Category: Leaf Music Distribution

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Vernon Regehr and Jane Leibel Premiere Andrew Staniland’s Calamus, Based on Poems by Walt Whitman

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music announces the distribution of a bold world premiere digital recording of new Walt Whitman songs for soprano and cello by acclaimed Newfoundland composer Andrew Staniland.  

Calamus Cycle’s virtuoso performances by cellist Vernon Regehr and soprano Jane Leibel bring poems from Whitman’s Leaves of Grass alive, with each poem also read by actor and playwright Robert Chafe. 

The cycle consists of five pieces based on Calamus 6, Lacrimosa, Aliment Roots, No Labour Saving Machine and Calamus Variations from the famous Leaves of Grass manuscript, which Whitman began publishing in 1855. The cycle grew organically when Staniland was first commissioned to write a piece for American Opera Projects in 2010 in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the 1860 edition (the first edition in which the Calamus poems appeared). Other pieces were commissioned from 2012-2019. 

Robert Chafe is a writer, educator, actor and arts administrator based in St. John’s who has been shortlisted three times for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama, winning the award for Afterimage in 2010. He is the playwright and Artistic Director of Newfoundland’s Artistic Fraud, and his stage plays have been produced in Canada, the UK, Australia and the US. 

Andrew Staniland has been described as a “new music visionary” (National Arts Centre) and is a composer and faculty member at Memorial University in St. John’s, where he founded MEARL (Memorial AlectroAcoustic Research Lab). His music is performed and broadcast internationally, receiving three JUNO nominations, an ECMA Award and the Karen Keiser Prize in Canadian Music. Andrew has been an Affiliate Composer with the Toronto Symphony and National Arts Centre Orchestra, and has had commissions from the Brooklyn Art Song Society, Les Percussions de Strasbourg, cellist Frances-Marie Uitti and the National Arts Centre Orchestra, among others. andrewstaniland.com 

Soprano Jane Leibel has earned praise for her “crystalline, strong soprano” (Opera Canada) and is Professor of Voice at Memorial University’s School of Music. She has performed operatic, concert roles and recital programs in Canada, the US and Europe, and has released two previous recordings. She won the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Competition for the performance of twentieth century music and received an Alumni of Distinction Award from the University of Regina in 2017. 

An avid performer and teacher, cellist Vernon Regehr serves on the faculty at the Memorial University School of Music and the Tuckamore Chamber Music Festival. His first solo album featuring Canadian works for unaccompanied cello won an ECMA for Composition of the Year. He is also the conductor of the Kittiwake Dance Theatre Orchestra and the Memorial University Chamber Orchestra. 

The new album was produced by Andrew Staniland, with support from Memorial University and Arts NL, and was recorded at the Memorial School of Music between 2017 and 2024.  

Listen to Calamus Cycle on your favourite streaming platform, beginning September 26, 2025. 

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Nashville, Tennessee, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across North America. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services, and integrated music marketing and distribution in North America. 

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,   peggy@leaf.music 

(902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).  

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CBC Music’s 30 under 30, Olivier Bergeron releases his debut album, “Nuits blanches”

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) – Leaf Music announces the release of Nuits blanches, a new digital recording featuring French-Canadian artists Olivier Bergeron (baritone) and Olivier Godin (piano).  

Named one of CBC’s 30 Under 30, baritone Olivier Bergeron makes his recording debut with Nuits blanches. Featuring five song cycles by Ravel, Debussy, Fauré, and Jolivet. The album explores the many shades of love through the intimate lens of mélodie française.

At its heart is Debussy’s elusive Nuits blanches—a haunting, long-lost song cycle with texts by the composer himself. Une nuit blanche can be translated as “a sleepless night;” (the full expression is “passer une nuit blanche.)” In the case of the new recording, it is love causing the sleepless nights, best exemplified in the text of Claude Debussy’s sensual, intense Endless night: “Nuits sans fin. Tristesse morne des heures où l’on attend!” From the shimmering innocence of young love to the fragile vulnerabilities of jealousy and regret, the eclectic repertoire unveils a different emotional hue in popular melodies like Gabriel Fauré’s Mélodies « de Venise » (a setting of poems by Paul Verlaine), paired with rarities such as André Jolivet’s cycle, Poèmes intimes, dedicated to his wife, Hilda. Like Fauré’s, Jolivet’s cycle comprises five poems; the work was premiered in 1944 in Paris. Curiously, the first three cycles were premiered at the same venue in Paris, as part of the Société Nationale de Musique concerts, where “serious” French music was presented from 1871 (during the Franco-Prussian War) until 1939. 

All but Debussy’s Nuits blanches were published during the authors’ lifetimes. The manuscripts of his unfinished Nuits blanches project were found in composer Arthur Honegger’s library in 1991 by his daughter and just published in Paris in the year 2000. 

The two acclaimed musicians bring a refined lyricism to this repertoire, drawing listeners in to the hushed elegance of the fin-de-siècle salon, where poetry and music once breathed side by side. 

A graduate of the Verbier Festival Academy, French-Canadian baritone Olivier Bergeron studied at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and the École normale de musique de Paris. He has appeared with Les Talens Lyriques under Christophe Rousset, with Fabio Biondi, and at major venues including the Philharmonie de Paris, Wigmore Hall, Opéra Grand Avignon, and the Festival de Lanaudière. In 2025–2026, he joins Les Arts Florissants and William Christie on tour as part of Le Jardin des Voix and Hervé Niquet with Le Concert Spirituel at the Chapelle Royale de Versailles.   

Pianist Olivier Godin has been Artistic Director of Montreal’s Bourgie Hall since 2022 and was appointed professor at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal at age 25. He has recorded over 30 critically acclaimed albums and performed at Wigmore Hall, La Monnaie, and the Palazzetto Bru Zane. A specialist in mélodie française, his discography includes complete songs by Poulenc, Fauré, Duparc, and Massenet’s 333 mélodies..  

The new album was recorded in 2023 in Passavant, France. 

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Nashville, Tennessee, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across North America. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in North America.

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, Nouvelle-Écosse) – Leaf Music annonce la parution de Nuits blanches, un nouvel album numérique réunissant deux artistes québécois : Olivier Bergeron (baryton) et Olivier Godin (piano).  

Nommé parmi la prestigieuse liste des « 30 under 30 » de la CBC, le baryton Olivier Bergeron signe avec Nuits blanches ses débuts discographiques. L’album propose cinq cycles de mélodies de Ravel, Debussy, Fauré et Jolivet, et explore les multiples nuances de l’amour à travers l’intimité de la mélodie française. 

Au cœur de ce programme se trouve les énigmatiques Nuits blanches de Debussy, écrites sur des poèmes du compositeur lui-même. Ce cycle, dont seulement deux des cinq mélodies ont été retrouvées à ce jour, expose les tourments amoureux qui gardent le narrateur éveillé, comme en témoigne le texte sensuel et ténébreux. De l’innocence éclatante des premiers émois aux fragiles vulnérabilités de la jalousie et du regret, ce programme éclectique dévoile toute une palette émotionnelle : des mélodies célèbres comme les Mélodies « de Venise » de Gabriel Fauré (sur des poèmes de Paul Verlaine) côtoient des raretés telles que le cycle Poèmes intimes d’André Jolivet, dédié à son épouse Hilda. Comme celui de Fauré, le cycle de Jolivet comprend cinq poèmes ; il fut créé à Paris en 1944. Fait étonnant : les trois premiers cycles de ce programme furent créés dans la même salle parisienne, dans le cadre des concerts de la Société Nationale de Musique, qui présentait la « musique sérieuse » française de 1871 (durant la guerre franco-prussienne) jusqu’en 1939.  

Hormis les Nuits blanches de Debussy, toutes les œuvres furent publiées du vivant de leurs auteurs. Les manuscrits inachevés du cycle Nuits blanches ont été retrouvés en 1991 dans la bibliothèque du compositeur Arthur Honegger par sa fille, puis publiés à Paris en 2000.  

Les deux musiciens québécois offrent un lyrisme raffiné à ce répertoire, plongeant l’auditeur dans l’élégance feutrée du salon fin-de-siècle, où poésie et musique se répondaient dans un même souffle.  

Diplômé de la Verbier Festival Academy, le baryton Olivier Bergeron a étudié au Conservatoire de musique de Montréal et à l’École normale de musique de Paris, où il a complété un Certificat Spécialisé en Mélodie Française sous la tutelle de François Le Roux. Il s’est produit avec Les Talens Lyriques sous la direction de Christophe Rousset, avec Fabio Biondi, ainsi que dans de prestigieuses salles telles que la Philharmonie de Paris, le Wigmore Hall, l’Opéra Grand Avignon, la Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier avec l’Opéra de Montréal, et l’Amphithéâtre Fernand-Lindsay du Festival de Lanaudière. En 2025–2026, il rejoindra Les Arts Florissants et William Christie pour une tournée dans le cadre du Jardin des Voix, Hervé Niquet et Le Concert Spirituel pour un concert à la Chapelle Royale de Versailles et fera ses débuts à la Maison Symphonique de Montréal.

Le pianiste Olivier Godin est directeur artistique de la salle Bourgie à Montréal depuis 2022 et a été nommé professeur au Conservatoire de musique de Montréal à l’âge de 25 ans. Il a enregistré plus de 30 albums salués par la critique et s’est produit au Wigmore Hall, à La Monnaie de Bruxelles et au Palazzetto Bru Zane. Spécialiste de la mélodie française, sa discographie comprend l’intégrale des mélodies de Poulenc, Fauré, Duparc, ainsi que les 333 mélodies de Massenet.

Cet album a été enregistré en 2023 à Passavant, en France.  

Leaf Music est une étiquette indépendante, basée à Halifax, en Nouvelle-Écosse, ainsi qu’à Nashville, au Tennessee. Leaf Music produit et distribue des enregistrements de musique classique de haute qualité où figurent des artistes et compositeurs provenant de toute l’Amérique du Nord. Notre catalogue croissant de musiques solo et orchestrale et de musique de chambre est distribué par Naxos of America auprès des plus grands détaillants internationaux de musique et de fournisseurs de téléchargements et services de streaming. Leaf offre également des services professionnels de production audio et vidéo, de postproduction, ainsi que des services intégrés de marketing et de distribution musicale au Canada. 

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,   peggy@leaf.music 

(902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).  

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Another Installment of Carl Theodor Jubilee Year Collection by Anders Muskens – Army of Generals, Vol. 3: Shakespeare and Ovid in Mannheim

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music announces the distribution of a new digital recording from early music specialist Anders Muskens, being released in digital format on September 5. This marks the third album in a series celebrating the Carl Theodor Jubilee Year: https://www.neuemannheimerorchester.de/carl-theodor-jubilee-releases

Shakespeare & Ovid in Mannheim features live recordings of works by two seldom heard Mannheim School composers: Georg Joseph Vogler’s Hamlet Symphony (1778) and Christian Cannabich’s Ceyx et Alcyone (1762–63)—two musical dramas rooted in the expressive ideals of the Enlightenment. Vogler’s Hamlet unfolds as a compact music-drama, tracing the arc of the Danish prince’s grief, ghostly visions, feigned madness, vengeance, and spiraling melancholy in the stormy idiom of Sturm und Drang. In the narrative ballet Ceyx et Alcyone, Cannabich evokes the mythic pathos of Ovid’s Metamorphoses with mystical dances, dreadful tempest scene, and richly textured orchestral colour in the early classical idiom.

Actor João Luís Veloso Paixão narrates the story of Ceyx, interweaving period French texts adapted from Raymond and Charles de Massac’s Alexandrine translations of Ovid (from 1603) and Antoine Houdar de La Motte’s Alcione (1706), into the original instrumental ballet music. This contextualizes the drama of the ballet with the spoken word in a novel historically inspired melodramatic format. The Portuguese baritone and researcher specializes in Early Music singing and acting, with an emphasis on eighteenth-century melodrama and historical acting techniques.

Co-directed by Anders Muskens from the harpsichord and concertmaster Rachael Beesley, the four albums being released in 2025 represent a bold revival of the theatrical and expressive ideals of the Mannheim court. With period instruments, rhetorical flair, and dramatic narration, Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester reclaims these neglected masterworks—offering a resonant tribute to Prince-Elector Carl Theodor’s cultural legacy as visionary patron behind the Mannheim Court Orchestra. The German prince’s court was one of the most exciting centres for music-making in the second half of the eighteenth century.

Prolific early music specialist Anders Muskens has had other recordings distributed by Leaf, including Beethoven: Waldstein & Appassionata Sonatas and Army of Generals Volume 2: Carl Theodor’s Court Orchestra in Mannheim 1742-1778. Muskens is a Canadian fortepianist, harpsichordist, conductor, and musicologist whose work focuses on the revival of eighteenth-and early nineteenth-century performance traditions, equally active in Europe and North America. He completed a Masters in Fortepiano at the Royal Conservatoire of the Hague under Dr. Bart van Oort and Petra Somlai, with Fabio Bonizzoni and Patrick Ayrton for harpsichord. He is represented as a performer by the Sonus Agency for Early Music and is the founder of the ensemble Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester, an international initiative to revive the music of the Mannheim School in the second half of the eighteenth century.

The new album was produced with support from the Canada Council for the Arts and Forschungszentrum HOF/MUSIK/STADT.

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Nashville, Tennessee, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across North America. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in North America.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,   peggy@leaf.music 

(902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).  

Carl Theodor Jubilee Year Collection

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Andrew Staniland Transforms EEG Brainwaves into Music in “The Laws of Nature”

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music announces the distribution of a new recording, The Laws of Nature from Canadian composer Andrew Staniland, being released in digital format on August 1.  

Award-winning Canadian composer Andrew Staniland presents an innovative and evocative classical crossover album, The Laws of Nature. Created in part using a novel electronic instrument (JADE), the recording transforms EEG brain waves of six dancers from St. John’s Kittiwake Dance Theatre into music, creating two multi-movement works:  Dancer Portraits and The Laws of Nature. The album blends electronic, classical, and cinematic genres, captured in stunning Dolby Atmos by John DS Adams of Stonehouse Sound. The project is the culmination of years of musical and technological exploration on the JADE digital musical instrument, housed at MEARL (Memorial Electroacoustic Research Lab) at Memorial University in Newfoundland.   

Described as a “new music visionary” (National Arts Centre), composer Andrew Staniland (andrewstaniland.com) has established himself as one of Canada’s most important and innovative musical voices. His music is performed and broadcast internationally and has been described by Alex Ross in the New Yorker Magazine as “alternately beautiful and terrifying.” Important accolades include three JUNO nominations, ECMA awards, the 2016 Terra Nova Young Innovators Award, the 2009 National Grand Prize winner of CBC/Radio-Canada’s Evolution National Composition Prize and the 2004 Karen Keiser Prize in Canadian Music. As a leading composer of his generation, Andrew was recognized by election to the Inaugural Cohort of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists Royal Society of Canada. Andrew is currently Professor at Memorial University in St John’s Newfoundland, where he founded MEARL (Memorial Electroacoustic Research Lab). At MEARL, Andrew leads a cross-disciplinary research team that has produced the innovative JADE and Mune digital instruments. Andrew also performs as a guitarist and with new media (computers and electronics).  

Listen to The Laws of Nature on your favourite streaming platform.  

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Nashville, Tennessee, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across North America. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf Music is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in North America.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,   peggy@leaf.music 

(902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

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Leaf Music Distributes New Album from Anders Muskens – Beck: Sonata for Keyboard, Op. 5

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music announces the distribution of a new digital recording from historical piano specialist Anders Muskens, being released in digital format on June 27.

Sonatas for Keyboard Op. 5 – Franz Ignaz Beck continues Musken’s tribute to the Carl Theodor Jubilee Year (1724-2024) with compositions by German composer, violinist, director and keyboardist Franz Ignaz Beck (1734-1809), performed on original instruments. Muskens recorded this album on a Square Pianoforte by Longman & Broderip (John Geib), London 1788 (restored by Paul Kobald in 2018) from his own personal collection. Carl Theodor was a regional monarch in German history, cultivating the Mannheim court orchestra; 2024 marks the 300th anniversary of his birth.

Franz Ignaz Beck was born in Mannheim, given his musical education by Johann Stamitz, famous composer, violin virtuoso and director of the Mannheim Court Orchestra. His early career was dramatically impacted by a duel during which his opponent feigned death. To avoid repercussions, Beck fled and travelled extensively throughout Italy, performing concerts and refining his compositional abilities. He settled in France and later faced a tribunal during the French Revolution along with his entire theatre ensemble. Fortunately, he was proven innocent and continued as a central figure in Bordeaux’s cultural life until his death in 1809. He wrote symphonies, vocal and operatic works and keyboard sonatas. The 18 Sonates pour le Clavecin ou le Piano Forte were published in Paris around 1772 and are full of wit, charm, sensuality and coquetry.

Prolific early music specialist Anders Muskens has had other recordings distributed by Leaf, including Vogler: Travel Souvenirs for Keyboard, Beethoven’s Forgotten Piano Concerto, Beethoven: Waldstein & Appassionata Sonatas and Army of Generals Volume II: Carl Theodor’s Court Orchestra in Mannheim 1742-1778. Muskens is a Canadian fortepianist, harpsichordist, conductor, and musicologist whose work focuses on the revival of eighteenth-and early nineteenth-century performance traditions. He is active in Europe and North America and completed a Masters in Fortepiano at the Royal Conservatoire of the Hague under Dr. Bart van Oort and Petra Somlai, with Fabio Bonizzoni and Patrick Ayrton for harpsichord. He is represented as a performer by the Sonus Agency for Early Music and is the founder of the ensemble Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester, an international initiative to revive the music of the Mannheim School in the second half of the eighteenth century.

The new album was produced with support from the Forschungszentrum HOF/MUSIK/STADT and Adriana Jacoba Fonds and was recorded at the Nikomedeskirche, Weilheim-Tübingen.

Listen to Beck’s Sonatas for Keyboard Op. 5 on your favourite streaming platform.

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Nashville, Tennessee, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across North America. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in North America.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,   peggy@leaf.music 

(902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

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Leaf Music Distributes New Album from Anders Muskens – Vogler: Travel Souvenirs for Keyboard

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS)Leaf Music announces the distribution of a new recording from early music specialist Anders Muskens, being released in digital format on April 18.

Travel Souvenirs for Keyboard – Georg Joseph Vogler features compositions by German composer Georg Joseph Vogler (1749 – 1814), performed on original instruments. Muskens recorded on a Square Pianoforte by Longman & Broderip (John Geib), London 1788 (restored by Paul Kobald in 2018), and a Grand pianoforte by John Broadwood & Songs, London, 1806 (restored by Paul Kobald in 2022). He tuned and tempered the instruments (both from his own collection), using the method described by Vogler himself in 1807.

The album celebrates Carl Theodor’s Jubilee Year (2024). Vogler was a key Kappelmeister in Theodor’s court. Many pieces were published during Vogler’s tenure in Sweden.

Vogler’s wanderlust inspired many of the pieces he composed, and he was well-regarded for his intricate, complex variation sets for keyboard, which he often improvised in dazzling public concerts on organ and fortepiano. The new recording includes a work from 1798 (Pieces de clavecin) and Variations sur l’Air de Marlborough from 1791. Georg Joseph, known as Abt or Abbé Vogler, never spent more than a few months in one place; he was always travelling, literally crisscrossing Europe, and even venturing to the Arctic Circle and North Africa. His fascination with folk melodies can be heard woven into his harmonic and structural innovations for keyboard.

Prolific early music specialist Anders Muskens has had other recordings distributed by Leaf Music, including Beethoven: Waldstein & Appassionata Sonatas and Army of Generals Volume II: Carl Theodor’s Court Orchestra in Mannheim 1742-1778. Muskens is a Canadian fortepianist, harpsichordist, conductor, and musicologist whose work focuses on the revival of eighteenth-and early nineteenth-century performance traditions, equally active in Europe and North America. He completed a Masters in Fortepiano at the Royal Conservatoire of the Hague under Dr. Bart van Oort and Petra Somlai, with Fabio Bonizzoni and Patrick Ayrton for harpsichord. He is represented as a performer by the Sonus Agency for Early Music and is the founder of the ensemble Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester, an international initiative to revive the music of the Mannheim School in the second half of the eighteenth century.

The new album was produced with support from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and Forschungszentrum HOF/MUSIK/STADT, and was recorded at the Pfleghofsaal at the Musicology Institute of the University of Tubingen

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Nashville, Tennessee, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across North America. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.
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Leaf Music Distributes Drew Jurecka & Maurice Ravel: String Quartet

“Captivating…breathtaking tour de force… The Venuti String Quartet plays with joie de vivre!” – The Whole Note

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music and the Venuti String Quartet announce the distribution of their new recording Drew Jurecka & Maurice Ravel: String Quartets (VSQ202401).

Drew Jurecka & Maurice Ravel: String Quartets celebrates Ravel’s 150th birthday but begins with member and co-founder Drew Jurecka’s string quartet, a composition that explores and blends classical and jazz influences. This is followed by Ravel’s only string quartet in F Major, composed during this student years at the Paris Conservatory. The album concludes with The Spider, a collaborative piece at breakneck speed by Jurecka and Jay Danley, paying tribute to Carl Stalling, who wrote music for Looney Toons and Merry Melodies cartoons.

The Venuti String Quartet brings together four of the most in-demand musicians in Toronto’s vibrant music scene (Rebekah Wolkstein and Drew Jurecka, violins; Shannon Knights, viola and Amahl Arulanandam, cello), hailing from esteemed Toronto ensembles including the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, Payadora Ensemble, Schmaltz & Pepper and VC2. Founded with genre-flexibility in mind, the group is equally at home in recording studios or onstage playing alongside a range of artists in almost any genre (e.g. Alessia Cara, Laila Biali, Jill Barber and her recent release, Encore, Donovan Woods) as they are performing the great classics and original compositions and arrangements. In concert, the Quartet enjoys pairing nonclassical music with works of the great composers, as they have done with their debut album, combining the original composition of Grammy-nominated multi-instrumentalist, producer, arranger and composer Drew Jurecka with one of his great inspirations, the beautiful and dynamic Quartet by Maurice Ravel.

Drew Jurecka’s string quartet was completed over a ten-year period from 2010-2020. An accomplished jazz and classical violinist, Jurecka’s composition explores his diverse musical experiences through the rich vocabulary of the string quartet. Each movement takes its inspiration from a different style of music, seen through the lens of classic string quartet form and composition, including impressionism, jazz improvision and tango techniques. In 1903, Maurice Ravel composed his only string quartet at the age of 28; the work is considered one of the greatest masterworks of the string quartet repertoire.

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Nashville, Tennessee, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf.music 

(902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

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Leaf Music Distributes Unbroken: Music from Ukraine

“Music should show how fragile our civilization is with all its power.” – Valentin Silvestrov, composer.

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music and Ukrainian Canadian violinist Viktoria Grynenko announce the February 28 distribution of the new recording Unbroken:  Music from Ukraine (VG2025).

Unbroken:  Music from Ukraine features works for violin by contemporary Ukrainian composers, including Zoltan Almashi, Boris Loginov, Valentin Silvestrov and Oleg Bezborodko, with a piece by Ukrainian Canadian Anna Pidgorna rounding out the new album. Other musicians on the recording are Roger Admiral (piano), Fabiola Amorim (viola), Amy Nicholson (cello), Vladimir Rufino (violin) and Guillaume Tardif (violin).

Viktoria Grynenko describes the recording (which she produced) as her “reaction to the full-scale war in Ukraine,” and a way to “amplify Ukrainian voices for audiences around the world.” The works are about resilience and the generosity of the Ukrainian spirit. Pidgorna’s score is presented visually inscribed on an antique door with a jagged hole created by a hatchet, in turn inspiring the dramatic conception of the piece and some of the musical gestures. Almashi’s Duo for Two Violins, No.1 is melodious and expressive, a sincere and passionate plea for the end of the war, while Loginov’s sleep during insomnia depicts the shock of February 2022. Silvestrov’s Melodies of the Moments, Cycle I quietly echoes memories of formerly peaceful lives and finally, Bezborodko’s victorious Concert Fantasy on Cossack Beyond the Danube recalls the perseverance of the Ukrainian people.

Viktoria Grynenko is a Ukrainian-born, multifaceted artist based in Edmonton. In addition to violin performance, she focuses on research and educational projects involving rarely performed works for violin. Giving back to her community, she has taught with El Sistema programs across Canada for over a decade. She is currently co-chair for Arts Habitat Edmonton and was a founder of Job Hub Ukraine, a platform assisting Ukrainian refugees with their job searches in Canada. She obtained a D. Mus. from the University of Alberta, exploring relationships between violin and dance performance in her thesis. She previously obtained a Master of Music degree from the University of Ottawa, where her studies were funded by the prestigious KUN scholarship. Her debut album Violin in Movement showcased works related to ballet and dance. She studied with Liudmyla Skorokhod and Leonid Shukhman in Ukraine, and with Oleg Pokhanovski, Yehonatan Berick and Guillaume Tardif in Canada. In this recording, Viktoria performs on a Hermann Janzen violin with a bow by Herbert Wanka.

Unbroken:  Music from Ukraine was recorded in April and May of 2024 at the Edmonton Alberta Convocation Hall, University of Alberta, and was produced with assistance from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Listen to Unbroken on your favourite streaming platform.  For more information, please visit: https://viktoriagrynenko.com.

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Nashville, Tennessee, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf.music 

(902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

Stream Here
Listen to Playlist
Listen to Playlist

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Leaf Music Distributes New Fortepiano and Wind Instruments Album from Anders Muskens

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music announces the distribution of a new recording from early music specialist Anders Muskens, being released on November 29.  

“Der meint’es treu!” Music for Fortepiano & Winds from the Biedermeier Salon: Mendelssohn, Schubert, Hummel & R. Schumann features compositions associated with German Romanticism (1815-1848), which were often performed in domestic settings. Muskens performs on an original German square pianoforte made by Johann Gottlieb Irmler in Leipzig c. 1823, paired with historical wind instruments. The album is presented by musicians from Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester Kamermusici, including Anders Muskens on fortepiano, Elia Celegato on historical clarinet, and Florencia Gomez on historical flute. 

During the Biedermeier period, social life often revolved around the salon, intimate gatherings typically hosted by women in their homes, where intellectuals, artists, and musicians engaged in discussions, performances, and the exchange of ideas. The famous Schubertiade, named after the composer Franz Schubert, was a more specialized form of salon, dedicated to music and Schubert’s compositions. The German square piano was a popular fixture in homes of the time and was ideal for the smaller living spaces typical of the Biedermeier era. 

Listen to “Der meint’es treu!” Music for Fortepiano & Winds from the Biedermeier Salon: https://leaf-music.lnk.to/am242

Prolific early music specialist Anders Muskens has had other recordings distributed by Leaf, including Beethoven: Waldstein & Appassionata Sonatas and Army of Generals Volume 11: Carl Theodor’s Court Orchestra in Mannheim 1742-1778. Muskens is a Canadian early keyboard specialist and ensemble director, who performs throughout North America and Europe. He completed a Masters in Fortepiano at the Royal Conservatoire of the Hague under Dr. Bart van Oort and Petra Somlai, with Fabio Bonizzoni and Patrick Ayrton for harpsichord. He is represented as a performer by the Sonus Agency for Early Music and is the founder of the ensemble Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester, an international initiative to revive the music of the Mannheim School in the second half of the eighteenth century.  

The new album was produced with the generous support of the Adriana Jacoba Fonds and the Sena Performing Artist Fund, and was recorded at the Lutherse Kerk Delft, May – June 2021. 

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada. 

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt

peggy@leaf.music (902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

Stream/Download
Winds Playlist
Anders Muskens Playlist

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Leaf Music Distributes New Beethoven Album from Anders Muskens

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music announces the distribution of a new recording from early music specialist Anders Muskens, being released on October 25. Beethoven: The Forgotten Concerto for Pianoforte, Op. 61a offers a fresh interpretation on period instruments of this seldom-heard piano transcription of the famed composer’s own Violin Concerto Op. 61, completed during 1807. Muskens performs the solo on an original fortepiano by John Broadwood & Sons in London c. 1806, restored by Paul Kobald in Amsterdam in 2022.  He is accompanied by the ensemble Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester, jointly led by Muskens and Australian/British concertmaster Rachael Beesley.

Prolific early music specialist Anders Muskens has had other recordings distributed by Leaf, including Beethoven: Waldstein & Appassionata Sonatas and Army of Generals Volume 11: Carl Theodor’s Court Orchestra in Mannheim 1742-1778. Muskens is a Canadian early keyboard specialist and ensemble director, who performs throughout North America and Europe. He completed a Masters in Fortepiano at the Royal Conservatoire of the Hague under Dr. Bart van Oort and Petra Somlai, with Fabio Bonizzoni and Patrick Ayrton for harpsichord. He is represented as a performer by the Sonus Agency for Early Music and is the founder of the ensemble Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester, an international initiative to revive the music of the Mannheim School in the second half of the eighteenth century.

The new album was produced with assistance from The Canada Council for the Arts, and was recorded at WestVest 90 in Schiedam, Netherlands, on February 5-6, 2024.

Listen to Beethoven: The Forgotten Concerto for Pianoforte, Op. 61a on your favourite plateform here: https://leaf-music.lnk.to/am241.

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

We acknowledge that Leaf Music’s work spans many Territories and Treaty areas, and that our home is in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf.music (902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

Stream Here
Concerto Playlist
Anders Muskens Playlist