Alberta-based violinist Svitlana Remniakova and classical guitarist Reneé Pérez return with their second album, A Touch of Sound (PR2026), arriving September 18, 2026, through Leaf Music Distribution. Spanning more than three centuries, the album brings together music by Giuseppe Torelli, Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Baptist Vaňhal, Niccolò Paganini, Joseph Küffner, and Myroslav Skoryk. Through thoughtful arrangements, the duo explores intimacy, colour, and emotion, bringing out the distinct character of each instrument and how they respond to each other.
The programme includes Robert Brojer’s arrangement of Torelli’s Violin Concerto in A Major, P.A.2.3.5, and Ricardo Grätzer’s arrangement of Vivaldi’s Flute Sonata in F Major, RV 52, alongside Vivaldi’s Concerto forViola d’amore and Lute in D Minor, RV 540. Vaňhal’s Six Variations on “Nel cor più non mi sento,” Op. 42, selections from Paganini’s Six Sonatas, Op. 2, and Kuffner’s Serenade, Op. 98, further reveal the versatility of the pairing, moving between ornamented variation, lyrical exchange, and more virtuosic writing.
The album’s emotional arc culminates in the duo’s arrangement of Myroslav Skoryk’s Melody, one of Ukraine’s most cherished compositions. Long associated with remembrance and reflection, the work has taken on renewed significance amid the ongoing war in Ukraine as an expression of resilience, grief, and hope. Reimagined for violin and guitar, Melody’s quiet intensity has come to represent a broader vision of shared humanity:
“In its first few measures, Melody invokes feelings of sadness, loss, and despair, but as it develops with long phrases, modulation and changes in metric, it appeals more to anger and resilience; finally, its strong yet delicate ending supplicates to an untouched and distant hope. We feel that these three stages are common to our people, and in general to human beings who go through tragedies in life. This is why this piece is so close to us; it represents our lives, our stories, and, to a point, our future.“
– Renee & Svitlana
With A Touch of Sound, the ensemble Classical Duet continues to broaden the repertoire for violin and guitar, celebrating the expressive flexibility of the pairing through rarely heard works and arrangements that bring music conceived for other instrumental settings into a more intimate dialogue.
ABOUT SVITLANA REMNIAKOVA, VIOLINIST
Svitlana Remniakova-Ostrovska‘s passion for music began back in Ukraine, where she studied violin at the Music College of Dniepropetrovsk, and then at the Kiev Conservatory of P. Tchaikovsky in the class of a David Oistrakh’s graduate, Elena Buchinskaya. After graduation, Svitlana worked at the State Circus Orchestra, State Television and Radio Orchestra in Kiev, and then at the Dniepropetrovsk Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gurgen Karapetian and at the Dniepropetrovsk Chamber Orchestra in the Dnipropetrovsk House of Organ and Chamber Music conducted by Anatoliy Abayev. Since 2019, Svitlana has made Edmonton home, and now she works at the Edmonton Music Academy and is the principal second violin at the Concordia Symphony Orchestra conducted by Danielle Lisboa. Svitlana is the co-organizer of the International String Connections festival and co-founder of the Classical Duet together, a virtuosic and stylistic classical music duo that regularly plays around Alberta and Western Europe.
ABOUT RENEÉ PÉREZ, CLASSICAL GUITARIST
Reneé Pérez is a highly motivated classical guitarist who graduated from the University of Alberta in classical guitar performance, earned a Performer’s Certificate from King’s University of Edmonton, and is currently pursuing a Performance Diploma. He is interested in solo and chamber music from the classical and baroque periods, from both European and South American sources. His musical interests also include basso continuo with the baroque guitar and archlute. Reneé has toured several times in Houston, USA and northern Portugal — specifically the city of
Porto and vicinity—as a soloist and chamber musician, and has toured, playing the Fasch D minor concerto for guitar and strings with several string quartets and Venezuelan orchestras belonging to “El Sistema”. He was featured as an emerging solo artist by the Calgary Classical Guitar Society. Reneé is currently the President of the Edmonton Classical Guitar Society. He is an enthusiastic guitar teacher and conducts the Edmonton Adult Classical Guitar Orchestra. His discography with the Classical Duet includes “Reverie”, an album dedicated to Joseph Küffner, a
German violin/guitar player and composer of the 18th century.
The Alberta-Canada-based duo Classical Duet is formed by the experienced violinist Svitlana Remiankova and professional classical guitarist Reneé Pérez, originally from Ukraine and Venezuela, respectively.
The ensemble has a particular interest in Baroque and Classical repertoire, bringing together music from these periods in lively and virtuosic programs. Their work explores the character of different instruments and the ways their sounds and textures come together. This ongoing dialogue offers a glimpse into how the music might have been heard when it was first written, while giving audiences a chance to experience familiar works in a new way.
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:
Ai Lynn Ang, ailynn@leaf.music / Meg Henebury, meg@leaf.music
