The UA Blog - Press Centre

SOLILOQUIES - SONGS BY MESSIAEN, CHAUSSON, EISLER AND PAUL WILLOT-FÖRSTER WITH MARIA HEGELE AND ANNA SZAŁUCKA ON 10 NOVEMBER 2023

13/7/2023

Click above to pre-order from iTunes with digital booklet

Ulysses Arts releases a new album of songs by Messiaen, Frank Bridge, Chausson, Eisler and new works by Paul Willot-Förster on Friday 10 November 2023, performed by mezzo-soprano Maria Hagele and pianist Anna Szałucka with Connie Pharoah, viola, and Emily Turkanik, violin. Full details of streaming links will be published here.

SOLILOQUIES ALBUM DETAILS

OLIVIER MESSIAEN, Harawi - Chant d'amour et de mort
1: I. La ville qui dormait, toi 02:31
2: II. Bonjour toi, colombe verte 03:27
3: III. Montagnes 02:58

FRANK BRIDGE, Three Songs for Voice, Viola and Piano, H. 76
with Connie Pharoah, viola
4. I. Far, far from each other 03:33
5. II. Where is it that our soul doth go 03:08
6. III. Music when soft voices die 02:01

'CLEMENS CZERNIK'
with Emily Turkanik, violin
7. Graciella 02:02

PAUL WILLOT-FÖRSTER
with Emily Turkanik, violin
8. Selbstgespräche: I. Vorwort/Entschuldigung 01:48
9. Selbstgespräche: II. Schlaflied 03:05
10. Selbstgespräche: III. Vokalise 03:22
11. Selbstgespräche: IV. Weltende 01:45

ERNEST CHAUSSON, Serres chaudes, Op. 24
12. I. Serre chaude 03:03
13. II. Serre d'ennui 02:30
14. III. Lassitude 02:22
15. IV. Fauves las 01:51
16. V. Oraison 02:16

HANNS EISLER
17. Fünf Elegien No. 4: Diese Stadt hat mich belehrt 01:28
18. Der Pflaumenbaum 01:41
19. Faustus‘ Verzweiflung 00:50
20. Fünf Elegien, No. 1: Unter den grünen Pfefferbäumen 00:53
21. Goethe-Fragment 01:45
22. Was ich dort gelebt 00:57

OLIVIER MESSIAEN, Harawi - Chant d'amour et de mort
23. X. Amour, oiseau d‘étoile 04:47
24. XI. Katchikatchi les étoiles 02:01
25. XII. Dans le noir 05:42

Click here for texts and translations

Maria Hegele

Anna Szałucka

Connie Pharoah

Emily Turkanik

Chausson, Lassitude, on Apple Music's New in Classical playlist

Caritas Chamber Choir - John Kelley, When You are Old - world première recording released by Ulysses Arts on 30 December 2022

21/12/2022

John Kelley's When You are Old is an atmospheric setting of W.B. Yeats’ famous poem: its retrospective nature is a perfect work to precede the New Year, performed by the Caritas Chamber Choir conducted by Benedict Preece.

American composer John Kelley studied at Yale University and is a lay clerk at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco. His setting of When You are Old won the 1997 National Award for Schirmer’s Young American Choral Competition; it is performed annually by Redhot & Blue, Yale University’s world-renowned mixed a capella ensemble.

Caritas Chamber Choir

Links to listen or download on digital service providers will be posted here on 30 December.

John Kelley

Benedict Preece

CARITAS CHAMBER CHOIR RELEASES 'CHRISTMAS WITH CARITAS' ALBUM ON 25 NOVEMBER 2022

9/11/2022

Ulysses Arts releases Canterbury-based Caritas Chamber Choir's first Christmas album, directed by Benedict Preece, on 25 November 2022. Christmas with Caritas features traditional carols in new arrangements with première recordings of contemporary works by Phillip Cooke, Sarah Cattley, Graham Patterson, Anthony Esland, Eric Choate, Stewart Duncan and Simon Beattie.

Click to download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music

Download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music: click above

Christmas with Caritas is preceeded by two singles from the album:

Phillip Cooke, I Sing of a Maiden - 28 October
Sarah Cattley, What Child is this? - 11 November

Download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music.

Download on iTunes on stream on Apple Music.

Album Details

Tradition (arr. Benedict Preece), O Little Town of Bethlehem
Lyricist: Phillips Brooks

Sarah Cattley, What Child is this?
Lyricist: William Chatterton Dix

Graham Patterson, Sweet was the Song
Lyricist: Anonymous/Graham Patterson

Traditional (arr. Benedict Preece), Ding Dong Merrily on High
Lyricist: George Ratcliffe Woodward

Sarah Cattley, The Robin Carol
Lyricist: Sarah Cattley/Traditional

Phillip Cooke, I Sing of a Maiden
Soloists: Christina Bosanko, Christina Astin, Peter Ellis, Graham Titus
Lyricist: Anonymous

Phillip Cooke, Susanni
Soloists: Catherine Futcher, Bob McKay
Lyricist: Traditional

Franz Gruber (arr. Phillip Cooke), Silent Night
Lyricist: Joseph Mohr, John F. Young

Sarah Cattley/Michael Praetorius, A Spotless Rose
Soloist: Peter Ellis
Lyricist: Traditional, Catherine Winkworth

Graham Patterson, Balulalow
Lyricist: Wedderburn brothers

Anthony Esland, The Bee Carol
Lyricist: Carol Ann Duffy

Traditional (arr. Eric Choate), Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella
Lyricist: Anonymous

Stewart Duncan, There is no Rose
Lyricist: Anonymous

Lewis Redner (arr. David Conte), O Little Town of Bethlehem
Soloist: Sally-Anne Hanson
Lyricist: Phillips Brooks

Simon Beattie, Advent Calendar
Lyricist: Rowan Williams

TAMAYO IKEDA: SCHUBERT LIEDER ARRANGED BY LISZT AND IMPROMPTUS, RELEASED ON 14 OCTOBER 2022

24/8/2022

Japanese pianist Tamayo Ikeda released her album of Schubert Lieder in their virtuosic solo arragements by Franz Liszt, alongside Schubert's Impromptus D. 899, on 14 October 2022.

Download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music: click above

Album Details

1. Ständchen, S. 560/7: Schwanengesang No. 4
2. Der Lindenbaum, S. 561/7: Winterreise No. 5
3. Wasserflut, S. 561/6: Winterreise No. 6
4. Wohin? Müllerlieder von Franz Schubert, S.565/5: Die schöne Müllerin, No. 2
5. Die Müller und der Bach, Müllerlieder von Franz Schubert, S.565/2: Die schöne Müllerin, No. 19
6. Ave Maria: 12 Lieder von Franz Schubert, No. 12, S. 558/12

7. Impromptu No. 1, Op. 90 in C Minor, D. 899: Allegro molto moderato
8. Impromptu No. 2 Op. 90 in E-flat Major, D. 899: Allegro
9. Impromptu No. 3 Op. 90 in G-flat Major, D. 899: Andante
10. Impromptu No. 4 Op. 90 in A-flat Major, D. 899: Allegretto

11. Auf dem Wasser zu Singen: 12 Lieder von Franz Schubert, S. 558/2
12. Der Erlkönig: 12 Lieder von Franz Schubert, S. 558/4
13. Meeres Stille: 12 Lieder von Franz Schubert, S. 558/5
14. Die Forelle: 6 Melodien von Franz Schubert, S. 563/6

All tracks arranged for solo piano by Franz Liszt except Nos. 7-10.

Tamayo Ikeda was born in Japan in 1971, and began playing piano aged three. She joined the Toho Gakuen institute 1986 and to completed her studies in France at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris, where she studied with Jacques Rouvier and chamber music with Régis Pasquier. She was awarded two first prizes before joining the class of Pascal Devoyon.

Tamayo Ikeda is the beneficiary of a grant from the APEF and the Société Générale Bank, and has received valuable advice from leading artists such as Dimitri Bashkirov, Halina Czerny-Stefanska, Léon Fleisher and Maria Joao Pirès. She won Second Prize and the special Claude Debussy Award at the Yvonne Lefébure International competition (no first prize awarded), a special prize at the Porto International Ccompetition, and both First Prize and Casadesus Prize at the Francis Poulenc International Competition.

Tamayo Ikeda has appeared at major European festivals, in South Africa, Russia, Indonesia, at New York's Carnegie Hall, and has performed on numerous television and radio programmes. Her discography includes works by Poulenc and Fauré (Arcobaleno), an album of Stockhausen Sonatas with clarinettist Jean-Philippe Vivier (Solstice), a previous Schubert album (Warner-Lontano) and, with violinist Gêrard Poulet, works by Stravinsky and Prokofiev.

'While there are countless recordings of Schubert's piano music available, a more perfect realization would be hard to imagine than Tamayo Ikeda's. On this stellar presentation of 4 Impromptus, op. 90 (D. 899) and Lieder transcriptions by Franz Liszt, the pianist, born in Japan in 1971, demonstrates a deep grasp of the composer's material. Every piece is executed with the utmost attention to tempo, pacing, and dynamics, and her treatments are distinguished throughout by nuance, tenderness, and delicacy of touch. His is a language with which she is clearly fluent.'

Textura, January 2023

'This beautiful recording by Tamayo Ikeda.'

Maureen Buja
Interlude (Hong Kong), 21 October 2023

The Record Geijutsu, February 2023

CD on sale via Ongaku No Tomo, Japan or King International

Electronic press kit available for reviewers from Ulysses Arts.

CARITAS CHAMBER CHOIR AND BENEDICT PREECE - THE ASH GROVE - RELEASING ON 26 AUGUST 2022, CHOATE, BELOVED LET US LOVE, 16 SEPTEMBER, CARLSSON, UBI CARITAS, 14 OCTOBER, COOKE, I SING OF A MAIDEN, 28 OCTOBER AND CATTLEY, WHAT CHILD IS THIS?, 11 NOVEMBER

28/7/2022

The Caritas Chamber Choir and Benedict Preece's recording of traditional Welsh song The Ash Grove releases on all major digital service providers on 26 August 2022, followed by Eric Choate, Beloved, Let us Love, on 16 September, Mikael Carlsson, Ubi Caritas on 14 October, Phillip Cooke, I Sing of A Maiden on 28 October, and Sarah Cattley, What Child is this? on 11 November. These singles are a prelude to Caritas' Christmas album, released on 25 November 2022.

Click above to download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music

Click above to download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music.

Click above to download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music.

Click above to download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music.

Click above to download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music.

The Ash Grove on Apple Music's Classical New Releases playlist

ULYSSES ARTS RELEASES SPINA AND BENIGNETTI PIANO DUO ALBUM: SCHUBERT FANTASIA, VARIATIONS AND TROUT QUINTET: 30 SEPTEMBER 2022

21/7/2022

Released on 30 September. Click above to pre-order on iTunes or stream on Apple Music.

Ulysses Arts releases a new album of piano duet music by Schubert, played by the Spina - Benignetti Duo - Eleonora Spina and Michele Benignetti - on 30 September 2022 (UA220030). The album includes The Trout Quintet in Hugo Ulrich's version, Fantasia in F Minor, D.940, and Eight Variations in A-flat, D.813. The Fantasia is pre-released as an EP on 26 August 2022.

Laureates of numerous international music competition, the Duo performs regularly throughout worldwide. Highlights include recitals for live shows ‘Génération Jeunes Interprètes’ and ‘Génération France Musique - le Live’ at the Auditorium of the Maison de la Radio in Paris, broadcasts for France Musique national radio, recitals for the ‘Jeunes Talents’ concert series in Paris and at the Osaka Izumi Hall in Japan, a South African tour including the Johannesburg International Mozart Festival, and their Mexico debut at the CENART Blas Galindo Auditorium in Mexico City and at Teatro de la Ciudad in Celaya. Their last tour in South Africa saw them playing to full venues in Johannesburg, Grahamstown, Hermanus, Potchefstroom, Pretoria, and several other cities. To quote the Potchefstroom Herald, 'their two pianos recital will be long-remembered'.

In 2019, Eleonora and Michele performed in Australia, with recitals in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Bateman’s Bay. In New Zealand, they performed at the Turner Center Kerikeri, Globe Theater Palmerston North, Wanganui Royal Opera House, and in Wellington, in China at the Guangzhou Opera House, Tianjin Grand Theatre, Shandong Grand Theatre, Nankai University, La Plantation Beijing, and Dalian Grand Theatere.

Eleonora and Michele both are both at the Cité de la Musique et de la Danse in Soissons, France. The are regular invitees to give masterclasses in Italy, China, at the Colombes Summer International Academy in Paris, at the Summer Music Academy of Flaine (France), at the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music in Melbourne and at Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

The Spina - Benignetti Piano Duo are Official Yamaha Artists and have been sponsored by them since 2017.

'Characterized by continuous flow and melodic lyricism, qualities the virtuosic duo capture in their sterling interpretation.' Textura, April 2023

Fantasia in F minor on Spotify's Classical New Releases playlist.

NIMBUS RELEASES ADRIAN WILLIAMS SYMPHONY NO. 1 AND PORTRAITS OF NED KELLY CHAMBER CONCERTO WITH THE ENGLISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CONDUCTED BY KENNETH WOODS ON 7 OCTOBER 2022

8/7/2022

Release Date 7 October 2022
NI6432
Adrian Williams, Symphony No. 1
Chamber Concerto: Portraits of Ned Kelly

English Symphony Orchestra; Kenneth Woods, conductor

Symphony No. 1 - The first movement is perhaps the most straightforward, being basically founded on two themes, the first of which appears on violins and violas at the outset and which is used whole or in part throughout the entire symphony. It appears triumphant near the very end of the finale together with that movement’s own unique themes. The shorter scherzo is fairly rumbustious and virtuosic, harmonically dominated by major 2nds and 3rds and combinations of these. At about this time I saw the harrowing images of the wild fires in Australia, so much tragic loss of life, loss of habitat, the koalas rescued, many of which were so badly burned they were unable to survive. These images so affected me that the emotional impact found its way into the third (slow) movement, which I see as an extended lament or memorial. I felt the impulse to include two long, still sections featuring basses; the deathly, lifelessness of the forests after the fires. The Finale needed an injection of energy from its opening bars. I knew I wanted the movement to reach towards a tumultuous conclusion and this would be a slow process of development from a wistful solo violin theme, the forward energy being held back for some 6 minutes, thereafter inching its way to a point of no return. Adrian Williams, composer

Portraits of Ned Kelly Chamber Concerto - This remarkable work grew from Adrian Williams’ friendship with, Sidney Nolan, the great Australian painter. They were neighbours in the Welsh Borders region for most of the last forty years. Williams was given the invitation to use the piano at Nolan’s house, The Rodd, now the home of the Sidney Nolan Trust.

The Chamber Concerto is a musical response to Nolan’s most famous series of paintings, which depict scenes from the wild life of Australian bush-ranger, Ned Kelly, an outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer who rampaged across Australia in the years prior to his arrest and execution in 1880. While the work is not strictly programmatic, the musical action does correspond in large part with the story of Kelly’s adventures, including his early criminal endeavours, his fierce encounters with the police, his capture, trial and execution. Kelly was the only member of his gang to survive their final encounter with law enforcement due to his use of a homemade set of body armour, which Nolan depicts to great effect in his images of Kelly. Williams’ music almost always has a virtuosic edge to it, but the demands placed on the musicians in this work are truly extraordinary, yet it is incredibly rewarding to play. In this sense, Williams’ designation of the work as a concerto is both telling and apt is it demands that everyone in the ensemble contributes their utmost in rhythmic precision, agility, accuracy in extremes of register and lyrical storytelling. A useful comparison might be made with Richard Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel. Williams’ work is darker, stranger and funnier than Strauss’s with a pronounced surreal quality, but like its predecessor, it also becomes deeply poignant in its final pages. Kenneth Woods, conductor

Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International

'The playing is very impressive and delivers a compelling performance.'
George Pearce, Classical Music Daily

'The British symphony is alive and well.'
Records International

'Superb music, scintillatingly performed and recorded.'
Guy Rickards, 'My best classical recordings of 2022', The Christian Review

'Gripping and receive sterling realizations from Woods and the ESO.' Textura

'I would rate this new symphony a major success. Williams has a style that works beautifully with the large scale and the abstraction of symphonic writing.' Gavin Dixon, Fanfare 46/4

'Impressive pieces in terms of their ambition but also realization. ... Kenneth Woods directs with his customary attention to detail as goes a long way toward clarifying music that is ‘complex and luminous’ in spirit as by design.' Richard Whitehouse, Arcana

'Exciting and new in their language, thus stimulating and worth being heard.'

Pizzicato

Sidney Nolan, The Ned Kelly Collection

BBC Culture: Sidney Nolan and the Story of Australian Art

Sidney Nolan Trust

Adrian Williams (c. Dominic Horne)

Kenneth Woods (c. Benjamin Ealovega)

English Symphony Orchestra (c. Evan Dawson)

Sidney Nolan, The Burning Tree (c. The Estate of Sidney Nolan)

NIMBUS ALLIANCE RELEASES EMMA JOHNSON SONGS OF CELEBRATION - 2 SEPTEMBER 2022

8/7/2022

Download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music: click above

Releasing on 2 September 2022
Emma Johnson, Songs of Celebration
Nimbus Alliance NI6431

Emma Johnson, clarinet, John Lenehan, piano
Gloucester Cathedral Choir, directed by Adrian Partington

The Pied Piper, by Jonathan Dove, for Narrator, Clarinet, Recorders, Children’s Voices and Piano:

'There are many theories about the meaning of this story: it might relate to the plague, to a natural
disaster, emigration, or a dancing mania. The piper might be a shaman, a recruiting agent, or Death. Robert Browning’s popular 1842 poem tells the mediaeval tale in lively rhyme and in 2009, Emma Johnson approached me with an enticing idea: she would become the Pied Piper, using her clarinet as the pipe, could I set Browning’s poem to music? I suggested that it could be even more exciting if she were to narrate the poem herself if I could write gaps into the clarinet part, allowing her just enough time to speak.' Jonathan Dove

'In recent times girls have been invited to sing in church and cathedral choirs. It was with this in mind that I considered writing a Christmas song for clarinet and higher voices setting one of my favourite medieval poems: the 15th century I Sing of a Maiden that is Makeless. The poem tells of the miracle of the divine birth and always brings to mind music I heard once in a Coptic Christian church in Cairo. I have retained their original Middle Eastern flavour, giving us a glimpse of how the earliest church music might have sounded. Towards the end of the song, clarinet and voices climb higher and higher to express the poet’s joy at the birth of Christ. I became so fascinated with composing for clarinet and upper voices that I found myself writing three more songs, all celebrating the Christmas story, grouped under the title, Songs of Celebration.

It was very gratifying to see the children in Gloucester cathedral choir singing with gusto, relishing its beat boxing and glissandi which felt at once incongruously modern and yet perfectly apposite in the cathedral surroundings. Carol of the Bells takes nuggets of the famous Ukrainian Carol by Mykola Leontovich and transforms them into a peal of bells ringing. It demands virtuoso singing from the choir and I am in awe at the panache with which these young singers perform it. Coventry Carol is from the mystery play traditionally performed in Coventry, England, in the 16th century (author unknown). Herod has ordered the slaughter of all male children under the age of two years old and the carol is a lullaby sung by their mothers. This has to be the most disturbing story in the Bible. In my setting the clarinet part is intended to evoke Rachel weeping for her children "and refusing to be comforted because they are no more".

Silent Night regularly tops charts of best loved carols and was written in 1818 by the Austrian musician Franz Xaver Gruber with lyrics by Joseph Mohr. To create an atmosphere of calm, I invited the children to sing the carol softly, like a lullaby, accompanied by rocking, running notes from the clarinet which could represent a cradle swinging to and fro. Bach’s Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring from 1723 completes this album’s celebration of the Christmas story. The English translation is by Robert Bridges but the German lyrics, Jesus bleibet meine Freude (Jesus remains my joy) perhaps give more of the sense of sheer happiness in his faith expressed by Bach in this chorale, with its continuous bouncing triplets lapping around a noble theme.' Emma Johnson

Electronic press kit available for review use.

Pre-release single from The Pied Piper:

Emma Johnson (© Frances Marshall)

Gloucester Cathedral Choir

John Lenehan (© Robert Piwko)

Jonathan Dove (© Marshall Light Studio)

Pied Piper Recorders

ALEX HEFFES FACE TO FACE ALBUM RE-MIXED WITH NEW CONTENT, RELEASED ON 7 OCTOBER 2022

8/7/2022

Alex Heffes re-releases his album Face to Face (PLAT14823) on 7 October 2022, re-mixed in stereo and Dolby Atmos, and with new material, including for the first time on many digital sites: click here to discover more.

Click above to pre-order Face to Face on iTunes

Alex Heffes

Released on 5 August 2022

Released on 26 August

Released on 16 September

Face To Face is an album by Alex Heffes featuring collaborations with Matthew Barley, Tunde Jegede, Kawesa, Yasmin Levy, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Regina Spektor. Each track was improvised from scratch on the day of recording and features Alex on keyboards with one guest. Sessions were recorded in a series of spectacular locations including the giant ‘Turbine Hall’ of the Tate Gallery in London at night time (Matthew Barley), an empty glass roofed warehouse in the Bronx (Regina Spektor), Abbey Road’s legendary Studio 2 (Tunde Jegede) and on a hilltop overlooking Uganda’s capital city Kampala (Kawesa).

Alex comments: 'For years people asked me many variations of one particular question: “Where does your inspiration as a composer come from?” This inspired me to make a record - one that was entirely improvised - nothing prepared in advance. I chose six inspiring collaborators to record in six inspiring locations. My task: to commit to whatever happened in that space on that day, and make a piece of music. Face To Face is my answer to this question."

Why now? The 2022 mix celebrates ten years since the original release. The album has been fully re-mixed and mastered in stereo and Dolby Atmos to immerse the listener even more vividly into the atmosphere of the original sessions. The bonus track ‘Helios Rising’ has been newly included on the 2022 mix from the Abbey Road / Tunde Jegede sessions.

Face To Face was recorded and mixed by Grammy winning engineer and producer Peter Henderson and was captured on photo and film by photographer Rama Knight.

Alex Heffes on Apple Music Classical playlists

New in Classical

Minimalism

Classical Edge

Face to Face is distributed by Platoon.

More streaming links for the album and for pre-release singles will be posted here.

CRD RELEASES SOLO ORGAN ALBUM 'IN LONDON TOWN' WITH BENJAMIN SHEEN - 2 SEPTEMBER 2022

16/6/2022

Click above to download from iTunes or stream on Apple Music

CRD Records releases Benjamin Sheen's solo organ album In London Town: British Music from The Dobson Organ of St Thomas' Church Fifth Avenue , on 2 September 2022, including works by Elgar, Walton, Ireland, Whitlock, Judith Bingham and Andrew Carter (CRD3541).

In advance of the album launch, three singles will be released, starting with Elgar's Imperial March, arranged by George Martin, on 1 July 2022, and Carter's Lacrimae, in memory of John Scott, on 12 August.

ALBUM DETAILS

Walton, March for ‘A History of the English-Speaking Peoples’ (arr. Tom Winpenny)
Ireland, A Downland Suite: II. Elegy. Lento espressivo (arr. Alec Rowley)
Elgar, Cockaigne Overture, Op. 40 ‘In London Town’ (arr. Graham Sheen): first recording
Judith Bingham, St. Bride assisted by Angels
Percy Whitlock, Fantasie Choral No. 1 in D-flat major
Simon Preston, Alleluyas
Tallis, Hymn: Veni Redemptor Gentium
Howells, Six Pieces for Organ: III. Master Tallis’ Testament
Percy Whitlock, Organ Sonata in C Minor: Scherzetto
Andrew Carter, Lacrimae (written in memory of John Scott, 2015): first recording
Elgar, Imperial March, Op. 32 (arr. George Martin)

Benjamin Sheen

The Diapason

'Very well played by Sheen', John Allison, BBC Music Magazine

'The repertoire is impressive, Benjamin Sheen’s playing is outstanding, and the recording captures the colours of the organ. This is a fantastic exploration of some popular pieces in arrangement and some less well-known original works.' John France,MusicWeb International

Benjamin Sheen, Sub-Organist at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and Organ Tutor at Oxford University ,has established himself as a leading concert and liturgical organists on both sides of the Atlantic.

Described as a “brilliant organist” by The New York Times, he is the 2013 winner of the Pierre S. du Pont First Prize in the inaugural Longwood Gardens Organ Competition, and that same year received Second Prize and the Jon Laukvik prize at the St. Albans International Organ Competition. He holds degrees from Oxford and New York's Juilliard School, is a prizewinning Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, and the 2011 recipient of the Worshipful Company of Musicians’ Silver Medal.

As a concert organist, Benjamin Sheen has performed throughout Europe, the USA, Canada, Singapore, and South Africa. In 2019, he made his concerto debut with the Auckland Philharmonia
Orchestra alongside solo recitals in Christchurch and Wellington as well as throughout Australia. He has performed with notable orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the City of London Sinfonia in the UK, and made guest appearances playing and directing with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in New York City. He has made several appearances on BBC radio and television and New York’s classical radio station WQXR in a complete performance of J.S. Bach’s Clavier-Übung III.

He has been a featured artist as both a conductor and organist in numerous conferences, including the 2015 Association of Anglican Musicians Conference and the 2018 American Guild of Organists Convention in Kansas City. Before returning home to Oxford, he spent eight years at the famed Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue in New York City as Associate Organist and was an integral part of the overall design and completion of the new Dobson organ. Following the untimely death of John Scott in 2015, he served as Acting Director of Music for the year. In January 2020, he returned to Britain to take up the position of Sub-Organist at his alma mater, Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, where he combines a busy schedule of teaching and performing. He has appeared on several recordings from Saint Thomas Church under the direction of both John Scott and Jeremy Filsell, and has recently completed an album of Christmas music with the choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. This album marks his debut solo album, featuring music from Great Britain.

In North America, Benjamin Sheen is represented exclusively by Philip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, LLC.

NIMBUS RELEASES MAX KOWALSKI ENGLISH AND GERMAN SONG ALBUM - 5 MAY 2023

31/5/2022

Nimbus Records releases 'Max Kowalski: A Song Recital in German and English', on 5 May 2023, with baritone Simon Wallfisch, soprano Camille Butcher and Edward Rushton, piano (NI.8112).

Max Kowalski (1882-1956) was a German composer, singer- and copyright lawyer - resident in the United Kingdom from 1939. He is the composer of the 'other' setting of Albert Giraud's Pierrot Lunaire, written in 1912-13, alongside Arnold Schoenberg's more famous version from the same time. Kowalski became a prolific composer of Lieder of diverse influences, including from Japanese, Chinese, Danish, Arabic and French literature in addition to German.

Kowalski's music was published and performed widely in Germany until 1934 when, in common with other Jewish musicians, anti-Semitic Nazi-era laws destroyed his artistic life. Performances of Kowalski's work were then possible only in the private gatherings of the Jewish Kulturbund, in whose Frankfürt concerts he participated. In 1938, he was imprisoned in Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Released in 1939, and following the suicide of his wife, Anna, who had been imprisoned three times, he managed to emigrate with his daughter to London before World War Two began. In London, he first worked as a piano tuner and synagogal cantor, then established himself as a singing teacher. He continued to compose, but until now, none of his later songs in English have been published.

Full album details, download and streaming details will be published here.

EPK and pre-release listening links are available for press use.

NIMBUS RELEASES BRAHMS PIANO VARIATIONS DOUBLE ALBUM BY VLADIMIR FELTSMAN, 7 JULY 2023 (NI.6435)

31/5/2022

Vladimir Feltsman

Vladimir Feltsman, born in 1952, is a Russian-American pianist of Lithuanian Jewish descent, noted for his devotion to the music of J.S. Bach. His father, composer Oscar Feltsman, was known in the former Soviet Union for popular songs and musical comedies. Feltsman first performed with the Moscow Philharmonic aged eleven and studied at Moscow’s Tchaikovsky and the Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) Conservatories. In 1971, he won the Grand Prix at the Marguerite Long International Piano Competition in Paris, followed by tours in the Soviet Union, Europe and Japan.

In 1979, out of growing discontent with the Soviet Union's oppressive dictatorship and rigid governmental control of the arts, Feltsman applied for an exit visa. He was banned from performing in public immediately. It was only after eight years of struggle and artistic exile that he was granted permission to leave. Arriving in the United States in August 1987, Feltsman was greeted warmly at the White House: one month later, he performed his first concert in North America for President Ronald Reagan. On 11 November 1987, Feltsman's Carnegie Hall début established him as a major pianist in America. During his early years in the West, he was promoted as a Russian Romantic firebrand, yet his début recital consisted of works by Schubert, Schumann and Messiaen. By the mid-1990s, he devoted himself to Bach, offering expressively shaped and thoughtfully ornamented performances on modern piano. Then he returned to the standard repertory, including Haydn, Beethoven, Mussorgsky, in the big-toned, blockbuster-style that many had anticipated when he first arrived in the USA. He remains a master of reinventing himself.

'Quite simply an amazing pianist!' The New York Times

'One of the supreme Bach keyboard exponents of our time!' Chicago Tribune

EPK available from Ulysses Arts.

VLADIMIR FELTSMAN ON APPLE MUSIC

FOLLOW VLADIMIR FELTSMAN ON SPOTIFY

Neo, by Charlotte Harding, with Neoteric Ensemble - single release on 24 June 2022

25/5/2022

Ulysses Arts releases Neo, by Charlotte Harding, on 24 June 2022, performed by Neoteric Ensemble.

Download Neo on iTunes or stream on Apple Music: click above

Inspired by Neoteric Ensemble's fresh approach to classical and jazz fusion, Neo takes a shouty melodic line and weaves it through punchy rhythmic statements and raspy textures. Improvised brass and saxophone solos contrast with rich tutti passages, exploring the expressive energy, dynamism and creativity of this exciting new ensemble comprising some of the UK's leading brass and saxophone players.

This is Ulysses Arts' second single release from Neoteric Ensemble, following Rob Buckland's Mojito, both featuring in their upcoming album releasing in November 2023.

Neoteric Ensemble

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Lyrita releases first recordings of Rebecca Clarke's and William Busch's Complete Piano Music - 7 October 2022

20/5/2022

Lyrita releases first recordings of the complete piano music of Rebecca Clarke and William Busch in autumn 2022, performed by Simon Callaghan , on 7 October 2022.

Rebecca Clarke
Theme and Variations for Piano
'He Hath Filled the Hungry'
Cortège (for William Busch)

William Busch
Allegretto quasi Pastorale
Gigue
Theme, Variations and Fugue
Intermezzo
'Nicholas' Variations

Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) and William Busch (1901-1945) were unlikely friends with Busch often visiting Clarke’s house. Busch first mentions Rebecca Clarke in his diaries on 26 October 1927: “Went to a Gordon Byron concert – Brosa, Rebecca Clarke and John Slater, violin, viola and flute respectively – and heard new and old works – nothing particular. Then to CMC at the Court House. The Brosa Quartet played the String Quartets by Bax, Honegger and Hindemith.” There are 22 more references to Clarke until 1937. Busch performed Clarke’s music in August 1932, when he wrote “Broadcast from London Regional – I read Rebecca Clarke’s piece from the Manuscript.” They certainly talked a lot about music, and Busch played through her piano pieces as she composed them. On 30 August 1932 – William gave the first performance of Clarke’s Cortege, then his own ‘Gigue’.

Alongside the album, Nimbus Music Publishing is releasing print editions of all three Rebecca Clarke piano works, and her Rhapsody for 'Cello and Piano (NMP1079), described by John York as 'possibly the greatest work for cello written in the 20th century'.

Rebecca Franks, BBC Music Magazine

Rebecca Clarke

William Busch

Pre-order and streaming links will be posted here. EPK and Soundcloud links available for press use.

Simon Callaghan (c. Kaupo Kikkas)

Lyrita releases The Songs of William Busch - Roderick Williams, Diana Moore, Robin Tritschler, John Reid - 5 August 2022

20/5/2022

William Busch

On 5 August 2022 Lyrita releases The Songs of William Busch, featuring Roderick Williams, baritone, Diana Moore, mezzo-soprano, Robin Tritschler, tenor, and John Reid, piano. The album comprises previously unperformed and unrecorded songs by British composer William Busch, alongside works by Gerald Finzi, Elizabeth Poston and Michael Head.

Lyrita's recording is a tribute from daughter to father, made possible through painstaking research and reconstruction by Julia Busch and Diana Moore. Busch, born in 1901, studied music in London, Berlin and the United States. His composition teachers included John Ireland and Bernard van Dieren. His pacifism during World War II resulted in decreased reception for his works. William died tragically on 30th January 1945 in Woolacombe, North Devon, England while he walked back across the headland from Ilfracombe Hospital after visiting his newly born daughter, Julia.

EPK and Soundcloud playlist available for press use.

'Small Wonder: The Songs of William Busch'
Maureen Buja, INTERLUDE, Hong Kong

'The gentle but distinctive voice of composer William Busch comes over strongly in this lovely recital. ... The performances are uniformly excellent.' (Robert Hugill)
Planet Hugill, 24 August 2022

John Quinn, MusicWeb International, Oct 2022