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Crossover Media


Founded in 1994, Crossover Media's client list includes: Sony Masterworks, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, BMG, and Concord, along with many Independent Labels and Artists. Projects include collaborations with the following artists: 2CELLOS, Alexandre Desplat, Andras Schiff, Andrea Bocelli, Andris Nelsons, Anna Netrebko, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Angele Dubeau, Angelique Kidjo, Anoushka Shankar, Antonio Sanchez, Arcade Fire, Arturo Sandoval, Bebel Gilberto, Becca Stevens, Bela Fleck, Bettye LaVette, Bill Frisell, Bill Charlap, Bill Murray, Billy Childs, Billy Joel, Bob James, Bobby McFerrin, Brandee Younger, Branford Marsalis, Brian Eno, Cassandra Wilson, Cecilia Bartoli, Charlie Haden, Chick Corea, Chilly Gonzales, Daniel Barenboim, Daniel Hope, Daniil Trifonov, David Crosby, David Foster, David Sanborn, Devonte Hynes, Diana Krall, Don Sebesky, Ella Fitzgerald, Emanuel Ax, Ennio Morricone, Evgeny Kissin, Frank Sinatra, Gabriel Kahane, George Benson, George Winston, Gustavo Dudamel, Gustavo Santaolalla, Hans Zimmer, Helene Grimaud, Hilary Hahn, Hildur Guonadottir, Hubert Laws, Hubert Sumlin, Huey Lewis & The News, Igor Levit, Itzhak Perlman, Jake Shimabukuro, Jan Garbarek, Jarvis Cocker, Jeff Goldblum, Jessye Norman, Jethro Tull, Jimmy Webb, Joan Baez, Joe Lovano, Joey Alexander, Johann Johannsson, John Coltrane, John Scofield, John Williams, Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell, Jonny Greeenwood, Joshua Bell, Joy Harjo, Joyce DiDonato, Keith Jarrett, Kenny Barron, Krzysztof Penderecki, Kurt Masur, Lee Konitz, Leif Ove Andsnes, Lena Horne, London Symphony Orchestra, Luciano Pavarotti, Madison Cunningham, Mark O'Connor, Martha Argerich, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Max Richter, Medeski Martin & Wood, Melody Gardot, Michel Camilo, Paul McCartney, Paul Winter, Pete Townshend, Phil Woods, Rachel Portman, Randall Goosby, Ray Charles, Regina Carter, Renee Fleming, Richard Reed Parry, Rick Wakeman, Rodney Dangerfield, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Rufus Wainwright, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Samara Joy, Seiji Ozawa, Sergio Mendes, Seth MacFarlane, Shabaka Hutchings, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Sinead O'Connor, Snarky Puppy, Sonny Rollins, Sons of Kemet, Soweto Gospel Choir, Stanley Turrentine, SYML, Terence Blanchard, Terry Riley, The Bad Plus, The Choir Of King's College Cambridge, The Comet Is Coming, The Cranberries, The Derek Trucks Band, The Hilliard Ensemble, The Hot Sardines, The Piano Guys, The Stan Getz Quartet, The Manhattan Transfer, The New York Philharmonic, Thelonious Monk, Theo Bleckmann, Theo Croker, Third Coast Percussion, Time for Three, Tony Bennett, Tuck and Patti, Vangelis, Vienna Philharmonic, Vijay Iyer, Vikingur Olafsson, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Vladimir Horowitz, VOCES8, Willie Nelson, Wynton Marsalis, Yannick Nezet-Sequin, Yo-Yo Ma, Yuja Wang, and many others. 
 

"Music is a science. Music is mathematical. Music is a foreign language. Music is History. Music is physical education. Music develops Insight and demands research. Music is all these things, but most of all, MUSIC IS ART. That is why we teach music. Not because we expect you to play or sing all your life...But so you will be human...So you will recognize beauty...So you will be closer to an infinite beyond this world...So you will have something to cling to...So you will have more love, more compassion, more gentleness, more good- in short, more LIFE."   - Ludwig van Beethoven

For more information contact Max Horowitz    maxcrossover@gmail.com

Top 10 Albums For June 1, 2023

  • Freddie Bryant

    Upper West Side Love Story

    With a beautiful new music video (combining nostalgic images with modern-day in-studio performance footage,) an expansive interview feature and more media coverage on the way, composer, lyricist and guitarist Freddie Bryant continues to lay the groundwork for the July 7th release of his ambitious double CD ‘Upper West Side Love Story’. Inspired by Bryant’s first-hand experiences as he witnessed the the gentrification of the Upper West Side, Bryant has crafted a confident and profound work of art - deep, textured and resonant - written from the perspective of someone, from childhood to adulthood, navigating the simple joys, increasing confusion, and, ultimately, the simmering resentments of growing up in a neighborhood that is changing before his very eyes.

    At times a wistful valentine and at others a melancholy break-up note, the song cycle is ultimately a complicated love letter to the home Bryant lived in for fifty-four years, from birth until 2019, when he moved to the Bronx.

    Bryant’s new single, ‘His Bed is a Box’, out today, is a haiku which reflects on the sad reality of homelessness. In his song notes, Bryant comments: The dark side…coincided with a crisis of homelessness which we seem to still be dealing with amongst the new and incomprehensible wealth that defines gentrification today. It’s dedicated to our neighbors that we see, or try not to, as we go about our daily life.

  • Benjamin Gustafsson

    The Nature Within

    Singer/songwriter Benjamin Gustafsson grew up in the rural countryside of southern Sweden. Introspective and philosophical – he struggled with his mental health for many years, finding solace in music. He developed his artistic voice in isolation. A meticulous and highly critical self-producer.

    Ben’s new album The Nature Within – his major label debut – is the culmination of a lifelong journey to understand the inner forces that have shaped his life, and the lives of those around him.

    This project required Ben to step out of his comfort zone. To build a community of collaborators – centered on Tambourine Studios in the city of Malmö, Sweden – where he now holds a residency.

    The Nature Within navigates the often turbulent, often beautiful, inner world of thought, ideas, and emotions.
     

  • Isata Kanneh-Mason

    Childhood Tales

    Decca Classics is delighted to announce that pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason’s third album ‘Childhood Tales’ is out now. Continuing her developing legacy with Decca Classics that began in 2019, this album uses Dolby Atmos Technology to capture Isata’s signature virtuosic flair. The first single, Mozart’s Variation 11: Adagio from Twelve Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman”, is out today.

    The eldest of the famous musical siblings, Isata’s first memory of playing the piano was as a five-year-old on holiday in the Caribbean and sitting in front of her grandparents’ instrument. With a reputation for inventive programs, expressive performance and accomplished technique, Isata is in increasing demand nationally and internationally and was the only classical artist to appear in TIDAL’s 2023 Rising Artists to Watch.

    Isata evokes the magic of childhood in this charming collection of nostalgic music. The album is centred around Erno Dohnányi’s rarely performed Variations on a Nursery Song, expanding the well-known ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ into a truly virtuosic work which takes the theme through eleven musical variations and a fugal finale. Subtitled “for the enjoyment of friends of humour, to the annoyance of others”, it saw great success when it was introduced in the UK in the 1910s, with its witty, kaleidoscopic mix making this a concert favourite for many years afterwards before falling out of fashion – it was subsequently performed almost every year at the Proms from 1920s to 1950s. Isata is joined by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom she previously recorded Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto for her 2019 album “Romance” on Decca.

  • Freiburger Barockorchester

    Mozarts Mannheim

    Mozart’s Mannheim has been carefully curated to give 21st-century listeners an idea of the sound world experienced by Mozart when he visited Mannheim in the late 1770s. The southern German city’s legendary court orchestra made it a go-to destination for 18th-century cultural pilgrims and the Freiburger Barockorchester (FBO) has chosen to paint a musical portrait of Mannheim for its debut Deutsche Grammophon album. Mozart’s Mannheim presents a variety of orchestral and chamber pieces by Cannabich, Danner, Holzbauer, Toeschi and Vogler – including four world premiere recordings – as well as two key works composed by Mozart while he was in the city. The album will be released on 19 May 2023 and the FBO will perform most of its repertoire on 20 May at Schwetzingen Palace, as part of this year’s Schwetzingen Festival.

    “The Mannheim court of Elector Carl Theodor was famous for its vast orchestra in which the very best instrumentalists of their day played together,” explains Martin Bail, Dramaturge of the FBO. “That’s why we decided to begin our partnership with DG with music created in Mannheim around the time of Mozart’s visit in 1777-78.”

  • Yiruma

    non e la fine

    The new EP non è la fine of renown pianist and composer Yiruma is due to be released by Universal Music after two years since his 20th debut anniversary projects The Rewritten Memories and SOLO. It’s also a release consisting of completely new works for the first time since Room with a View (2020).

    The title of the album and the first single ‘non è la fine’ released on April 14th comes from a sense of endlessness and hope found from it. “Writing ‘non è la fine’, the purpose was to empty out. I wanted to create an incomplete piece, where endless arpeggio feels like the main melody” says Yiruma. “The music came to mind in a moment when ‘end-less’ felt more hopeful than the term ‘eternal’. When there is an ‘end’ we prepare and wait for a certain moment and during that time it gives room for some kind of hope” he adds.

    Another song ‘la bianca primavera’ is a piano and cello duo piece depicting a moment of season, moving on from winter to spring with snowing cherry blossom petals. The cello part gives the impression of leaving traces across the piano sound as if winter passes by the warm spring earth.

    “They may seem unfinished but becomes complete when it’s filled with the listener’s emotion and stories” says Yiruma, wishing the music can be sometimes consolation, sometimes hope and inspiration to the audience.

    Along with the release, Yiruma will be back on international concert tours beginning with Singapore in April 2023 and an Australian tour including Sydney Opera House later in the year.

  • Devonte Hynes

    Master Gardener OMPS

    Milan Records today releases MASTER GARDENER (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK) featuring music by acclaimed producer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, songwriter and vocalist DEVONTÉ HYNES. Available everywhere now, the album features an original score composed by Hynes for Academy Award® nominee Paul Schrader’s new crime thriller. Included within the 28-track collection is a special cover of S.G. Goodman’s “Space and Time” newly rearranged by Hynes and featuring vocals by singer-songwriter, rapper and producer Mereba. Master Gardener premiered worldwide at the 2022 Venice Film Festival and Magnolia Pictures has released it in theaters today.

    ABOUT MASTER GARDENER 
    Directed by Academy Award® nominee Paul Schrader based on his original screenplay, Master Gardener follows Narvel Roth (award-winner Joel Edgerton – The King, Zero Dark Thirty, The Great Gatsby), the meticulous horticulturist of Gracewood Gardens. He is as devoted to tending the grounds of this beautiful and historic estate as he is pandering to his employer, the wealthy dowager Mrs. Haverhill (three-time Academy Award® nominee Sigourney Weaver – Alien, Ghostbusters, Avatar). When Mrs. Haverhill demands that he take on her wayward and troubled great-niece Maya (Quintessa Swindell – In Treatment, Black Adam) as a new apprentice, chaos enters Narvel’s spartan existence, unlocking dark secrets from a buried violent past that threaten them all.

  • Anna Lapwood

    Midnight Sessions at the Royal Albert Hall

    Anna Lapwood is like no other musician, and after recently signing a major label deal with Sony Classical, she releases her 5 track Midnight Sessions At The Royal Albert Hall EP of film transcriptions - out now - recorded on the organ of the Royal Albert Hall. An album will arrive later this year, as well as a host of prestigious organ recitals and concertos this Spring.

    The first single from the EP - ‘Cornfield Chase (From “Interstellar”)’ is composed by Hans Zimmer - is out today (listen here), and you can get to know this extremely exciting and talented artist via her Introduction video here.

    Of the EP and first single, Anna comments; “Over the last 11 months I’ve been lucky enough to be let into the Royal Albert Hall in the middle-of-the night for practice sessions on the hall’s magnificent organ. As I’ve explored the strange, beautiful and wonderful colours that it has to offer, I’ve written a set of new film music transcriptions with that specific instrument in mind, capturing some of the magic that I feel in that iconic building after hours. Cornfield Chase is a special one because it started me off on this huge journey of exploration and discovery. I was performing a concert at Temple Church in London, where the Interstellar soundtrack was originally recorded, and couldn’t resist trying a little bit out. I posted a short clip on TikTok and it blew up straight away – I didn’t really look back after that!”

    The 27-year-old from a small Oxfordshire village has been making waves with her exciting approach to organ playing, awakening the senses of young and old alike, opening the gateways to classical music and shining a light on an often under-appreciated instrument.

    The Sunday Times described her as “a star on a mission and a social media sensation”. The New York Times heralded her as “the world’s most visible organist” while The i declared: “TikTok organist told to ‘play like a man’ is leading musical gender equality movement.”

    By day she runs choirs and teaches at Cambridge University’s Pembroke College, practising the organ at every opportunity. By night, her role as Associate Artist of the Royal Albert Hall sees her granted special access to the majestic instrument while most of us are fast asleep. This has led to an entirely spontaneous collaboration with electronic musician Bonobo - one late-night practice session was interrupted by a request shouted up from the stage, which turned out to come from a couple of members of Bonobo’s band. 18 hours later, she was helping them close their show to an unsuspecting audience of 5,000.

  • Eydis Evensen

    The Light

    Icelandic pianist and composer, Eydís Evensen will release her much anticipated second album ‘The Light’ on 26th May via XXIM Records.  Following on from her successful 2021 debut ‘Bylur’, which put her firmly on the map as one of neo-classical’s leading artists and which has amassed over 40 million audio streams to date and her subsequent 2022 EP ‘Frost’, ‘The Light’ further expands on this young artist’s scope for talent and expression, presenting her not only as a pianist, arranger and lyricist but also for the first time as a vocalist.  

    Evensen cites two underlying themes to the ‘The Light’: it is both a deep reflection on the rough and rugged landscapes of Iceland and how they have shaped her personality, as it is a personal expression of a sense of hope and brighter times following hardship.  Both are represented by the theme of light – the inner light that guides us and the natural light, so rare in the dark Icelandic winters.  Written from personal experience at a time of relief and closure in her own life, Evensen is passing on here a message of both personal and collective hope and resilience to her listeners that better must come.  Having dealt with personal challenges in the very best way she knows how – at the piano, making music, this cathartic experience of intense composition and performance has culminated in ‘The Light’.

  • HAVASI

    METAMORPHOSIS

    Award-winning composer, pianist, and musical visionary HAVASI announces his second release, Metamorphosis, since signing to Universal Music Group earlier this year. Displaying the exceptional Hungarian artist’s trademark energy and imagination, the ten-track album is mixed by AIR Studios’ Grammy award-winning film scoring master Geoff Foster (The Dark Knight, Interception, Black Swan). It will be released on 5 May 2023 and follows on from the earlier beautifully curated best-of album THE WORLD OF HAVASI. 

    Metamorphosis is the result of an intense two-year period for HAVASI, which was filled with lots of inspiration, personal moments, and time spent in the studio transforming his original compositions into extraordinary music and songs. "The title [Metamorphosis] stands for the infinite possibilities of creating new things all the time. As a musician, I can take very different elements from all genres, from the great classical masters to pop, rock, and now electronic music – it's about change and freedom", says HAVASI. 

    The new album features elements of pop, rock, and electronic music as well as a complete symphony orchestra (Budapest Art Orchestra), marking the beginning of an exciting new chapter in HAVASI’s creative output, as he explains: “This was the first time in my career that, as a composer, I used electronic music elements in the centre of some of the tracks and combined them with symphonic sound. This was great fun for me since I have always been a huge fan of electronic music from Vangelis to Avicii. Metamorphosis also symbolizes the transformation of the piano itself, and I think we were able to create some tracks that could change the view of the audience of how a ‘classical piano’ or ‘piano music’ sounds.”  

    Conveying an overall message of hope and encouragement to remember our strengths, the upcoming recording features new original compositions that create powerful images and spine-tingling sound experiences. Taking listeners on a cinematic, emotional journey, this is the perfect soundtrack for our emotions, memories, and dreams. HAVASI notes: "The common theme, if you can call it that, is certainly the feeling of hope that resonates in all the songs. And the piano. For me, music has exceptional power."

    The variety on Metamorphosis is simply impressive - from gentle, subtly instrumented songs and a childlike lightness to powerful, driven songs of pure energy. ‘Out Of The Woods’ is the opening track of the album and conveys the sentiment that life always goes on, even if the world around us just seems dark. It's also an homage to Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre, and electronic music which have been great influences on the artist. 

  • Kris Bowers

    QUEEN CHARLOTTE - a BRIDGERTON story (Netflix)

    Sony Music Entertainment today releases two albums of music from Netflix and Shondaland’s new series and the latest in the Bridgerton universe, QUEEN CHARLOTTE: A BRIDGERTON STORY. Available everywhere now, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (Covers from the Netflix Series) features a brand-new reimagining of “If I Ain’t Got You” by 15-time GRAMMY Award-winning artist and global superstar Alicia Keys. The captivating new rendition, “If I Ain't Got You" (Orchestral Version) by Alicia Keys featuring Queen Charlotte's Global Orchestra was recorded alongside a 70+ piece Global Orchestra, made up entirely of women of color. A powerful companion video for “If I Ain’t Got You” will be released on Netflix’s YouTube channel.
    The album further features the series’ six signature instrumental covers of modern pop songs. From creator, writer and executive producer Shonda Rhimes, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is available exclusively on Netflix now.
     

Stories For June 1, 2023

  • Isata Kanneh-Mason - Childhood Tales is the WFMT: Featured New Release
    Posted At : May 30, 2023 12:00 AM
    Decca Classics is delighted to release pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason’s third album ‘Childhood Tales’ is out now. Continuing her developing legacy with Decca Classics that began in 2019, this album uses Dolby Atmos Technology to capture Isata’s signature virtuosic flair. The first single is Mozart’s Variation 11: Adagio from Twelve Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman."The eldest of the famous musical siblings, Isata’s first memory of playing the piano was as a five-year-old on holiday in the Caribbean and sitting in front of her grandparents’ instrument. With a reputation for inventive programs, expressive performance and accomplished technique, Isata is in increasing demand nationally and internationally and was the only classical artist to appear in TIDAL’s 2023 Rising Artists to Watch.Isata evokes the magic of childhood in this charming collection of nostalgic music. The album is centred around Erno Dohnányi’s rarely performed Variations on a Nursery Song, expanding the well-known ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ into a truly virtuosic work which takes the theme through eleven musical variations and a fugal finale. Subtitled “for the enjoyment of friends of humour, to the annoyance of others”, it saw great success when it was introduced in the UK in the 1910s, with its witty, kaleidoscopic mix making this a concert favourite for many years afterwards before falling out of fashion – it was subsequently performed almost every year at the Proms from 1920s to 1950s. Isata is joined by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom she previously recorded Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto for her 2019 album “Romance” on Decca.From a young age, Isata has had a special affinity with Mozart and recalls playing the composer’s Variations on the French song ‘Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman’ with the same recognisable melody transformed through twelve sophisticated and inventive variations. Composed by Mozart when he was around Isata’s age, it is the perfect showpiece to pair with the Dohnányi.Debussy’s enchanting Children’s Corner is a six-movement suite written for his 6-year-old daughter that symbolises a return to the innocent world of children, featuring familiar tunes like Cakewalk and the playful Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum. The suite is full of child-like charm and sentiment and portrays the experiences of childhood.Robert Schumann’s simple and unpretentious collection of 13 short pieces, Kinderszenen (‘Scenes from Childhood’), were intended as adult nostalgia. The most well-known of which is Träumerei (Dreaming), a touching tribute to memories and experiences of childhood from an adult perspective, portrayed through the rich and poetic musical lens of SchumannIsata Kanneh-Mason commented: “It was in childhood where my love of classical music first blossomed. The pieces in this album carry with them a certain nostalgia, and I feel almost a sense of longing for childhood in some of them. That wistfulness for childhood is something that I wanted to express, as I think it’s a time when one’s love of music is at its most uncomplicated. Games were as big a part of my childhood as music. It was musical…very vibrant…and very noisy. We also came up with lots of games together! Long, elaborate games, often involving running around the house and making up stories. Dohnányi’s ‘Variations on a Nursery Tune’ is where this album all began. I heard it live in a concert, years ago, but knew nothing about it, not even its name: I thought it must be a Dohnányi concerto, so it was such a surprise finding out what it was. I had to play this piece. It’s so humorous, so exciting. I had such a strong reaction to it! Mozart’s Twelve Variations on ‘Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman’ was a natural twinning and it’s also a piece that I played in my childhood. It fitted very naturally, and it was lovely re-learning it.”Bringing new life to treasured works and shining a light on the nostalgia of childhood in music, Isata’s artistry carries the flame for a new generation of concert pianists at the forefront of recorded music.


    For May 30, 2023, Isata Kanneh-Mason: Childhood Tales is the WFMT: Chicago ‘Featured New Release.’ WFMT writes…..Isata Kanneh-Mason’s latest album evokes the magic of childhood in a charming collection of nostalgic music. The album is centered around Erno Dohnányi’s rarely performed Variations on a Nursery Song, expanding “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” into a truly virtuosic work. From a young age, Kanneh-Mason has had a special affinity with Mozart and recalls playing the composer’s Variations on the French song Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman with the same recognizable melody transformed through twelve sophisticated and inventive variations. Debussy’s Children’s Corner is a six-movement suite written for his 6-year-old daughter that symbolizes a return to the innocent world of children. Robert Schumann’s simple and unpretentious collection of 13 short pieces, Kinderszenen (“Scenes from Childhood”), were intended as adult nostalgia.
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  • FBO's 'Mozart's Mannheim' is a dynamic sequel to the famous Archiv L'Ecole de Mannheim box set / LEDEVOIR
    Posted At : May 26, 2023 12:00 AM
    Mozart’s Mannheim has been carefully curated to give 21st-century listeners an idea of the sound world experienced by Mozart when he visited Mannheim in the late 1770s. The southern German city’s legendary court orchestra made it a go-to destination for 18th-century cultural pilgrims and the Freiburger Barockorchester (FBO) has chosen to paint a musical portrait of Mannheim for its debut Deutsche Grammophon album. Mozart’s Mannheim presents a variety of orchestral and chamber pieces by Cannabich, Danner, Holzbauer, Toeschi and Vogler – including four world premiere recordings – as well as two key works composed by Mozart while he was in the city. The album will be released on 19 May 2023 and the FBO will perform most of its repertoire on 20 May at Schwetzingen Palace, as part of this year’s Schwetzingen Festival.

    “The Mannheim court of Elector Carl Theodor was famous for its vast orchestra in which the very best instrumentalists of their day played together,” explains Martin Bail, Dramaturge of the FBO. “That’s why we decided to begin our partnership with DG with music created in Mannheim around the time of Mozart’s visit in 1777-78.”

    Dr Rüdiger Thomsen-Fürst of the Forschungszentrum Hof | Musik | Stadt in Schwetzingen, an expert on Mannheim’s orchestra and its composers, followed the evidence trail left by Mozart’s letters to his family and used the insights they contain about his relationship with fellow composers and rivals to shape the FBO’s programme. “Mozart’s correspondence reveals how he encountered the leading musicians of the Mannheim court orchestra,” he notes. “There were those such as Cannabich with whom he became friends, those from whom he remained distant and those such as Vogler for whom he harboured a certain animosity. His letters also tell us something about the music he discovered in Mannheim and the works he wrote or performed there. The music we’ve chosen therefore represents an attempt to allow today’s listeners to hear something of what he heard in his day.” 

    Having first passed through Mannheim as a touring child prodigy, Mozart returned in October 1777 at the age of 21. He was instantly enchanted by the power and presence of the Mannheim orchestra, which as well as being famed for its exceptional size and virtuosity, was responsible for developing an array of arresting dynamic effects. Mozart remained in the city until the following March, during which time he composed sonatas for violin and keyboard, songs, works for solo piano, concert arias, quartets for strings and wind instruments, and his first concerto for flute and orchestra, among other works.

    Mozart’s Mannheim opens with the Overture to Georg Joseph “Abbé” Vogler’s Der Kaufmann von Smyrna as Mozart might have heard it in February 1778, before continuing with Cannabich’s Symphony No. 55 in C major, a dazzling display of the tonal shadings and dramatic effects and contrasts that hallmarked the Mannheim sound. Its orchestration includes clarinets, an addition to the woodwind section that particularly impressed Mozart when he heard the orchestra perform. The symphony is followed by Christian Danner’s elegant Violin Concerto, written soon after its composer began taking lessons in Mannheim with Mozart, and played by the FBO’s joint Artistic Director Gottfried von der Goltz.

    The outstanding quality of music made by Mannheim composers is further reflected in two strikingly different works: Carl Joseph Toeschi’s Sextet for flute, oboe, violin, viola, bassoon and cello and the Overture to Ignaz Holzbauer’s singspiel Günther von Schwarzburg, a performance of which led Mozart to write to his father Leopold, amazed at “how much fire there is in this music”. 

    The album is rounded off by two works by Mozart himself. Soprano Nicole Chevalier performs the concert aria Alcandro lo confesso … Non sò d’onde vieni, first performed by Mozart’s future sister in law Aloysia in early 1778. “With this final aria,” wrote Mozart to his father, “my dear Mlle Weber brought incredible honour both to herself and to me.” Like the aria, his Symphony in C K208/102 was premiered in the home of fellow musician Cannabich. Its first two movements had begun life in 1775 as the Sinfonia and opening aria respectively of the serenata Il re pastore, while the finale was newly composed in Mannheim.

    “What Mozart learned in Mannheim cannot be overstated in terms of its value to his later life,” concludes Martin Bail. “After this time, he reached new levels of quality, individuality and originality. The FBO and Deutsche Grammophon have followed Mozart to Mannheim to create a programme of the music he heard and learned from there. What better place to begin our collaboration?”
     LEDEVOIR's Christopher Huss writes….Big news: the famous Freiburger Barockorchester is back with Deutsche Grammophon and its first CD was released on May 19. The presence of the yellow label clearly endorses the removal of the Archiv label, previously associated with DG's baroque recordings. The program recalls what the Concerto Köln did at Teldec. Martin Sauer, the artistic and sound thinker of Teldec 25 years ago, is moreover the artistic director of this recording which offers world premieres of the overture to Merchant of Smyrna by Vogler, Symphony No. 55 by Cannabich, a violin concerto by Christian Danner (played stiffly) and a sextet by Carl Joseph Toeschi, set against an overture by Holzbauer, theConcert Air K. 294 and Mozart's Symphony K. 208/212 . The object is to explore the music that nourished the best orchestra in Germany when Mozart visited Mannheim in 1777-1778. In fact, this CD is a dynamic and successful sequel to the famous Archiv L'École de Mannheim box set by Camerata Bern, released in 1980.
     SEE THE  LEDEVOIR PAGE
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  • Returning to his roots, Rufus Wainwright assembles a premier line-up for 50 year celebration album / RETROPOP
    Posted At : May 29, 2023 12:00 AM
    Affectionately referred to by Elton John as "the greatest songwriter on the planet" and praised by the New York Times for his "genuine originality," Rufus Wainwright has established himself as one of the great male vocalists and songwriters of his generation.  The New York-born, Montreal-raised singer songwriter has released seven studio albums, three DVDs, and three live albums, including the fantastic Grammy nominated Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall, which captured his celebrated Judy Garland tribute performance at the London Palladium in 2007, and the album Release The Starswhich went Gold in Canada and the U.K. Rufus has received Juno Awards for Best Alternative Album in 1999 and 2002 for Rufus Wainwright and Poses, respectively, and nominations for his albumsWant Two (2005) and Release the Stars (2008). He was nominated for Songwriter of the Year in 2008 for his Release the Stars album. He also composed the original music for choreographer Stephen Petronio's work BLOOM which has toured across the country.

    Returning to his folk roots, Rufus Wainwright assembles a premier line-up of big-name collaborators on his 50 year celebration album.RETROPOP writes……Totalling 15 songs, ‘Folkocracy’ boasts guest appearances from friends including Brandi Carlile, John Legend, David Byrne, Sheryl Crow, Nicole Scherzinger, Chaka Khan, Susanna Hoffs and more, harking back to the childhood summers he spent at folk festivals, watching his famous family on stage.
    “The older I get, the more I appreciate how valuable my folk knowledge is, to have had it ingrained in me as a child,” he says. “I’m from a bona fide folkocracy who mixed extensively with other folkocracies such as the Seegers and the Thompsons. I spun off into opera and pop. Now I’m back where it all began.”It makes for a fitting, full-circle moment and one that feels strikingly personal in spite of the multitude of guest stars that feature across its songs in various capacities, from fully formed duets like the soulful Chaka Khan-featuring Cotton Eyed Joe and John Legend track Heading for Home, to Nicole Scherzinger’s understated backing vocals on Kaulana Na Pua.Meanwhile an early highlight, Twelve-Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming To The Canyon), featuring Susanna Hoffs, Chris Stills and Sheryl Crow, is a wall of sound number that unites Rufus and his collaborators with tight harmonies and a driving pace, while his three solo tracks showcase his mastery of the genre and allow his standout vocals to shine.On the back of his return to pop with 2020’s ‘Unfollow The Rules’, his decision to revert back to his first love is choice, although hardly surprising given where he’s at right now in his life.
    As Rufus himself quips: “This album is almost like a recorded birthday party and birthday present to myself. I just invited all the singers that I greatly admire and always wanted to sing with.”While not the most commercial move, ‘Folkocracy’ is more a personal endeavour and an exploration of the roots of the singer – the son of musicians Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle – as he approaches a key milestone in his life journey. 
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  • Sufjan Stevens brings a unique and exciting new feeling to his discography with 'Reflections / The DePaulia
    Posted At : May 30, 2023 12:00 AM
    The album is titled “Reflections” and released on streaming platforms in May 2023.

    The DePaulia's Jonah Weber writes…..Composer and songwriter Sufjan Stevens released a new collaborated album with Timo Andres and Conor Hanick. The album is titled “Reflections” and released on streaming platforms in May of 2023. I first listened to “Reflections” while commuting on the blueline home. I picked out an ambient mix made by Spotify, hoping to find something relaxing and calming while I read up on some upcoming assignments. Before I knew it, I was engrossed in the fifth song on the album, “Rodinia,” a song that transported me to a Hayao Miyazaki film. No longer focusing on the assignments I had to do, I opened the album and was surprised to find it was Sufjan Stevens’ latest release.Originally composed in 2019 for the Houston Ballet, Stevens and his collaborators put listeners in the auditorium of the dance performance. Each piano key hit feels like a joint jerking and a ballet shoe slamming onto the wooden stage. Stevens traditionally writes and performs music that falls in the indie and alternative genres.The album opens up with “Ekstasis,” which means ecstasy in Greek, and “to stand outside of or transcend oneself,” according to Britannica. The intro to this album sucks you in right away with fast pace and rhythmic piano playing. There are two pianos playing together, and it mirrors the image of a group of ballet dancers working together in choreography.The seven song album goes by quickly. It has a total runtime of 30 minutes. Originally I was disappointed to find this out after listening through the whole album the first time, but it works when you remember it was composed for a ballet, which tend to run for thirty minutes to two hours. I also found it to be the perfect commuter  and reading album. As far as album interpretation though, I recommend taking your time and listening to it closely.On my first listen, I found it to be a little repetitive. It felt like all the songs started the same, and I questioned whether I had an ear for classical music. Historically it is not my go-to genre, yet I persevered through the album. I’m thankful I did.Rather than being repetitive, the songs actually transition incredibly smoothly from one to the next. Each song has a unique, cathartic feeling. The notes are intense and loud but slowly smooth out as the songs go on.After three intense songs, the fourth track, “Mnemosyne” feels like a breath of fresh air. Rather than banging piano keys, the sounds are soft and fast. You can picture hands running across the ivory keys and ballerinas dancing in synchronization so clearly when this song comes on. “Mnemosyne” means “the goddess of memory” in Greek mythology.It is always exciting when a musician tackles a different genre of music, in this case going from indie and alternative to classical. Stevens brings a unique and exciting new feeling to his discography with “Reflections.”
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  • Arooj Aftab wants to be more than an Urdu singer / THEPRINT
    Posted At : May 29, 2023 12:00 AM
    Now she’s being called anti-Pakistan The singer’s tweet on labels by Western media opened a can of worms. Many accused her of wanting to shed her roots.

    THEPRINT - YASHNA KUMAR writes…. Internationally acclaimed Pakistani singer Arooj Aftab, whose songs were on former US president Barack Obama’s playlist and who performed with Anoushka Shankar at the 2023 Grammy Awards in February, is in the centre of an identity storm. She took to Twitter to question why people of colour have been reduced to their “roots” or “heritage”.

    “Pakistani singer arooj aftab…… Urdu singer arooj aftab….. arooj Aftab’s amazing Urdu singing… like. It’s fine I guess? But can a person of color musician ever just get to be without this tag to whatever someone else is presuming is our root or heritage,” she tweeted on 26 May.The response has opened a proverbial can of worms with many accusing her of wanting to shed her Pakistani roots. One particularly vicious commentator called her out for her “silly self absorbed victim complex”. In the wake of the swift and sudden backlash, Aftab had to turn off her replies on the social media platform.

    But by then, she had been labelled “anti Pakistan” by her detractors. In response, Aftab had to explain to the audience that her original tweet was not about the erasure of her roots, but about her identity from a geographic and linguistic context.“… I am proud of my roots and heritage deeply and I am very protective of them. This tweet was about western prejudices,” she wrote in the replies to her original tweet.
     FROM PR…..Arooj Aftab's latest ECM release: Love In Exile asks you to step inside its sense of time, to stretch out alongside these delightful and unhurriedly unfolding songs. Profound impact is achieved with minimal instrumentation:  Vijay Iyer on pianos and electronics, Shahzad Ismaily on bass and Moog synth, and Arooj Aftab’s exquisite Urdu vocals. Subtle musical interrelationships build into moments of deeply felt drama. Shimmering keyboard melodies and stirring vocals, earthy basslines, and hypnotic drones: together they create an album of stunning gravitas and beauty. Love In Exile was recorded live in a New York City studio with minimal editing, and each listen reveals distinct aspects of this soundworld, sure as it will activate new feelings inside you.Genre categories come after the fact. This album is startlingly present and emotionally open. Many listeners will find it easier to remember how each song made them feel and what each song did to their sense of attention rather than specific melodies. This is music as a meeting ground and a way of being alive to the world. All the intimacies and deep trust that we understand by the word love combine with all the strangeness and adaptability of exile. The outsiders stay open.The trio’s work is graceful in the common sense: elegance and emotion accompany each movement here. Yet it also manifests the deeper, spiritual sense of grace: a beauty that is generous, free, and unexpected, tapped into a higher power, which it translates and extends.By creating in real time, without any prior preparations, the three musicians make a collective moment for both themselves and the audience. Remembering their first show, Aftab says, “Vijay and Shahzad were so locked into each other, and it was unclear whether they were doing what I was doing or I was doing what they were doing. We were like a school of fish.” Sunlight dappled through deep water, fluid motions that dissolve individual boundaries and amplify communal energy. Ismaily calls it “a relaxing toward what is.” Love In Exile is the power of music, how it moves us and invites us to love.  Written by Jace Clayton.File Photo of Arooj Aftab | Instagram @aroojaftabSEE THEPRINT PAGE
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  • Zoe Ackah - This Hen is full of wit, wisdom, and the lightheartedness still expected of women / Roots Music Canada
    Posted At : May 31, 2023 12:00 AM
    Roots Music Canada Paul Corby writes…….Zoe Ackah has her new country roots album out this month. It’s entitled This Hen. It’s eight songs full of wit, wisdom and “the tenderness and lightheartedness still expected of women.””It’s about producing eggs under capitalism, trying to lay a golden one,” she explained with a chuckle. Her struggle to incubate the music was, after all, somewhat informed and inspired by her situation as a working mother in downtown Toronto.“It’s very much about what we, as women and mothers, do. And how it feels to be trapped by motherhood. Still to this day, I spend 90 percent of my free time managing the lives of my three big kids. I’ve spent the last 20 years in the kitchen. I don’t know how many hilarious, catchy songs I sang into the kitchen sink.”Her kitchen, at a glance, is sparkling and well-stocked, and on the counter sits her grandmother’s elegantly floral teapot full of ginger tea, which has been brewing for an hour and a half. It is, like Zoe, rich with flavour and not just a bit tangy. Well-steeped.As we sip, she elaborates upon the metaphors of “This Hen,” the title song.“It’s not just that but there are deeper issues that I allude to, that if you’re listening, you’ll hear. One of them is this whole idea of creating life. With your eggs. For the consumption of others. When you don’t own land, when you don’t have a homestead, you are basically throwing your kids into the world for other people. Where are they going to work? For someone else. Who is going to benefit from that toil? Mostly someone else. And then, because my children are racialized people – their father is African, and I’m Jewish – there is always the concern that my children are not safe. They’re at risk, like chickens on a farm. So although I’m laughing about it, about being bird-called and being squawked at by the rooster, I also mention the farmer, the system we are under, the one who decides who the haves and the have-nots are. It’s like a joke that I took waaay too far. I also talk about shacking up with an owl eventually, but then I’d have to leave my chicks and who wants to do that?”The song itself is abruptly danceable and powerfully plucky, if you will, and extra finger-lickin’ good, thanks, in large part to the spirited spurring-on of some articulate guitar picking.“A lot of the reason this record is so good is Kevin Breit,” Zoe admited. “All of the finoodling in the arrangements; what a phenomenal guitar player. The secret to being a great producer is just to get the very most talented people you can. And every note is magic. Just beautifully done.”Her production acumen is also evidenced in her selection of the rhythm section of local heavy lifters Davide Direnzo and Ian de Souza and the horn enhancements of the effervescent Rebecca Hennessey. With her point of view nailed down by her domesticity, Zoe’s range of creative stimulation still seems boundless. There is a song full of dad jokes inspired by the curated journals of her late grandfather entitled “I Miss You (But My Aim Is Getting Better),” the streetwise portraiture of “Just A Trickle, Just A Nickel,” and a bona fide Patsy Cline-worthy hit called “Gotta Stop Loving You (But I Can’t).”“Besides baking bread, one thing I’m also really good at is writing earworms,” Zoe said. “I Think that’s because I am a child of the 80s when everything was sold with a jingle, so I like to be really clear about what the hook is. That song is about a guy who wouldn’t commit, but he’d call me every day, didn’t want to be my boyfriend, and it went on forever, and I think in this day and age when Tinder and Bumble like to make you feel like there’s an infinite number of options for you, and people have such a hard time settling down – slow down folks. The grass is not greener on the other side. The grass is green where you water.”With the record out and a launch scheduled for May 31 (tonight, 6-8pm) at the Cameron House in Toronto, Zoe will not be reclining in her accomplishments any time soon.“I have a fire,” she declared. “My goal is to record 50 songs and put out three or four more records in the next five or six years. Once I’ve made a record I don’t look back. My real joy in life is creating songs and making a recording of them, and I now have a massive backlog.”And with her career and family obligations, there is no worry that she will fly the coop anytime soon. This HenSEE THE Roots Music Canada PAGE
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  • Bion Tsang knows how to explore the 'dark side' without wallowing in misery / THE REHEARSAL STUDIO
    Posted At : May 20, 2023 12:00 AM
    In his newest release, cellist Bion Tsang returns to Glasgow, Scotland for his second recording with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and conductor Scott Yoo.  CANTABILE, available from Universal Music Group on digital platforms tomorrow, April 14, and on CD in May 2023, features two works by Tchaikovsky, Variations on a Rococo Theme (Op. 33) and Andante Cantabile (Op. 11), and Schumann’s Cello Concerto, bookended by two renditions of Pablo Casals’ “Song of the Birds.”CANTABILE opens with Casals’ “Song of the Birds” for cello and orchestra, setting an intention for the album’s romantic arc.  The mood lifts with the elegant and virtuosic Variations on a Rococo Theme of Tchaikovsky, which is followed by the heart-wrenching Schumann Cello Concerto. The beloved, lyrical Andante Cantabile by Tchaikovksy and Tsang’s own arrangement for unaccompanied cello of “Song of the Birds” complete the album.The making of Tsang’s album appears in Season 4 of PBS Great Performances’ NOW HEAR THIS, an episode devoted to exploring Schumann’s mental health and creativity.  Tsang and Yoo are seen discussing the alterations made to Schumann’s manuscript of the Cello Concerto, which they feel ultimately changed the emotional concept of the original work.  NOW HEAR THIS episode “Schumann: Genius and Madness” premieres April 14 worldwide on PBS (check local listings).“I am so thrilled to have these two projects release simultaneously,” says Tsang.  “It was such a joy to once again collaborate with Scott Yoo and the RSNO.  With the addition of Harry Lynch and the NHT crew, we were able to delve more deeply into Schumann’s own experience and his possible motivations in composing the cello concerto.”“My father, Paul Ja-Min Tsang, aspired to be a singer,” says Michigan-born Tsang, who dedicated CANTABILE to his father’s memory.  “Born in Shanghai, raised in the Fujian province in the 1940s and Taiwan in the 1950s, he was steered towards science and not afforded that opportunity.“From my first concerto performance in 1979, he supported me to become a concert cellist.  I’m grateful that he lived to see my dreams come true before his death in 1998.  My dad loved the cello for its singing voice and always encouraged me to find my voice as a musician.”Produced by Michael Fine, CANTABILE is distributed by Universal Music Group and available everywhere digital music is distributed including Apple Music, Spotify and Google Music.
     THE REHEARSAL STUDIO's Stephen Smoliar writes…..About a month ago, Universal Music Group released the second album of the cellist Bion Tsang recorded with the Royal Scottish National Orchestral and conductor Scott Yoo. The title about the album is Cantabile and it is structured a bit like a relatively simple labyrinth. As of this writing, the album is only available for digital download, but the word is that a CD will be available later this month. At that time the Web page connected to the above hyperlink will be augmented with a link to a Web page for “physical” purchase.At the core of the album’s structure is Robert Schumann’s Opus 129 three-movement cello concerto. It is both preceded and followed by compositions by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: the Opus 33 “Variations on a Rococo Theme” on the “way in” and the Andante cantabile movement from the Opus 11 (first) string quartet in D major on the “way out.” The entire album is framed by Pablo Casals’ setting of the Catalan Christmas song “El cant dels ocells” (the song of the birds). The opening track presents Casals’ arrangement of the tune for cello and string orchestra. The final track is Tsang’s arrangement of Casals’ arrangement for solo cello.I have to confess that I have encountered “El cant dels ocells” at so many recitals that I felt a bit embarrassed that had only one recording of it. Nevertheless, even a casual perusal of my library of recordings would convince anyone that I am a total sucker for cello performances. Thus, while I was certainly curious when I first learned about Tsang, it was “El cant dels ocells” that convinced me that I had to listen to this new release!Those familiar with the “core program” of this album would probably agree with me that the overall rhetoric is a dark one. Even the carol has more than a tinge of melancholy, which may have had more to do with Casals than with its traditional roots. Still, Tsang clearly knows how to explore the “dark side” of each of the selections without turning his interpretation into a wallow in misery.SEE THE REHEARSAL STUDIO PAGE
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Max Horowitz

maxcrossover@gmail.com

A graduate of the Aaron Copland School of Music(Queens College NYC), Max Horowitz is the principle of Crossover Media Music Promotion. Founded in 1994, Crossover Media's client list includes: Sony Masterworks, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, BMG, and Concord, along with many Independent Labels and Artists. Prior to establishing Crossover Media, Mr. Horowitz served as Producer for SiriusXM, Music Choice, Classical-104WNCN - New York, and the DayNET Talk Network, and is the recipient of The George Foster Peabody Award, the 'International Radio Festival of New York Award, and '2 New York State Broadcaster Awards. His production work on long form radio shows and podcasts includes collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma, Chick Corea, Jonny Greeenwood, Richard Reed Parry, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Leonard Slatkin, Yannick Nezet-Sequin, Vladimir Horowitz, Emanuel Ax, JoAnn Falletta, Daniel Hope, Nico Muhly, John Scofield, Steve Swallow, The Bad Plus, Marcus Roberts, Rachel Portman, Alexandre Desplat, Ilan Eshkeri, Jeff Beal, Jung Jaeil, and many others. Mr. Horowitz is also a contributor to ‘Understanding The Music Business’ published by Simon & Schuster.

Amanda Bloom

amandacrossover@gmail.com

Amanda Bloom is the publicity and communications manager at Crossover Media. A Brooklyn resident, Amanda is also an active NYC jazz vocalist who draws musical inspiration from a wide range of influences. Crossover Media's projects which encompass multiple genres has been a great fit for her both personally and professionally. Amanda earned a BM in jazz vocal performance from the Peabody Institute of Music at Johns Hopkins University under the guidance of Jay Clayton & Gary Thomas.

Zachary Swanson

zacharycrossover@gmail.com

Zachary Swanson began studying the double bass at the age of 6 in his home state of Massachusetts. Using gut strings and a personalized technique, Zachary has developed a conception of the double bass that heightens the integrity of various musical environments. He can be found playing around New York City and beyond in a variety of styles, ranging from adventurous improvised music to backing singer-songwriters. Zachary is a graduate of the Peabody Institute of Music at Johns Hopkins University and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY where he has made his home since 2012. 

Eeppi Ursin



Eeppi Ursin is a platinum-selling, award-winning singer-songwriter, jazz vocalist and pianist originally from Finland. Ursin is known for her angelic-strong voice and exceptional skill set ranging from top-class performance to writing music for various groups. Her stage presence combines warmth, style, humor and virtuosity. Her recordings and performances as a singer vary from pop, jazz, dance, a cappella and children's music.

Throughout her career she has captivated audiences all around the world performing at prestigious venues with acclaimed artists such as trumpeter Leroy Jones and Spirit of New Orleans, Vocal Ensemble Club For Five, and UMO Jazz Orchestra, to name a few. Eeppi Ursin also collaborates with renowned theatres and modern opera ensembles as a composer and arranger.

Eeppi Ursin has released three solo albums where she stands out as an artist with a strong and unique yet catching pop sound. Her albums with praising reviews are: Violet (Buckshotmusic 2005), Yellow Page Girl (Buckshotmusic 2009) and Jäljet (Luomusic 2017) followed by numerous radio hit-singles. In addition to her solo albums Eeppi appears on over 40 recordings of which five are platinum- or gold-selling albums.

In 2014 she was chosen to perform as the soloist at the President's Independence Day Reception in her home country Finland. In 2001 she won the 1st prize in the Lady Summertime international jazz vocal competition. Eeppi Ursin works and lives in New York City.