The title of this album, Origins, is meaningful to us on many levels. It’s our debut album, recorded in Montreal where we first met in 2012. It reflects our Canadian origins by including music by two of our favourite Canadian composers. It is inspired by the heritage of our instruments, as the traditions of both flute and harp were greatly influenced by French music. And it marks the beginning of our journey towards more recording projects, repertoire commissions, and new collaborations. We hope you enjoy listening to this album as much as we loved making it.---Le titre de cet album, Origins, est significatif pour nous à plusieurs égards. Il s’agit de notre premier album et il a été enregistré à Montréal, où nous nous sommes rencontrés pour la première fois en 2012. Il reflète nos origines en tant que Canadiennes puisqu’il comporte de la musique de deux de nos compositeurs canadiens favoris. Cet album est aussi inspiré de l’héritage de nos instruments ; en effet les traditions de la flute et de la harpe ont été fortement influencées par la musique française. Il marque le début d’une série de projets d’enregistrement, de commandes auprès de compositeurs actuels, et de nouvelles collaborations. Nous espérons que vous prendrez autant de plaisir à écouter cet album que nous en avons eu à le faire.<img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1770" src="http://leaf-music.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/FACTORCANADA-300x50.png" alt="" width="300" height="50" /> <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1771" src="http://leaf-music.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/CCFA_RGB_colour_e-300x55.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="55" />

<iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://open.spotify.com/follow/1/?uri=spotify:artist:2OOJDYJuFiRHflh0cfHIzE&size=detail&theme=light" width="300" height="56" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>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: <i>Live Wired, </i>which features the music of Derek Charke, Jérôme Blais, and Anthony Genge, and <i>I</i><i>n Sonorous Falling Tones</i><i>,</i> 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. <div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy sd-like-enabled sd-sharing-enabled"> <div id="like-post-wrapper-113603533-3-5d4a3e2faf995" class="sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-loaded" data-src="//widgets.wp.com/likes/index.html?ver=20190321#blog_id=113603533&post_id=3&origin=gilliansmithviolin.wordpress.com&obj_id=113603533-3-5d4a3e2faf995&domain=gilliansmithviolin.com" data-name="like-post-frame-113603533-3-5d4a3e2faf995"></div> </div>

<iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://open.spotify.com/follow/1/?uri=spotify:artist:3BEEh34pFj6cB5cs1WUPNp&size=detail&theme=light" width="300" height="56" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe>Energetic and insightful, Jennifer King is a versatile pianist and educator who is equally at home on the concert stage and in the classroom. Her album O Mistress Moon received a 2019 East Coast Music Award nomination for 2019 Classical Recording of the Year.Doolittle: Minute Études "Excerpts" (Live) features excerpts from a series of piano pieces by composer Emily Doolittle. Each pieces explores one idea, whether it's an interval, a rhythmic pattern, or an effect.

<iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://open.spotify.com/follow/1/?uri=spotify:artist:6RG7kRo6XkGaYcILnpREKo&size=detail&theme=light" width="300" height="56" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>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.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. <h4>Track list:</h4> Knocking at the Door ARKELLSBlack Velvet ALANNAH MYLESAdia SARAH MCLACHLANFrancis COEUR DE PIRATEAfter the Gold Rush NEIL YOUNGThese Eyes THE GUESS WHOBrian Wilson BARENAKED LADIESSunglasses at Night COREY HARTNorthwest Passage STAN ROGERSMiss Chatelaine K.D. LANGTake This Waltz LEONARD COHENSpring To Come DIGGING ROOTSRiver JONI MITCHELLIf You Could Read My Mind GORDON LIGHTFOOTAhead by a Century THE TRAGICALLY HIPOphelia THE BAND

Skye Consort & Emma Björling perform a mix of traditional music from Québec, Sweden, Norway, and Celtic music. Each musician brings their own interpretation to these traditions, creating this awesome collaboration, consisting of voices, fiddle, nyckelharpa, cello, and cittern. An assortment of whirling polkas, groovy reels, passionate love songs, breathtaking hymns, and original compositions.<img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1833" src="http://leaf-music.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/support-300x96.png" alt="" width="300" height="96" />

<iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://open.spotify.com/follow/1/?uri=spotify:artist:0UJPjZhhU63qCJLjw0Hp2N&size=detail&theme=light" width="300" height="56" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>Known for her spirited and luminous sound, Baroque flute player Alexa Raine-Wright shares her eloquent interpretations with audiences across North America in solo, chamber and orchestral performances. This debut solo recording brings to light a collection of rarely heard works by Giovanni Benedetto Platti (1697–1763), a composer with one foot planted firmly in the Baroque, and the other foot pointed toward the Classical style.Reconnue pour son vif et lumineux, Alexa Raine-Wright partage ses interprétations éloquentes à la flûte traversière baroque avec le public nord américain lors de concerts solo, de musique de chambre et d'orchestre. Ce premier disque solo de Mme. Raine-Wright présente six sonates de Giovanni Benedetto Platti (1697–1763), un compositeur qui, bien qu’ancré dans le baroque, ouvre la voie vers le style classique.

<iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://open.spotify.com/follow/1/?uri=spotify:artist:3kM4u1HeBPmMGLPFjDQEoY&size=detail&theme=light" width="300" height="56" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>Montreal-based Infusion Baroque draws new audiences to early music by integrating chamber music performance with other artistic media. The ensemble has performed across Canada and the United States. Their debut album 1747: C.P.E. Bach was released in 2017 and reached #3 on iTunes Canada Classical chart. Infusion Baroque's second album is the debut recording of six rare quintets by Georg Anton Kreüsser. Joyful and elegant, these pieces for flute, violin, viola, cello, and basso continuo feature the instruments engaged in a lively musical conversation that are sure to delight and charm listeners. <p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-1771" src="http://leaf-music.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/CCFA_RGB_colour_e-1024x188.jpg" alt="" width="436" height="80" /><em>We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country.</em></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. L’an dernier, le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de l’art dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.</em></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-1770" src="http://leaf-music.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/FACTORCANADA.png" alt="" width="1205" height="200" /></p>

<iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://open.spotify.com/follow/1/?uri=spotify:artist:706jB8KYaMxVVTGcjlr515&size=detail&theme=light" width="300" height="56" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><strong>AVAILABLE OCTOBER 26</strong><strong>PREORDER NOW </strong>Robert deMaine is an American virtuoso cellist who has been hailed by The New York Times as "an artist who makes one hang on every note". He has distinguished himself as one of the finest and most versatile instrumentalists of his generation, performing to critical acclaim as soloist, recitalist, orchestral principal, recording artist and chamber musician. He is currently Principal Cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and is in demand around the world as a soloist, chamber musician and clinician. This recording is a collaboration with New York conductor Joel Eric Suben and the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra recorded at Reduta Conceret Hall in Olomuc, Czech Republic.It was in this spirit of personalized composition that Haydn wrote his Cello Concerto in C major, Hob. VIIb:1, for the Esterházy family. The piece was unknown to modern audiences until 1961, when a copy of the score was uncovered. Since that time, it has become a staple of the cello repertoire, championed by many of the world’s greatest cellists. Robert deMaine adds his name to that list with this lush recording. Haydn’s Cello Concerto in D major, Hob. VIIb:2 was written for the Esterházy orchestra’s principal cellist Antonín Kraft, who is said to have had a beautiful singing tone, expressive phrasing, and an explosive technique, especially in the cello’s upper register. All of this is realized once again in this fresh performance from Robert deMaine.

<iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://open.spotify.com/follow/1/?uri=spotify:artist:3HfHzuWzYmINYSeBfxfBNg&size=detail&theme=light" width="300" height="56" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>Canadian organist Gayle h. Martin's follow-up album to Partners in Time, Part I (2015) continues to explore works by J.S. Bach and Dietrich Buxtehude, while taking listeners on an even more adventurous journey. This album includes works inspired by Bach and Buxtehude from Mendelssohn, Franz Liszt and Peter Eben.

<iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://open.spotify.com/follow/1/?uri=spotify:artist:3BEEh34pFj6cB5cs1WUPNp&size=detail&theme=light" width="300" height="56" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">O Mistress Moon is a collection of two centuries of Nocturnes and night inspired music from composers Chopin, Britten, Satie, Debussy, Barber, Poulenc, Schumann, Scriabin, Respighi, and Juno award winning composer Derek Charke. The music promises to transport you to the moon and back on a peaceful, thought-provoking journey.</span></p>

<iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://open.spotify.com/follow/1/?uri=spotify:artist:18ZrdsOIGneKLficg0T7Wz&size=detail&theme=light" width="300" height="56" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>Ex Tempore is the debut album from the Nova Scotia-based Charke-Cormier duo. Derek Charke and Eugene Cormier have curated a charming program that includes an original composition by Charke (Ex Tempore), and arrangements of Handel and Peter Maxwell Davies by Cormier paired with works by Debussy, Handel and Brazilian-Canadian composer Celso Machado. 

<iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://open.spotify.com/follow/1/?uri=spotify:artist:3jzTQNVcq3PujiwDwggdvl&size=detail&theme=light" width="300" height="56" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>OH Canada: A Young 150!, is the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra’s (NBYO) celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday. The NBYO’s celebration pays tribute to Confederation and the accomplishments of a great history, but also to a future to be built from all the genius, optimism and hope of our youth.The centrepiece of the celebration is a song commissioned by
the NBYO, for orchestra, soloist and choir, by Canadian composer Howard Shore, winner of three Academy Awards, three Golden Globes and four Grammy Awards, and one of the most celebrated composers in the world. The song ‘Sea to Sea’ is performed by
the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra with internationally renowned soprano Measha Brueggergosman and a special Canada 150 Choir.Oh Canada : jeune de 150 ans est la célébration du 150e anniversaire du Canada de l’Orchestre des jeunes du Nouveau‐Brunswick
(OJNB). Cette célébration rend hommage à la Confédération et aux réalisations d’une merveilleuse histoire, ainsi qu’à un avenir qui sera façonné par l’ingéniosité, l’optimisme et l’espoir de nos jeunes. La pièce maîtresse de la célébration est une chanson commandée par l’OJNB pour orchestre, soliste et chorale. Elle a été composée par le Canadien Howard Shore, lauréat de trois Academy Awards, trois Golden Globes et quatre prix Grammy, et l’un des compositeurs les plus célébrés au monde. La pièce « D’un océan à l’autre » est présentée par l’Orchestre des jeunes du Nouveau‐Brunswick, Measha Brueggergosman, soprano de renommée internationale, ainsi qu’une chorale spéciale en l’honneur du 150e du Canada.

<iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://open.spotify.com/follow/1/?uri=spotify:artist:3y2XoOpasA4Yuz8luvzQys&size=detail&theme=light" width="300" height="56" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>Described as “genre-bending” by the National Post, and “intrepid” by the Globe and Mail, Mark Fewer has performed around the world to critical acclaim in virtually every role asked of a violinist, from the early baroque to the avant-garde.As one of today’s busiest musicians in the field of Early Music, Hank Knox is hailed internationally for his “colorful, kinetic performances” (AllMusic Guide) which “abound in vitality” (Early Music America).

<iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://open.spotify.com/follow/1/?uri=spotify:artist:706jB8KYaMxVVTGcjlr515&size=detail&theme=light" width="300" height="56" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>ROBERT deMAINE is an American virtuoso cellist who has been hailed by The New York Times as "an artist who makes one hang on every note”. He has distinguished himself as one of the finest and most versatile instrumentalists of his generation, performing to critical acclaim as soloist, recitalist, orchestral principal, recording artist, and chamber musician. In 2012 he was invited to join the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Principal Cello. DeMaine is the cellist of the highly acclaimed Ehnes String Quartet as well as the newly formed Dicterow-deMaine-Biegel Trio.A first-prize winner in many national and international competitions, deMaine was the first cellist ever to win the grand prize at San Francisco’s Irving M. Klein International Competition for Strings. As soloist, he has collaborated with many distinguished conductors, including Neeme Järvi, Peter Oundjian, Joseph Silverstein, and Leonard Slatkin, and has performed nearly all the major cello concertos with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, where he served as principal cello for over a decade. DeMaine has also served as a guest principal cello of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, and the Bergen Philharmonic in Norway.ROBERT deMAINE is an American virtuoso cellist who has been hailed by The New York Times as "an artist who makes one hang on every note”. He has distinguished himself as one of the finest and most versatile instrumentalists of his generation, performing to critical acclaim as soloist, recitalist, orchestral principal, recording artist, and chamber musician. In 2012 he was invited to join the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Principal Cello. DeMaine is the cellist of the highly acclaimed Ehnes String Quartet as well as the newly formed Dicterow-deMaine-Biegel Trio.A first-prize winner in many national and international competitions, deMaine was the first cellist ever to win the grand prize at San Francisco’s Irving M. Klein International Competition for Strings. As soloist, he has collaborated with many distinguished conductors, including Neeme Järvi, Peter Oundjian, Joseph Silverstein, and Leonard Slatkin, and has performed nearly all the major cello concertos with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, where he served as principal cello for over a decade. DeMaine has also served as a guest principal cello of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, and the Bergen Philharmonic in Norway.

<h3><iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://open.spotify.com/follow/1/?uri=spotify:artist:50kOqoy3XQ2Ap10un8Z6Vc&size=detail&theme=light" width="300" height="56" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></h3> <h3></h3>  The debut album of soprano Maureen Batt features a rare recording of Schubert’s “Op. 52 Lady of the Lake” song cycle and a newly commissioned work on the same epic Walter Scott poem by Nova Scotia’s Fiona Ryan.  Both cycles feature Jon-Paul Décosse, bass-baritone.  Batt and Décosse are joined by collaborative pianist Simon Docking.  Schubert's Op. 52 cycle also includes performances from the Halifax Camerata Singers and a male vocal quartet: Justin Simard, <span class="markhi79ub4zl" data-markjs="true" data-ogac="" data-ogab="" data-ogsc="" data-ogsb="">Leander </span>Mendoza, James Levesque, Rob O'Quinn.This album received a Nova Scotia Music Award nomination for <strong>2017 Classical Recording of the Year</strong>, and East Coast Music Award nominations for <strong>2018 Classical Composition of the Year </strong>and <strong>2018 Classical Recording of the Year.</strong>

<iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://open.spotify.com/follow/1/?uri=spotify:artist:6mfQDK3TW5yS1S0otstA41&size=detail&theme=light" width="300" height="56" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>Danor Quinteros studied at Zürich School of Arts (Prof. Homero Francesch) and at Hochschule für Musik Köln (Prof. Jacob Leuschner). He has given recitals throughout his native Chile as well as in Germany, France, Canada, Italy and Spain. He also participated in numerous Masterclasses around the world with Jaques Rouvier, Jun Kanno, Robert Mcdonald, and Andrea Lucchesini.He has won prizes at the Ile de France International Competition, chilean national piano competitions and the International Claudio Arrau Competition.

<iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://open.spotify.com/follow/1/?uri=spotify:artist:3kM4u1HeBPmMGLPFjDQEoY&size=detail&theme=light" width="300" height="56" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>Winners of the Grand Prize and Audience Prize at the 2014 Early Music America Baroque Performance Competition, Montreal based Infusion Baroque has recorded a much-anticipated debut CD featuring trio sonatas by CPE Bach. Their performances have been described as “dynamic and alive” with a stage presence that is “poised and elegant.”

<iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://open.spotify.com/follow/1/?uri=spotify:artist:0X62AnuzdQAE3eLDcIG4nz&size=detail&theme=light" width="300" height="56" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>Well before the Nationalist schools of the nineteenth century, Celtic music in general, and Scots tunes in particular, enjoyed a period of great popularity throughout Great Britain. Composers trained in the Italian art music of the time borrowed traditional Celtic melodies and used them to create musical hybrids which owed as much to the ornamental stylings of Corelli as to the fiddle and lute traditions of Scotland. Strangely, the actual Celtic composers, arrangers and publishers of the period, many of whom synthesized the traditional idioms of their native culture with real flair and affection, are often overlooked in explorations of what was dubbed the “Scots drawing room style” by the eighteenth-century music publisher James Johnson. The goal of this recording is to bring attention to these over-looked composers. The programme includes works by James Oswald, General John Reid, Edward Jones, William McGibbon, Turlough O’Carolan, and excerpts from the Rowallan and Straloch lute books.

<iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://open.spotify.com/follow/1/?uri=spotify:artist:73usTDRtdTSYdSBXjcWQK9&size=detail&theme=light" width="300" height="56" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>After many years of performing as a concert pianist, working as the artistic director for the Barachois Summer Music Series and collaborating on a variety of critically acclaimed musical projects across Canada, Julien Leblanc has released his first solo album, a piano recording entitled Mélancolies.The album is a compilation of French compositions that became a staple of Leblanc’s repertoire after he discovered them early on in his career. The composers included in this recorded collection — Franck, Poulenc and Dutilleux — all hail from France and their combined output stretches from the mid-nineteenth century to Dutilleux’s last work which was published in 2009 when he was ninety-three.Francis Poulenc was a less avant-garde contemporary of Erik Satie and Jean Cocteau and so, his work is accessible but inventive and fresh. Poulenc’s “Fifteen Improvisations” are known for their charming and buoyant character as well as for the technical artistry of the composer’s pedalling.Henri Dutilleux’s work was more heavily influenced by his environmental context when he was composing music just after World War Two. The included piece by Dutilleux, “Sonata for piano”, denotes the turbulence, anguish and anxiety that pervaded during that period through his use of contrast — he juxtaposes rhythmic and jagged sections with sensual, dreamlike and ethereal parts.Composing fifty years before Dutilleux and Poulenc, César Franck‘s “Prélude, choral et fugue” is religious and takes a cyclic form. In its closing coda, Franck masterfully superimposes the previous sections of his composition. The character of the work is philosophical and contemplative yet at the same time passionate and fervid.Julien Leblanc connects these differing French compositions through his acute sensibilities and expressive piano playing. He fuses the works together with a consistent expression of melancholy which he identifies in each work.Leblanc writes of this feeling in the notes of his album when he says ”A sense of melancholy pervades the pieces presented in this recording and I am especially attached to them. Be it dreamlike or loving, resigned or fatalistic, or caused by the absence of a loved one, this feeling of melancholy runs through these four pieces. As a shadow in the light, it contrasts with expressions of joy and happiness, intensifying them in the process. I present this recording to you humbly and with all my heart.”

<iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://open.spotify.com/follow/1/?uri=spotify:artist:3dgjZyFAUXyzW0i7IeJ9uz&size=detail&theme=light" width="300" height="56" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>There Was a Time by Nova Scotia-born composer Cy Giacomin uses the memorable text from Ecclesiastes 3 that somehow sums up the "interesting times" during which this music was written. Times of economic insecurity, spiritual longing, terrorism, and natural disasters have intertwined with incredible advances in technology and medicine, peace in most of the world, an awakening in environmental awareness, and imagined connectedness through social media. Through all the interesting times - past, present, future - music sustains us.