Stilian Kirov - Abels & Thomas: Children's Stories - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Children's Stories features world premieres of works based on beloved children's literature by superstar classical composers Michael Abels (Frederick's Fables for narrator and orchestra) and Augusta Read Thomas (Gwendolyn Brooks Settings for children's choir and orchestra). Both pieces bring children's literary narratives stunningly to life through music. Making it's commercial recording debut, the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of it's music director Stilian Kirov, is joined by acclaimed bass-baritone Michael Sumuel, narrating Frederick's Fables, and youth choirs Anima - Glen Ellyn Children's Chorus and ChiArts Choir in Gwendolyn Brooks Settings.Michael Abels co-wrote the Pulitzer prize-winning opera Omar with Rhiannon Giddens and is celebrated for his scores for Jordan Peele's films, including the Oscar-winning Get Out. Abels has garnered Grammy and Emmy nominations and was short-listed for an Oscar for his score for Us, which TheWrap named InchScore of the Decade.Inch Most recently, Abels wrote the music for Disney's new Star Wars series, The Acolyte.Praised by The New Yorker as Incha true virtuoso composer,Inch Augusta Read Thomas was the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's longest-serving Composer-in-Residence (1997-2006) and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Music. Championed by Barenboim, Rostropovich, and Boulez, The American Academy of Arts and Letters described Thomas as Inchone of the most recognizable and widely loved figures in American Music.InchAbels' Frederick's Fables are based on the children's stories by Caldecott Award-winning children's author and illustrator Leo Leonni. Abels transforms these beloved fables into Inchan unseen animated film,Inch weaving narration and orchestra to vividly conjure images in the audience's imagination - truly a modern-day InchPeter and the Wolf.InchThomas's Gwendolyn Brooks Settings interprets poetry fr