Steven Graff - Short Stories for Piano - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

John Carbon's piano music draws on his lifelong love of the instrument and his rich, multifaceted compositional interests. Madeleines recalls youthful travels in France. Three Impromptus alludes to the traditional genre as explored by Schubert and Chopin. Astro Dogs is a delightful canine zodiac matching breeds with star signs for an enjoyable musical experience. Pianist Steven Graff has collaborated with the composer for many years, and he delivers definitive performances of these expressive pieces. Since his concerto debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with whom he has appeared nine times, the American pianist Steven Graff has been the recipient of numerous distinguished awards and glowing critical praise. Mr. Graff was born in Chicago where he began his musical training. A string of scholarships led to studies at The Juilliard School where he received Bachelor's and Master's Degrees as a Petschek scholarship awardee, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from The Graduate School of CUNY.

In 2003 Andrew Bird removed himself from the noise of city life in Chicago to work on his music in a barn in rural Illinois. The result was a career-defining record exploring childhood, creativity, and science with wit, precision, and ambition. The Mysterious Production of Eggs crystallized Bird's signature style and introduced the live-looping ingenuity that would define his performances for decades. Two decades later, it's influence still resonates throughout the indie world, inspiring artists and audiences alike. This year, Bird marks the milestone with a limited edition boxset, a re-issue of the original album, and anniversary tour, performing Eggs in full alongside the world's foremost symphony orchestras proving that some mysteries only grow richer with time. Alongside the 3LP deluxe boxset, Bird is re-issuring the beloved album garnished with deluxe reimagined artwork by longtime collaborator Jay Ryan, whose whimsical artwork graced the original and is a crucial part of it's lore.

Johannes X. Schachtner, after studying composition (with Prof. Jan Müller-Wieland, Rudi Spring and Prof. Hans-Jürgen von Bose) and orchestral conducting (with Prof. Bruno Weil) in Munich and benefiting from scholarships spent in Bamberg (Villa Concordia) and Paris, now works as a freelance conductor and composer. His extensive compositional works are performed by internationally renowned soloists such as Julia Fischer, Matthias Höfs, Jan-Philipp Schulze, Salome Kammer and the conductor Ulf Schirmer. He has also been commissioned to compose many works, by the Munich Biennale, for the Leopold Mozart competition and the Kronberg Academy Festival, among others. Johannes X. Schachtner has been acknowledged many times in competitions for his work regularly featured in portrait concerts and documented on many recordings. In 2013 he received a number of awards, including the Music Bursary of the city of Munich and in 2014 the Bavarian Music Bursary. This features his InchMusic for Brass and Keys.Inch