oleg Bezborodko, with a piece by Ukrainian Canadian Anna Pidgorna rounding out the new album. Other musicians on the recording are Roger Admiral (piano), Fabiola Amorim (viola), Amy Nicholson (cello), Vladimir Rufino (violin) and Guillaume Tardif (violin).

Viktoria Grynenko describes the recording (which she produced) as her “reaction to the full-scale war in Ukraine,” and a way to “amplify Ukrainian voices for audiences around the world.” The works are about resilience and the generosity of the Ukrainian spirit. Pidgorna’s score is presented visually inscribed on an antique door with a jagged hole created by a hatchet, in turn inspiring the dramatic conception of the piece and some of the musical gestures. Almashi’s Duo for Two Violins, No.1 is melodious and expressive, a sincere and passionate plea for the end of the war, while Loginov’s sleep during insomnia depicts the shock of February 2022. Silvestrov’s Melodies of the Moments, Cycle I quietly echoes memories of formerly peaceful lives and finally, Bezborodko’s victorious Concert Fantasy on Cossack Beyond the Danube recalls the perseverance of the Ukrainian people.

Viktoria Grynenko is a Ukrainian-born, multifaceted artist based in Edmonton. In addition to violin performance, she focuses on research and educational projects involving rarely performed works for violin. Giving back to her community, she has taught with El Sistema programs across Canada for over a decade. She is currently co-chair for Arts Habitat Edmonton and was a founder of Job Hub Ukraine, a platform assisting Ukrainian refugees with their job searches in Canada. She obtained a D. Mus. from the University of Alberta, exploring relationships between violin and dance performance in her thesis. She previously obtained a Master of Music degree from the University of Ottawa, where her studies were funded by the prestigious KUN scholarship. Her debut album Violin in Movement showcased works related to ballet and dance. She studied with Liudmyla Skorokhod and Leonid Shukhman in Ukraine, and with Oleg Pokhanovski, Yehonatan Berick and Guillaume Tardif in Canada. In this recording, Viktoria performs on a Hermann Janzen violin with a bow by Herbert Wanka.

Unbroken:  Music from Ukraine was recorded in April and May of 2024 at the Edmonton Alberta Convocation Hall, University of Alberta, and was produced with assistance from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Listen to Unbroken on your favourite streaming platform.  For more information, please visit: https://viktoriagrynenko.com.

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Nashville, Tennessee, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf-music.ca 

(902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

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Leaf Music and Leaf Music Distribution Celebrates 17 Nominations for the 2025 East Coast Music Awards

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music and Leaf Music Distribution are proud to announce that their releases have received an impressive 17 nominations at the 2025 East Coast Music Awards. The nominees were officially unveiled today, marking another outstanding year for the Leaf Music label.

This exciting announcement comes on the heels of Leaf Music’s recent success at the 2025 JUNO Awards, where the label received five nominations. With recognition from both the JUNOs and ECMAs this year, Leaf Music continues to celebrate and support the exceptional achievements of its artists.

Dedicated to showcasing outstanding Canadian artists and composers, Leaf Music is thrilled to see its artists honoured at the ECMA nominations announcement. The East Coast Music Awards, a highlight of East Coast Music Week, will take place in St. John’s, NL,from May 7–11, 2025.

The Leaf Music nominees are:

African Canadian Artist of the Year | Artiste afro-canadienne ou afro-canadien de l’année

  • Measha Brueggergosman-Lee “Zombie”

Classical Release of the Year | Sortie classique de l’année

  • Measha Brueggergosman-Lee “Blizzard”
  • SHHH!! Ensemble “Causes, 1.1 Negative Energy”

Electronic Release of the Year | Sortie électronique de l’année

  • SHHH!! Ensemble “Causes, 1.1 Negative Energy

Indigenous Artist of the Year | Artiste autochtone de l’année

  • Deantha Edmunds “Angmalukisaa: IV. Rings 4 (Arr. for Voice & String Orchestra by Robert Carli)”

Instrumental Release of the Year | Sortie instrumentale de l’année

  • Mark Fewer “The Simple Life (Arr. for Violin & String Orchestra by Andrew Downing)”

Jazz Release of the Year | Sortie jazz de l’année s’il

  • Measha Brueggergosman-Lee “Zombie”

Vocal Release of the Year | Sortie vocale de l’année

  • Chœur Louisbourg “L’appel”

Content Creator of the Year | Créatrice ou créateur de l’année

  • Kristan Toczko

Producer of the Year | Réalisatrice ou réalisateur de l’année

  • Jeremy VanSlyke
LM296 Alikeness Front Cover
LM291 Cover

Leaf Music is equally proud of the Leaf Music Distribution artists and releases that have garnered ECMA nominations.

Fusion Release of the Year | Sortie multi-genre de l’année

  • Ian Foster “Gossamer”

Instrumental Release of the Year | Sortie instrumentale de l’année

  • Symphony Nova Scotia “Piano Concerto in One Movement: Andantino – Allegretto”

Solo Artist of the Year | Artiste solo de l’année

  • Ian Foster “Gossamer”

Vocal Release of the Year | Sortie vocale de l’année

  • Measha Brueggergosman-Lee “Pur ti miro”
  • Halifax Gay Men’s Chorus “Maybe ”

Fans’ Choice Entertainer of the Year | People’s Choice – Entertainer of the Year

  • Ian Foster

Innovator of the Year | Innovatrice ou innovateur de l’année

  • Ian Foster

Leaf Music extends its heartfelt congratulations to all the nominees and expresses gratitude to the artists, composers, and performers whose dedication and creativity have led to this recognition. These nominations underscore the vibrancy and excellence of Canada’s classical music communities.

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Leaf Music, Adam Cicchillitti, Steve Cowan and collectif9

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music and virtuoso guitar duo Adam Cicchillitti and Steve Cowan announce the February 14 release of their new recording Re/String (LM298). Re/String features six new concertos commissioned for two guitars and strings, recorded with Montreal ensemble collectif9. The six composers include Canadians Amy Brandon, Kelly-Marie Murphy, Patrick Roux, Bekah Simms and Harry Stayflakis, alongside British composer Stephen Goss. These pieces were premiered in Ottawa in March of 2022 with Thirteen Strings under conductor Kevin Mallon.

The pieces are stylistically diverse, with some referencing the guitar’s roots in rock and metal, while others explore alternate tunings and innovative textures between the guitar and bowed strings. The music is virtuosic, mysterious, unsettling, and hauntingly beautiful.

Adam Cicchillitti and Steve Cowan

Adam Cicchillitti and Steve Cowan have set a benchmark in the guitar world with their award-winning recordings, orchestral commissions and competition performances. In addition to active international solo careers, the duo regularly tours North America, playing programs of original arrangements and new Canadian commissions. They won second (2023) and third (2021) prize at the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America’s International Ensemble Competition, arguably the world’s most important guitar competition. The ensemble’s discography includes three albums, including multiple prize nominations and the Classical Recording of the Year at the 2021 East Coast Music Awards.    

Known for its innovative programming and unique approach to chamber music, Montreal string nonet collectif9 has performed extensively across North America, Europe, and Asia. The ensemble is dedicated to the exploration of new repertoire and new artistic partnerships with composers, video artists, poets, lighting designers, and other inspired collaborators, creating multidisciplinary projects that come to life in acoustic or amplified settings. Collectif9 has released four albums and produced a series of film-concerts. The group has received two JUNO nominations for its recordings, among other awards and recognitions. 

Re/String was recorded in St. Augustin, Quebec, in September of 2024, and produced with assistance from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. Listen to Re/String on your favourite streaming platform. 

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Nashville, Tennessee, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf-music.ca 

(902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

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Adam Cicchillitti and Steve Cowan
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Leaf Music, Dorian Komanoff Bandy, and Catherine Cosbey present Mozart: Strings Duo

“Virtuosity (that is) relentless, precise, and, above all, dazzling.” – the WholeNote

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music and Dorian Komanoff Bandy and Catherine Cosbey announce the January 24 release of their new recording Mozart: String Duos (LM297), including two never-before-recorded violin duets.

Mozart: String Duos presents vivid, period-instrument performances of Mozart’s two spectacular Duos for Violin and Viola (K. 423 in G major and K. 424 in B-flat Major), alongside newly discovered historical arrangements of the Violin Sonata K. 305 and arias from La clemenza di Tito. Following historical convention and drawing on groundbreaking research, Cosbey and Bandy insert extensive embellishments and cadenzas, capturing a degree of improvisatory freedom rarely heard in performances of Mozart’s string music. These pieces, as well as the arrangements, would have introduced many eighteenth-century listeners to Mozart’s music. Today, they conjure scenes of domestic music-making among family and friends.

Mozart’s Sonata for Piano and Violin K. 305 was transformed into a duet for two violins by an anonymous Parisian arranger in 1799 (eight years after Mozart’s death). This version and the opera arrangements were recently discovered in rare book libraries in Texas and Germany and may not have been heard since the early 1800s. They reveal how deftly musicians adapted Mozart’s music for performance at home.

Dorian Komanoff Bandy, associate professor at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, is one of early music’s most energetic and versatile proponents. His repertoire spans four centuries and six instruments, and his performances have been praised for their “impressive emotional scope” and a “virtuosity [that is] relentless, precise, and above all, dazzling.” A leading Mozart specialist, Dorian has conducted award winning productions of Mozart’s operas on both sides of the Atlantic, and is the author of Mozart the Performer: Variations on the Showman’s Art, which he’ll discuss in an upcoming virtual forum on January 21.

Violinist Catherine Cosbey is a member of the Cavani String Quartet and was a founding member of the Linden String Quartet. Her performances, described by the Strad Magazine as “polished, radiant, and incisive,” have taken her to leading venues and festivals across the US, Canada, and Europe, including the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Esterhazy String Quartet Festival and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. A frequent guest educator at festivals across North America, she currently serves on the violin and chamber music faculty at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music.

Both musicians perform on eighteenth-century German instruments. The album was recorded at St. Andrew’s United Church, Halifax, in June of 2024. Get your CD copy of Mozart: String Duos or listen to it on your favourite streaming platform.

Mozart: Strings Duo – Album Trailer

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf-music.ca 

(902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

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Leaf Music and Fierbois Duo Present Sing to Me Again

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music and Fierbois announce the release of a new recording Sing To Me Again, being released on January 10, including a live performance at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights at 7:30 p.m.

Sing to Me Again (LM286)presents re-imagined works from Eastern Europe, with a unique blend of traditional folk influences, rich melodies, and the dark, powerful sound of Caitlin Broms-Jacobs’ oboe, paired with the warm and rich resonance of Madeline Hildebrand’s piano.

Two of Winnipeg’s finest musicians, the duo styles themselves after the Joan of Arc’s sword (Fierbois). Fierbois means “proud wood” in Old French (a nod to the piano and oboe;) an iconic strong woman, Joan of Arc never used the sword to inflict harm, only to inspire. Fierbois’s first album features passionate and unusual repertoire sourced by the musicians, representing silenced voices of the 20th century, underplayed composers or those whose voices have been restricted in artistic expression. The works of Gayane Chebotaryan, Fikret Amirov and Holocaust victim Pavel Hass are joined by art songs by youthful Czech composer Vitezslava Kapralova (1915-1940), and lyrical works reflecting the album’s title by Mikhail Glinka, Canadian Srul Irving Glick and Georgi Zlatev-Cherkin.

Known for their joyful and electrifying performances, pianist Madeline Hildebrand and oboist Caitlin Broms-Jacobs have been friends and musical collaborators since 2014 when they first performed together on Winnipeg’s prestigious Millennium Recital Series. Caitlin is the principal oboist of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and has frequently performed as guest principal oboist with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Madeline has recently performed with Philip Glass and the Kronos Quartet and currently teaches at Brandon University and the Canadian Mennonite University. Fierbois will tour Western Canada with Prairie Debut in the 2025-26 season; learn more here: https://www.caitlinbromsjacobs.com/fierbois

The new album was produced with the support of the Winnipeg Arts Council, Manitoba Film and Music, The Jewish Foundation of Manitoba, FACTOR and numerous individual donors. It was recorded at the Lorne Watson Recital Hall, Brandon University, in December of 2023. Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf-music.ca 

(902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).