Leaf Music and SHHH!! Ensemble, the piano-percussion duo of percussionist Zac Pulak and pianist Edana Higham, are pleased to announce the release of Starry Night (LM310) on November 13, 2026, available digitally and on CD. The duo’s third album flows through a dreamscape of beautiful and unexpected sounds, reflecting on the night sky, evoking wonder at the vastness of space, bringing celestial motion to a human scale, and exploring how dreams process emotions, memories, and our evolving sense of self.
The album features newly commissioned works by Mari Alice Conrad, Paolo Griffin, Monica Pearce, and Haralabos [Harry] Stafylakis, along with two previously existing pieces, Vincent Ho’s contemplative Nostalgia and Jocelyn Morlock’s sparkling early composition Quoi??? Across the programme, the music moves between the immense forces of the universe and the intimate inner worlds of sleep, memory, and consciousness.
Several works turn inward to examine emotional and psychological experience. Pearce’s rem follows recurring cycles of sleep as the mind processes emotionally charged experiences and integrates them into an evolving sense of self. Ho’s deeply introspective Nostalgia positions the vibraphone and piano as two sides of the same consciousness, with cascading lines and shifting textures evoking thoughts and memories as they drift in and out of awareness. Written as an antidote to the negativity Morlock felt surrounded by at the time, Quoi??? brings an exuberant and light-hearted energy to the album.
Other works look outward to the night sky and the forces and possibilities associated with it. Stafylakis’s two-movement Light Symbolic contemplates astronomical events occurring at scales beyond human intuition, from the silent motion of celestial bodies to the creation of elements through the death of stars. Griffin’s Resonant Bodies in Space translates the gravitational interactions of stars, planets, moons, and other celestial bodies into a sculpture in sound. Inspired by the Perseverance rover’s landing on Mars, Conrad’s the moon and other celestial bodies shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes considers space as a symbol of hope, international cooperation, and peaceful exploration.
Starry Nightis dedicated to the memory of Jocelyn Morlock, who was, and continues to be, an inspiration and a brightly shining north star to many.
The commissioning and recording of Starry Night were made possible with support from the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, City of Ottawa, SOCAN Foundation, and Chamber Factory.
About SHHH!! Ensemble
SHHH!! Ensemble brings together percussionist Zac Pulak and pianist Edana Higham, two musicians redefining what classical music can sound like through their distinctive “avant-accessible” blend of the experimental and familiar. Praised as “truly virtuosic and intense” by Confluence Concerts and “a beautiful discovery” by the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec, the duo has commissioned more than two dozen works for piano and percussion and appeared at festivals, concert series, and orchestras across Canada. Their debut album, Meanwhile, was nominated for Classical Recording of the Year at the 2023 East Coast Music Awards, while An Auditory Survey of the Last Days of the Holocene received two nominations at the 2025 East Coast Music Awards.
Leaf Music is an independent classical recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Nashville, Tennessee. The label produces and distributes recordings by artists and composers from across North America, with worldwide distribution through Naxos of America. In addition to its recording activities, Leaf Music provides professional audio and video production, post-production, and integrated marketing and distribution services.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Meg Henebury
Email: meg@leaf.music
