Cosmophony

Saturn (study in white)

Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa

"Twelve composers share their inner reflections on outer space in Cosmophony, Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa's debut solo piano CD inspired by the beauty and mystery of the cosmos."

Redshift Records

Into Light

On Monsieur's Departure

musica intima

"The artistic concept for musica intima's CD into light is a recording comprised entirely of contemporary Canadian works for choral ensemble written during the past thirty-five years. All the works chosen for into light have resonated deeply with audiences as well as the ensemble. into light explores the themes of the human experience: love, faith and spirituality, earth and nature. The ensemble's intimate and distinctive-sounding interpretations are a central aspect of its style."

Into Light liner notes

In Good Company

After Storm
Angeline on Ossabaw

Canadian Chamber Choir

The Canadian Chamber Choir's first CD release includes the premiere recordings of CCC staples After Storm and Angeline on Ossabaw. Conducted by Julia Davids, and featuring cellist Se Hee Kim.

Quantum Mechanics: Chamber Music of Jeffrey Ryan

The first CD devoted exclusively to the music of Jeffrey Ryan, including:
Bellatrix (violin version)
Quantum Mechanics
ecce homo (string nonet version)
Stillpoint
Poison Wind
Two-by-Four

Various performers

"Poison Wind with [Beverley] Johnston and Erica Goodman is a highlight on a recording that is as good as any I have heard as I seek out more contemporary music.…[Ryan's] music is very exciting, with superb attention to rhythm and the sound potential of the instruments. His compositions engage heart and mind in a most satisfying way. You can't ask for more than that.

The performances have an air of authenticity that leaves me incredulous at the thought they might ever be equalled, let alone, bettered.…The recordings are of demonstration quality and everyone involved deserves congratulations."

Bob Oxley, Audio Ideas Guide

Launch Pad

String Quartet #3 (sonata distorta)

Penderecki String Quartet

"Launch Pad marks the Penderecki String Quartet's first CD of exclusively new Canadian quartets commissioned by the PSQ. During the five years it has taken to realize this project, we have worked closely with the composers and presenters involved to develop the nature and focus of these works at the various stages of their launching. We have chosen composers from a wide variety of backgrounds and locations (Yukon, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Toronto) composing works for us that are rigorous in their pursuits, demonstrating a clear sense of personal style."

Penderecki String Quartet

"…a fascinating work reflecting on the Tolstoy story The Kreutzer Sonata and the Beethoven violin sonata that inspired it…[T]his disc features definitive and stunning performances in all respects by the PSQ."

Terry Robbins, WholeNote

"This disc is a keeper."

Jerry A. Ozipko, Musicworks

Connections in Brass

She Threw It Down, Anathema

Joaquin Valdepenas, clarinet
David Hetherington, cello
Peter Longworth, piano
Hannaford Street Silver Band
Gary Kulesha, conductor

Gary Kulesha leads the HSSB and the Amici Chamber Ensemble in the premiere recording of the film noir inspired She Threw It Down, Anathema.

Variations on a Memory

Pangaea

Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra
Geoffrey Moull, conductor

This excellent recording of Canadian orchestral repertoire by the TBSO under Geoffrey Moull includes the Juno-nominated Pangaea.

The Composer's Voice: New Music from Bowling Green

Ophélie

Myra Merritt, soprano
Bowling Green Philharmonia
Emily Freeman Brown, conductor

"Jeffrey Ryan wrote his setting of Rimbaud's Ophélie for soprano, soprano trio, and orchestra as a study for a projected opera. The essentially lyric line of the singer, the very fine Myra Merritt, is set in a dissonant kaleidoscope that reflects the character's disordered mind. It is, as the composer intended, intensely operatic and very effective. The imaginative use of orchestra and accompanying voices is particularly striking. A good friend who happened to be listening with me and who also happens to be a very fine tenor, immediately wondered what sort of music the composer would write for his voice. That says more than anything I could say about the immediacy of Ryan's music."

John Story, Fanfare Magazine