Catalog

Composer/conductor Julius P. Williams leads the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra in a recording of works by Black composers. In addition to Williams’ compositions, there are works by the Dean of African-American composers, William Grant Still, Augustus O. Hill, and a work by Edmund Thornton Jenkins restored and arranged by his nephew Tuffus Zimbabwe. Julius P. Williams was named one of Musical America’s Top 30 Professionals of the Year in 2022. His career has taken him to musical venues around the globe and he has been involved in virtually every musical genre. He is currently Artistic Director and Conductor of the Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra and was composer-in-residence with the Boston Symphony. His music has been performed by countless symphony orchestras including the New York Philharmonic. Cleveland Orchestra, and Detroit Symphony, to name but a few. His recordings appear on the Albany, Centaur, Videmus, and Naxos labels.

This recording of works by four composers highlights the diversity of America. Edmund Thornton Jenkins came from Charleston, South Carolina. He studied at Morehouse and the Royal Academy of Music in London. His artistry encompassed classical music as well as jazz, but he died prematurely, cutting short his career. John Wineglass is an Emmy-Award winning composer who is currently composer-in-residence with the Monterey Symphony. Beth Denisch music has been performed around the world with her music drawing inspiration from artist and authors, nature and astronomy, and unexpected places: real and imaginary. Born in Russia, Elena Roussanova is a composer, pianist, and educator, whose career includes a long list of accomplishments, including Composer-in-Residence for the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2020. She was awarded the American Prize in Composition for Orchestral Music in 2017-18 and her works have been performed by both American and international orchestras.

Christopher Rouse was one of America’s most prominent composers. Winner of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize in Music, he created a body of work perhaps unequalled in its emotional intensity. Three of his concertos — for trumpet, oboe, and bassoon — are included in this recording. Eric Berlin is principal trumpet of the Albany Symphony and assistant principal trumpet of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra. He has commissioned, premiered, and recorded numerous new works for trumpet. Katherine Needleman is principal oboist of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and has appeared as a soloist with orchestras around the U.S. Peter Kolkay is the only bassoonist to receive an Avery Fisher Career Grant. In demand as a chamber musician, recitalist, and soloist with orchestras, he is on the faculty at Vanderbilt. The Albany Symphony, led by conductor David Alan Miller, has received four Grammy nominations and is both a 2014 and 2021 Grammy award winner.

Trumpet virtuoso Paul Neebe is the rare kind of musician destined to be a soloist: commanding a characteristic, recognizable sound full of determination and expression, yet never sacrificing precision or clarity. Who better, then, to champion UNDISCOVERED TRUMPET CONCERTOS by four contemporary composers?

Despite what the recency of these works may suggest, the language of these concertos is largely tonal and consonant. Neebe’s solo trumpet is symphonically complemented by the Budafok Dohnányi Orchestra, an acclaimed ensemble from musically rich, musically conservative Hungary. Considering the tonal-yet-contemporary material, one could not imagine a more perfect symbiosis. Neebe and the Hungarians form a veritable dream team, and the result is nothing short of a revelation.