Archive for News
John Williams At The Movies – Now on LP!
2019 Best Engineered, Classical GRAMMY® Nominee2019 Best Classical Compendium GRAMMY® Nominee “a must for movie fans and audiophiles alike.” —Dan Morgan, MusicWeb International John Williams is a game changer. Early in his career he crossed the lines between music that was “art” and music that was “commercial,” and never looked back. He is one of the best known, most awarded and most successful composers in US history, and his name is inextricably connected to outstanding…
Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 is Now Available Worldwide!
Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Continue to Amaze! Reference Recordings proudly presents this iconic work in a new and definitive interpretation from Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, in superb audiophile sound. This hybrid SACD release was recorded in beautiful and historic Heinz Hall, home of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In his deeply personal and scholarly music notes, Maestro Honeck gives us great insight into the history and the musical structure of Bruckner’s final composition,…
Now Available – Mason Bates: Children of Adam; Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem!
Groundbreaking New Music from Mason Bates and the Richmond Symphony! Reference Recordings is proud to present a World Première recording of MASON BATES: Children of Adam, songs of creation—commissioned by the Richmond Symphony—coupled with RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Dona nobis pacem. These pieces both draw inspiration from Walt Whitman’s poetry and this release celebrates his bicentennial (born 1819). Children of Adam is a collection of exuberant celebrations of creation, from American poets to sacred and Native American texts. The title…
Fiona Boyes Nominated for 2019 Blues Blast Music Award
Blues Blast Magazine has announced their 12th Annual Blues Blast Music Awards nominees, and we’re pleased to share that Fiona Boyes has been nominated for Female Blues Artist of 2019! See the full list of nominees on the Blues Blast website. Fan voting begins July 1, and is open to anyone! Fiona Boyes Recordings on RR
Now Available from the Dallas Winds – Asphalt Cocktail: The Music of John Mackey!
All John Mackey and All Spectacular! Brilliant performances by THE DALLAS WINDS have been captured in superb audiophile sound by Reference Recordings’ award-winning engineering team: Keith O. Johnson and Sean Martin. ASPHALT COCKTAIL was crowd-funded by fans of Mackey and of the Dallas Winds. Their support made this unique, all-John Mackey release possible. The recording was made in Dallas Texas, in the Morton H. Meyerson Concert Center, one of the world’s greatest concert halls. Mackey is one of…
Now Available – Hermitage Piano Trio Plays Rachmaninoff!
Electrifying Piano Trio Performances in the great Russian musical tradition! The Hermitage Piano Trio is distinguished by its exuberant musicality, interpretative range, and sumptuous sound—attributes that Reference Recordings expects to be highly appealing to music lovers and audiophiles worldwide. Following a recent performance, The Washington Post raved that “more striking even than the individual virtuosity was the profound level of integration among the players, who showed a rare degree of ensemble from beginning to end.” Based…
Nadia Shpachenko Presents The Poetry of Places Release Concert on June 18, 2019
June 18, 2019 at San Francisco’s Center for new Music, pianist Nadia Shpachenko presents works from her recording The Poetry of Places and more. Details What: The Poetry of Places Album Release Concert When: June 18, 2019 at 7:30pm Where: Center for New Music, 55 Taylor St, San Francisco, CA 94102 How: Tickets at CenterForNewMusic.com Program Harold Meltzer: “In Full Sail” for solo piano San Francisco Premiere Jack Van Zandt: “Sí an Bhrú” for piano…
MusicWeb Review for the Excellent Recording of Kurt Sander’ Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
John Quinn reviews the PaTRAM Institute Singers recording of Kurt Sander’s Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrystostom for MusicWeb International: “The performance is conducted by Peter Jermihov who, so far as I’m concerned, has excellent credentials when it comes to Orthodox church music… This is, I understand, the first complete musical setting of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom in English and it’s a considerable achievement. … The singers taking part are, I believe, all…
Now Available: The Orchestral Organ
Sonic Splendor! Amazing organ performances give new dimensions to beloved orchestral favorites. In the 19th and early 20th century, organists of exceptional artistic skill developed organ transcriptions of orchestral music into a true art form. Each of the works on this disc is spectacular in its original form. To create The Orchestral Organ, we have chosen works of many different composers, adapted into organ transcriptions of the highest artistic order. These transcriptions are not intended for…
The New York Times Profiles Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Live Series
The Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck perform at Lincoln Center on May 19, and the New York Times is previewing the performance with an in-depth look at their Pittsburgh Live! recording series! “Good barely covers it. All eight of the releases that the Pittsburgh forces have brought out on Reference Recordings, with the aid of microphone whizzes from Soundmirror, come with the highest of recommendations.… Four have received nominations for the Grammy for best orchestral performance. One,…
Reference Recordings Presents: Up Close and Personal!
Friday, May 10, 2019, Reference Recordings Presents: “Up Close & Personal”, a special showcase featuring our award-winning recording artists Fiona Boyes and Doug MacLeod as part of the Beale Street events schedule celebrating the 2019 Blues Music Awards Nominees! Details Date: Friday, May 10, 2019 Time: 4:30-6:00pm Location: Silky O’Sullivan’s – 183 Beale Street, Memphis, TN
Now Available – Kurt Sander: The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
Reference Recordings is very pleased to present the second release in our series from the PaTRAM Institute, rising stars whose debut album on our label, Chesnokov: Teach Me Thy Statutes (FR727SACD), has recently garnered a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Choral Performance. The music performed on this new recording of Russian Orthodox choral music in the English language was written by Dr. Kurt Sander. Conductor Peter Jermihov writes: “The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom by Kurt Sander is unique in several respects. Within the…
RR at AXPONA 2019
Heading to the 2019 AXPONA Show April 12-14? Make sure to keep an eye out for the Elusive Disc booth in The Marketplace – they’ll have a good selection of RR CDs, SACDs, and LPs available for purchase at the show! AXPONA 2019 April 12 – 14, 2019Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention CenterSchaumburg, IL More Info
Fiona Boyes’ “Party At Red’s” an International Songwriting Competition Finalist
The International Songwriting Competition announced its 2018 Finalists, and Fiona Boyes’ song ‘Party at Red’s’ from Voodoo In The Shadows is a finalist in the Blues category of the International Songwriting Competition. The official judging round is underway, but there is also a ‘People’s Choice’ award for each category selected solely by a public vote. Simply an email address is required and you can vote once-per-day. Click the button below and scroll through the list…
The Poetry of Places is “Marvellous”
Critic Dean Frey reviews Nadia Shpachenko’s The Poetry of Places recording on his Music for Several Instruments blog: “…this marvellous disc from pianist Nadia Shpachenko…music [interacts] with a wide range of human activities: fine and applied arts (architecture and design), the heritage arts and the natural world. … I happen to share a fondness for and a deep admiration of some of the architects of these special places, especially Frank Gehry and Louis Kahn. But…