Category: Album Release

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Charke Cormier Duo Releases “Bathymetric Terrains”


(Halifax, NS) Nova Scotia Duo Release Bathymetric Terrains
 
Nova Scotia’s Charke-Cormier Duo releases its latest recording, Bathymetric Terrains, at The Music Room on Saturday, February 15 at 2:00 p.m.   The album, on the Leaf Music label, is available February 14 and is distributed by Naxos of America.  Bathymetric Terrains muses on the ecology of oceans and tidal bays; bathymetry is the measurement of water depths.
 
Derek Charke (flutes) and Eugene Cormier (guitar) formed the Charke-Cormier Duo in 2014, releasing their debut recording, Ex Tempore, in 2018.  The album was nominated for the 2019 ECMA Award for Classical Album of the Year, and the composition Ex Tempore won the 2019 ECMA award for Classical Composition of the Year. The Whole Note magazine called the album “a fabulous debut!” The duo publishes their music under the Charke-Cormier Duo Collection with Doberman-Yppan in Québec. Both performers are highly accomplished musicians who are on the faculty of Acadia University’s School of Music.  
 
Canadian Music Centre Associate Composer Derek Charke (www.charke.com) is a JUNO and ECMA award-winning composer and flutist.  His music is eclectic – often defying categorization due to wide-ranging influences.  Dr. Charke is a professor of music at Acadia University Wolfville, where he teaches composition and music theory.  He also heads AEMS, the Acadian Electroacoustic Music Studio.   
 
Dr. Charke can see the fragile ecosystem of The Minas Basin from his home in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, including the seabed that is exposed when the tide is out twice daily: “For a while now I’ve wanted to compose something about these hidden landscapes.  The composition includes multiple flute, guitar, and voice parts.  The solo parts are performed live while the backing tracks, processing, and soundscapes are projected through speakers.  For live performances, a video of various seascapes from around Nova scotia is projected on a screen.”

See a trailer video here:  

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhkQqQvZdRw[/embedyt]
 
The album was produced, engineered and mastered at Derek Charke’s studio in Wolfville, NS and at AEMS, the Acadian Electroacoustic Music Studio (sponsored by CFI-JELF, and the NS Research and Innovation Trust), with additional mastering by Jeremy VanSlyke.  
 
This project is funded in part by Arts Nova Scotia and Acadia University.
 
This project is funded in part by FACTOR, the Government of Canada and Canada’s private radio broadcasters. Ce projet est financé en partie par FACTOR, le gouvernement du Canada et les radiodiffuseurs privés du Canada.

FOR BROADCAST USE:

Nova Scotia’s Charke-Cormier Duo is releasing a new album, Bathymetric Terrains, at The Music Room on February 15 at 2:00 p.m.  This recording features flutes and guitar, and relates to the fragile ecosystems of the Minas Basin.  Bathymetry is the measurement of water depths.

The CD features music written for the Duo by composer Derek Charke, who is a professor of music at Acadia University.  In seven movements, the music references flowing water, the various levels of the ocean and explores the imagery of the ocean through rhythm and melody.

That’s the Charke-Cormier Duo, launching their new recording, Bathymetric Terrains at the Music Room on Saturday, February 15 at 2:00 p.m.  The event is free and all are welcome.
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Mark Fewer, violin Hank Knox, harpsichord Present: Vivaldi’s “Manchester Sonatas”

Exceptional Duo Becomes First Canadian Artists to Record Exquisite Sonatas Unearthed from a Manchester, UK Library in 1973.

“I’d be glad to hear these gentlemen play anything … they make me want to hear whatever else they want to do. The
ensemble and intonation are perfect …” – American Record Guide


Leaf Music is proud to present a new recording of Vivaldi’s Manchester Sonatas featuring violinist Mark Fewer and harpsichordist Hank Knox. This is the first Canadian recording of the “Manchester” sonatas of Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741), a masterful collection of 12 works brought to light only in 1973. A follow up to their acclaimed 2018 recording of the Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord by J.S. Bach, this new recording from Fewer and Knox is available as of January 17, 2020.
These remarkable sonatas changed a great many hands over the centuries. When Cardinal Ottoboni – a patron of Vivaldi’s – died in 1740, a large number of manuscripts from his private collection were purchased by English classical scholar Edward Holdsworth. These manuscripts were then passed on to Charles Jennens, librettist of Handel’s Messiah. The scores came into the possession of several more collectors before coming to auction at Sotheby’s in London in 1918 and were acquired by renowned musicologist Newman Flower. When Flower died in 1964, his musical holdings were purchased by the Manchester Public Library, attracting the international attention of scholars and the media alike; Flower’s reputation as an eminent Handel scholar implied that important revelations concerning the musical giant were forthcoming.
However, a nearly exclusive focus on Handel resulted in the neglect of some of the other manuscripts, including these sonatas by Vivaldi which, despite being housed in Manchester’s Henry Watson Music Library from 1965 onward, were only discovered by British musicologist Michael Talbot in 1973.
The 12 “Manchester” sonatas, heard on the new album as arranged and recorded by Fewer and Knox in January 2019 at Eglise St. Augustin in Mirabel, Quebec, represent a high point of Vivaldi’s chamber music. The violin part offers complex compound melodies while the bass focuses primarily on its harmonic role, with both instruments free to improvise on the written score. Gramophone calls the sonatas “music of great beauty and vitality which will delight most if not all lovers of the late baroque.”
Known for his exceptional versatility, violinist Mark Fewer has been described as “intrepid” (The Globe and Mail) and “profound” (The WholeNote). His musical diet includes performances from the early baroque to the avantgarde, performing worldwide in famous halls such as Wigmore, Carnegie, and Pleyel, to smaller venues such as Le Poisson Rouge (NY), Bartok House (Budapest), and The Forum (Taipei). As a soloist, he has performed with the symphonies of Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Quebec, San Francisco and Melbourne, as well as with groups such as the Fodens-Richardson Brass Band (UK), the Zapp Quartet (Amsterdam), and as a featured guest with Stevie Wonder and his band. He was a founding member of the Duke Piano Trio, has been a member of the Smithsonian Chamber Players for over 15 years, and was violinist with the St. Lawrence String Quartet at Stanford University. Artistic Director of the SweetWater Music Festival for 16 years, Fewer was appointed Artistic Director of Stratford Summer Music in 2019. A Juno and Prix Opus winner, he is currently Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Toronto.
Hailed internationally for his “colorful, kinetic performances,” Hank Knox performs on harpsichord in concert halls, churches, museums, galleries and homes around the globe. A founding member of Montreal’s Arion Baroque Orchestra, with whom he has toured North and South America, Europe, and Japan, Knox also regularly performs and tours with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy and l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, among other groups, ensembles and orchestras. He has released a number of acclaimed recordings on rare antique instruments as well as copies of historical instruments. He teaches in the Early Music program at McGill University where he conducts the McGill Baroque Orchestra and has also directed a great number of baroque operas.

Download or stream Vivaldi Manchester Sonatas here

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Leaf Music and Music Nova Scotia Proudly Presents “Orchestrated Neighbours”


Orchestrated Neighbours brings together 16 African Nova Scotian and Indigenous youth artists, aged 16-28 from across Nova Scotia, to compose original music with each other in a team setting. Four songwriting teams collaborated with professional arrangers, performance artists and session musicians to perform and record their songs.

This is the second project from Orchestrated Neighbours, being released through Music Nova Scotia and Leaf Music. This project is a “mash-up” of various Urban contemporary (hip-hop, R&B, soul, etc) and Classical genres, that combines artistic and community goals through outreach, creation, and collaboration.

Download or Stream Orchestrated Neighbours HERE

The Orchestrated Neighbours project endeavours to braid artistic and community goals through outreach, collaboration and partnerships to improve Music Nova Scotia’s representation and service in African Nova Scotian and Indigenous music communities.

Orchestrated Neighbours is presented by ANSMA, the L’nuta’ql: Find Your Talk Music Showcase, The Province of Nova Scotia, Leaf Music, Music Nova Scotia, and the National Arts Centre.

1. Together We Can – Zamani Millar (vocal), Jhamelila Smith (vocal), Todd Googoo (vocal); Bela String Quartet (ensemble) arr: Andrew Jackson
2. Can’t Get Up – Edwin Hull (vocal); Mitchell Paquette (vocal); Chudi Harris (vocal); Bela String Quartet (ensemble) arr: Karlene Francis
3. Two Ways – Shay Pitts (vocal); Wolfcastle (vocal); Paollo13 (vocal); Bela String Quartet (ensemble) arr: Karlene Francis
4. Ghost – Jody Upshaw (vocal); Jericoe States (vocal); Jade Bennett (vocal, guitar); Bela String Quartet (ensemble) arr: Andrew Jackson


This project is funded in part by FACTOR, the government of Canada and Canada’s private radio broadcasters.
Ce projet est financé en partie par FACTOR, le gouvernement du Canada et les radiodiffuseurs privés du Canada.

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Stick&Bow Release “Resonance”

Marimba and cello form a vibrant and compelling – if unconventional – duo in the hands of Stick&Bow, comprised of Canadian marimba player Krystina Marcoux and Argentinian cellist Juan Sebastian Delgado. Resonance, the debut recording from the Montreal-based award-winning musicians, explores a wide palette of repertoire and styles, transcending tradition with new arrangements of music from Bach to Boccherini, and from Nina Simone to Radiohead. Performing Baroque or tango, rock or gypsy-jazz, Stick&Bow brings unique passion, wit, and technical mastery to eclectic and powerful arrangements of some of the most celebrated music in history, presenting the infinite potential of their combined instruments in refreshing and unexpected ways. Resonance is released on the Canadian label Leaf Music on November 1st, 2019.

The new album – with its bilingual liner notes, in true montréalais style – opens with a captivating mélange of works by J.S. Bach, with a transcription of the Adagio from the Sonata for viola da gamba in D Major swinging into the Prelude in D Major from the Well-Tempered Clavier. Also taking inspiration from Bach is American singer-songwriter Nina Simone, who adopts the composer’s contrapuntal style for the 1928 tune Love Me or Leave Me, here in an irresistible new arrangement. The album features not one but two fandangos, with Boccherini’s take on the traditional Spanish folk dance from his Quintet No. 4, and Paco de Lucia’s Entre Arrayanes, in one of Stick&Bow’s most technically challenging and creative arrangements, capturing the colour and essence of flamenco guitars.

A range of characters and moods emerge in three settings for marimba and cello of Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances, while the gypsy-jazz style of Stéphane Grappelli explodes in Tzigane, with idiomatic embellishments and virtuosic cadence-like runs. The revolutionary Argentine composer and virtuoso bandoneon player Astor Piazzolla is represented with his lyrical and nostalgic Invierno porteño, winter in Buenos Aires.

More illuminating performances from the classical repertoire include two movements from Schumann’s Fünf Stücke im Volkston and the second movement of Shostakovitch’s cello sonata. The complex harmonies and instrumental textures of Radiohead’s Paranoid Android is a surprisingly convincing element of the album, with marimba and cello exploring a range of timbres, including electric guitar sounds.

Also dedicated to working closely with contemporary composers on daring yet accessible works, Stick&Bow includes two new works on Resonance: Jason Noble’s (b. 1980) Folk Suite, a set of miniatures inspired by the rich folk traditions of his home province of Newfoundland and Labrador; and Parisian composer and bandoneon player Louise Jallu’s (b. 1994) À Gennevilliers, injected with fresh, jazzy harmonies and a freely improvised rhythmic section.

First-prize winner at the Latin-American cello competition (2008), Juan Sebastian Delgado holds a Doctoral degree in cello performance from McGill University and Krystina Marcoux, first-prize winner of the OSM competition (2012), holds her PhD from the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Lyon. Their music has brought them to share magical moments from Banff to Colombia, passing by Armenia, Italy, the USA, Ecuador, France and two extensive Canadian tours in 2019 & 2020 as “Emerging Artists” of Jeunesses Musicales du Canada.

leaf-music.ca stickandbow.com


This project is funded in part by FACTOR, the government of Canada and Canada’s private radio broadcasters.
Ce projet est financé en partie par FACTOR, le gouvernement du Canada et les radiodiffuseurs privés du Canada.

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Nous remercions le Conseil des Arts du Canada de son soutien.

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Halifax Violinist Releases: “Into the Stone”


Halifax violinist Gillian Smith will launch her debut album, Into the Stone, featuring music for solo violin by five Canadian women composers on September 25. Featured composers include Ana Sokolović. Kati Agócs, Alice Ping Yee Ho, Veronika Krausas and Chantale Laplante. The album is supported by The Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings (FACTOR), and is on the Leaf Music label. It will be available on digital music services as of September 27 including iTunes, Apple Music and Spotify and can be pre-ordered on Amazon and iTunes. The CD draws its title from Krausas’s composition Inside the Stone inspired by a line by Canadian poet Gwendolyn MacEwen, “What lives inside the stone? Miracles, strange light.”

A dynamic and intuitive performer, Gillian Smith enjoys a varied and exciting performance career as a violinist. Deeply committed to performing music by contemporary composers, she has recorded two CDs with members of the Acadia New Music Society on the Centrediscs label: Live Wired, which features the music of Derek Charke, Jérôme Blais, and Anthony Genge, and In Sonorous Falling Tones, which features the music of Derek Charke and which was nominated for an East Coast Music Award for Classical Recording of the Year in 2018. She can also be heard on a recording of the chamber music of Carmen Braden that will be released in November 2019.

Gillian Smith has appeared at such series and festivals as the Acadia Performing Arts Series, the East Coast Music Awards, Inner Space Concerts, the Music Room Chamber Players, Open Waters Festival, Shattering the Silence Festival, and Sunday Music in the Garden Room. She has also performed and recorded as an orchestral musician with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony, and Symphony Nova Scotia.

A dedicated teacher, Gillian Smith serves as instructor of violin and viola at the Acadia University School of Music and as head of the upper strings department at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts. Her students have won top prizes and awards in regional and national competitions.

Gillian Smith holds degrees in violin performance from the Eastman School of Music (B.Mus.), the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (M.Mus.), and the University of Minnesota (D.M.A). Her teachers have included Jorja Fleezanis, Camilla Wicks, Peter Salaff, and Philippe Djokic. You can learn more about her at https://gilliansmithviolin.com

This project is funded in part by FACTOR, the Government of Canada and Canada’s private radio broadcasters. Ce projet est financé en partie par FACTOR, le gouvernement du Canada et les radiodiffuseurs privés du Canada.

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Duo Kalysta Release Debut Album: “Origins”

Leaf Music is proud to present Origins, the debut album from Duo Kalysta, the acclaimed flute and harp duo comprised of Lara Deutsch and Emily Belvedere. Origins, featuring entrancing music – both familiar and new – by Canadian and French composers, will be released on September 6, 2019 and celebrated in album launch events in Toronto (September 9), Ottawa (September 22), and in Montreal (September 23).

Belvedere, praised for her “crystalline technique” (MusicWeb International) and Deutsch, who reveals “new worlds of colour and meaning in every single note” (CBC Music) met at McGill University in Montreal, where they performed Mozart’s Concerto for Flute and Harp under the baton of Alexis Hauser. “Origins” refers to their return to Montreal to record the album and to their beginnings as a chamber ensemble. Given the album’s Canadian and French repertoire, the title also alludes to the musicians’ Canadian heritage, as well as the heritage of their instruments, which were greatly impacted by French musical traditions. Gaining attention nationwide as a young duo with an exceptional musical connection, Duo Kalysta’s recording projects include a series of music videos for Mécénat Musica Vidéoclips. Following a recent performance by Duo Kalysta in Montreal, Les ArtsZé commented that that the audience enjoyed “the technical breadth of the two virtuosos … revealing a great richness.”

Origins features Claude Debussy’s beloved Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, with its famous, dreamy flute solo, in an intimate arrangement by harpist Judy Loman. Jocelyn Morlock’s Vespertine (2005) utilizes extended techniques to conjure night-blossoming plants and nocturnally-active creatures. Violist Marina Thibeault joins the duo for R. Murray Schafer’s impressionistic Trio for Flute, Viola, and Harp (2011), in which the grounding nature of the viola, the willowy harmonies of the harp, and the fluid motion of the flute combine in an enthralling harmonic atmosphere. Finally, Duo Kalysta is joined by Thibeault, as well violinist Alexander Read and cellist Carmen Bruno, for André Jolivet’s Chant de Linos (1944), evoking Greek timbres in this visceral, spiritual work, dedicated to Linus, the musician son of Apollo.

Named one of 2015’s “Hot 30 Under 30 Canadian Classical Musicians” by CBC Music, flutist Lara Deutsch is a versatile soloist, orchestral, and chamber musician with a passion for connecting with audiences. Lara was a first prize winner of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal’s 2014 Manulife Competition, at which she was awarded a total of seven prizes, including the Stingray Music Audience Award. She was the Grand Prize Winner of both the National Arts Centre Orchestra Bursary Competition (2014) and the Canadian Music Competition (2010), as well as a laureate of the Concours Prix d’Europe (2016). Lara also offers Performance Psychology Workshops, sharing the skills in optimizing performance that she has learned from her work with renowned Olympic performance psychologist, Jean-François Ménard.

Recipient of the Hnatyshyn Foundation Classical Music Grant for Orchestral Instruments, harpist Emily Belvedere has been praised for her “ease in merging lyrical and dissonant sounds” (MusicWeb International). Emily’s many awards include third prize at the American Harp Society’s 18th National Competition in Salt Lake City, Utah. Emily won the 2013 McGill Classical Concerto Competition as well as the prize for best performance of a Canadian work in the 2013 OSM Standard Life Competition in Montreal. An avid chamber musician, Emily was also a prizewinner in the Glenn Gould School Chamber Music Competition at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.

leaf-music.ca duokalysta.com

This project is funded in part by FACTOR, the government of Canada and Canada’s private radio broadcasters.

Ce projet est financé en partie par FACTOR, le gouvernement du Canada et les radiodiffuseurs privés du Canada.

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

Nous remercions le Conseil des Arts du Canada de son soutien.

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Nova Scotia pianist Jennifer King releases new EP: Emily Doolittle “Minute Études”

Leaf Music is thrilled to announce the release of pianist Jennifer King’s EP of “Minute Études: Books 1&2: (Excerpts) [Live].  The six short piano works are from a pair of volumes published by Halifax-born composer Emily Doolittle in 1998 and 2002.  The selections chosen by Jennifer King include, “Lonely,” “Furtive,” “Fleeting,” “Glassy,” “Languid,” and “Tranquil.”  Each selection offers listeners a “bite-sized” exploration of a programmatic mood or idea, whether it’s an interval, a rhythmic pattern, or an effect.
The recording was produced by Nova Scotia composer and former CBC radio producer Bob Bauer at the Halifax Central Library.  The live performance was part of an event titled ‘A Little Night Music’ presented by the Canadian Music Centre: Atlantic Region and Arts Nova Scotia.  Pianists Simon Docking, Jennifer King, Janet Hammock, and Barbara Pritchard were all part of the larger event.
The Minute Études EP follows her début album “O Mistress Moon” which received a 2019 East Coast Music Award nomination for “Classical Recording of the Year.”
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Halifax Violinist Releases Single from New Recording

For Immediate Release
July 23, 2019

(Dartmouth,NS) Halifax Violinist Releases Single from New Recording, Into the Stone

Halifax violinist Gillian Smith has released her first single from her debut album, Into the Stone, featuring music for solo violin by Canadian composers.  The featured piece is Dance II from Ana Sokolovic’s Cinque Danze per violino solo.  Other featured composers on the upcoming album include Kati Agócs, Alice Ping Yee Ho, Veronika Krausas and Chantale Laplante.  The album is supported by The Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings (FACTOR), and is on the Leaf Music label. You can hear the single, which is available now on digital music services including iTunes, Apple Music and Spotify, here: https://leaf-music.lnk.to/5danzeNo2.

The album launch for Into the Stone will take place on Wednesday, September 25 at 7:00 p.m. at Paul O’Regan Hall at the Halifax Central Library featuring performances by Gillian Smith with special guest, Jennifer King (piano).  Admission is free.

Gillian Smith will launch Into the Stone in Toronto at the Glenn Gould Studio on Saturday, October 5 with special guest Emily Rho, piano.

A dynamic and intuitive performer, Gillian Smith enjoys a varied and exciting performance career as a violinist. Deeply committed to performing music by contemporary composers, she has recorded two CDs with members of the Acadia New Music Society on the Centrediscs label: Live Wired, which features the music of Derek Charke, Jérôme Blais, and Anthony Genge, and In Sonorous Falling Tones, which features the music of Derek Charke and which was nominated for an East Coast Music Award for Classical Recording of the Year in 2018.  She can also be heard on a recording of the chamber music of Carmen Braden that will be released on November 2019.

Gillian Smith has appeared at such series and festivals as the Acadia Performing Arts Series, the East Coast Music Awards, Inner Space Concerts, the Music Room Chamber Players, Open Waters Festival, Shattering the Silence Festival, and Sunday Music in the Garden Room.  She has also performed and recorded as an orchestral musician with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony, and Symphony Nova Scotia.

A dedicated teacher, Gillian Smith serves as an instructor of violin and viola at the Acadia University School of Music and as head of the upper strings department at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts.  Her students have won top prizes and awards in regional and national competitions.

Gillian Smith holds degrees in violin performance from the Eastman School of Music (B.Mus.), the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (M.Mus.), and the University of Minnesota (D.M.A).  Her teachers have included Jorja Fleezanis, Camilla Wicks, Peter Salaff, and Philippe Djokic.

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Note to editors:  For more information/photos or to arrange interviews please contact Peggy Walt, peggy@culturalaffairs.ca, (902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

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Saint John String Quartet launches new album: “Canadian Hits: Unplugged”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Saint John String Quartet Releases New Album, Canadian Hits: Unplugged

The Saint John String Quartet continues to make their mark on the Canadian music scene with the release of their new album, Canadian Hits: Unplugged. This album represents a step outside of a string quartet’s norm with 16 pop hits from Canadian icons, including Leonard Cohen, the Arkells, Joni Mitchell and The Tragically Hip.

“Each arrangement is completely different with a number of elements that will surprise listeners. The recordings are fun, fresh and innovative takes on Canadian pop songs,” says Sonja Adams, cellist with the quartet.

The Saint John String Quartet brings a new dimension to the listening experience of old favorites like “If You Could Read My Mind” by Gordon Lightfoot, Stan Rogers’ “Northwest Passage” or Corey Hart’s “Sunglasses at Night” as well as newer songs like the award-winning “Francis” by Quebec artist Coeur de pirate and the bluesy “Spring to Come” by First Nations duo Digging Roots.

The dazzling arrangements were created exclusively for the group by Toronto-based tunesmith Rebecca Pellett, who has orchestrated for the likes of David Myles, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and several IMAX and Hollywood film productions. Fredericton-born producer/engineer and owner of Halifax-based Leaf Music, Jeremy VanSlyke, recorded the album over four days, supported by the pristine acoustics of St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Rothesay. The album cover art features “Laurel” by Saint John artist Deanna Musgrave along with graphic design by local singer-songwriter Jessica Rhaye.

This is the sixth recording release by the Quartet, and follows in the inventive direction of the group’s previous offerings. For more than 30 years, the Quartet has stood among Canada’s leading chamber music ensembles. The stylistic and energetic troupe is highly sought after for special collaborations within different musical genres – a reflection of their versatility and flexibility.

In July, Quartet violinists David Adams and Danielle Sametz, along with violist Christopher Buckley and cellist Sonja Adams will be promoting the new album on an Atlantic tour. Canadian Hits: Unplugged will be available in stores and on major streaming platforms starting July 5, 2019.

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About Saint John String Quartet

For more than 30 years, the Saint John String Quartet has stood among Canada’s leading chamber music ensembles. Renowned for its flexibility, the Quartet is equally comfortable collaborating with blues artists and rock superstars, and performing Classical masterworks on its own.

The Quartet performs more than 125 concerts annually and serves as musicians-in-residence for both Symphony New Brunswick and the University of New Brunswick. It has performed for numerous heads of state and at prestigious venues the world over, including many countries in the Far East, Europe, and South America.

With many recordings to its credit, it has earned a Juno nomination for Classical Composition of the Year, and won an East Coast Music Award for Best Classical Album of the Year and a Music NB award for Best Album of the Year. Its albums feature new and innovative works to underappreciated classical gems.

The Saint John String Quartet has been recognized for many groundbreaking achievements, including its leadership and contributions to musical development in New Brunswick.

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Platti’s Flute Sonatas played by Alexa Raine-Wright coming May 10

Montreal, April 23rd, 2019. Leaf Music is proud to announce that the album Platti Flute Sonatas Op. 3, dedicated to the works composed by the Italian Composer Giovanni Benedetto Platti, will be available in stores as of May 10th. These rare pieces are performed by Alexa Raine-Wright (baroque flute), accompanied by Camille Paquette-Roy (baroque cello), Sylvain Bergeron (archlute and baroque guitar) and Rona Nadler (harpsichord).

“Italian composer Giovanni Benedetto Platti (1697–1763) spent his early years in Venice under the tutelage of Francesco Gasparini, as well as Ospedale della Pietà composer Antonio Vivaldi (though evidence of their encounter is scant). In 1722, he moved to Würzburg, Germany where he spent the rest of his life working as a composer, instrumentalist, and tenor. In a commemorative note written to Padre Martini in 1764, Florentine musician Domenico Palafuti remembered Platti as “the Paduan master…who composed celebrated sonatas for the hammer cembalo [most likely Cristofori’s famous fortepiano] that he got to know in Siena, as well as church music and chamber music.” Indeed, it was for his keyboard music that Platti first came to widespread attention, upon the publication of his VI. Sonates pour le clavessin sur le goût italien in 1742. The historical emphasis placed on these pieces, however, has cast a shadow over the composer’s other works, many of which are deserving of our attention. In particular, his Sei sonate a flauto traversiere solo con violoncello overo cembalo, Op. 3, feature an impressive palette of affects. As Platti’s flute sonatas make clear, the composer had one foot planted firmly in the Baroque, and the other foot pointed toward the Classical style. One can only hope that time is the only hurdle that stands between these important works and the wider audience of performers, scholars, and listeners they deserve…” Andrew Schartmann.

Sonata No. 1 in D major

[1] I. Adagio

[2] II. Allegro

[3] III. Andantino: Cantabile

[4] IV. Tempo di Minuet

Sonata No. 2 in G major

[5] I. Grave

[6] II. Allegro

[7] III. Largo

[8] IV. Allegro molto

Sonata No. 3 in E minor

[9] I. Allegro mà non molto

[10] II. Larghetto

[11] III. Minuet – Trio alternat: Amoroso

[12] IV. Giga

Sonata No. 4 in A major

[13] I. Grave e cantabile

[14] II. Allegro

[15] III. Larghetto

[16] IV. Allegro moderato

Sonata No. 5 in C major

[17] I. Pastorale: Allegro

[18] II. Non tanto adagio

[19] III. Allegro assai: Alla breve

Sonata No. 6 in G major

[20] I. Siciliana: Adagio

[21] II. Allegro

[22] III. Non tanto adagio mà cantabile

[23] IV. Arietta con Variazioni: Non tanto allegro

Alexa Raine-Wright will launch this album in collaboration with Leaf Music, in Montreal on le Thursday, May 2nd at 5:30 PM, salle Joseph-Rouleau (Jeunesses Musicales Canada), 305, avenue du Mont-Royal Est, Montreal.

Producer and Recording Engineer: Jeremy VanSlyke

Assistant Recording Engineer: Ben B. Creelman

Editing: Jeremy VanSlyke, Ben B. Creelman

Église Saint-Augustin, Mirabel (Québec), Canada – May 2018

Graphic design: © Kimberly Reine Design Studio

Photos: © Elizabeth Delage

Special thanks: Jonathan Addleman, Hank Knox, Claire Guimond

www.leaf-music.ca

 

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Alexa Raine-Wright: http://www.alexarainewright.com/

Information and interviews: IXION Communications, 514 495-8176, henry.welsh@ixioncommunications.com

Follow us !!! facebook.com/IXIONComm / twitter.com/IXIONComm / instagram.com/ixioncomm

 

This project is funded in part by FACTOR, the Government of Canada and Canada’s private radio broadcasters.

Ce projet est financé en partie par FACTOR, le gouvernement du Canada et les radiodiffuseurs privés du Canada.