Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble - Violin Works By Berio & Ruo - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The concept that led to The Oberlin Concertos was initially hatched in a conversation between pianist and educator Xak Bjerken and a former student, Oberlin Conservatory composition professor Jesse Jones. It was Jones who suggested writing a chamber concerto to be premiered by his friend and mentor, and it was Bjerken-a former longtime member of the Los Angeles Piano Quartet and a veteran soloist with the L.A. Philharmonic and other ensembles-who was immediately hooked. Their plan gave rise to another commission-for the chair of Oberlin's Composition Department, Grammy Award-winner Stephen Hartke-and then another, for fellow composition faculty member Elizabeth Ogonek. The resulting works were recorded in three sessions over a two-year span, with Bjerken joining forces with Oberlin's Contemporary Music Ensemble and conductor Timothy Weiss in the conservatory's Clonick Hall studio, in addition to presenting the world- premiere performance of each piece on campus.

2018 . Multi-platinum, three-time Grammy Award winning artist, bestselling author and acclaimed actor Michael W. Smith launches Nurturing Steps, a new infant and toddler series with a simple mission to provide parents and grandparents with music and books to enliven a young child's journey with hope and faith through song and storytelling. InchOne of the greatest joys of my life is being a parent and a grandparent,Inch says Michael, the father of five, who is called InchG-DaddyInch by his 14 grandkids. InchI want to serve the next generation well. That's why I created Nurturing Steps, to provide stories and songs that will help shape the faith of our newest generation.Inch For Lullaby, Michael meaningfully arranges his worldwide hits like InchAgnus DeiInch and InchFriendsInch along with new ballads InchNo More Crying,Inch InchSleep TightInch and more, and leads an audio bedtime drama for young children with the Nighty Night characters. The Nighty Nights also join Michael as his band with Bear on guitar, Lamby on keys and Sleepy Puppy on upright bass. In Nighty Night and Good Night, members of the Nighty Night band are further called upon to help their friend, Ben, as he tries to fall asleep. After bedtime prayers and some going-to-sleep rituals are done, a lullaby sung by the band of animals including Bear, Sleepy Puppy and Lamby finally does the trick.

After his debut solo album with music by Bach, Bartók and Boulez, Michael Barenboim's second album is also dedicated to works for solo violin and features compositions by Salvatore Sciarrino, Giuseppe Tartini, Luciano Berio, and Niccolò Paganini, sketching a short history of Italian solo violin literature. The four works seem very heterogenous at first glance but what unites them is their rich technical and stylistic spectrum. The juxtaposition of traditional and contemporary music works creates an inimitable sound cosmos and makes the works by Tartini and Paganini sound incredibly modern alongside 20th-century music. Michael Barenboim creatively navigates the sometimes obsessive and diabolical elements of the works and creates an inspired and unique interpretation. This was recorded at the Jesus-Christus-Kirche Berlin in June, 2017.