THE WALDLAND ENSEMBLE

• Kenji Bunch: Four Flashbacks - II. Gentle

“All compositions are beautifully executed by the virtuoso group... What may at first seem to be an unusual mix of instruments turns out to be an accessible and perfectly delightful recording of works by some of America’s best living composers... The liner notes contain extensive information about the composers and performers and will greatly enhance the listening experience. For anyone interested in stylish new American music, this recording will be most welcome. It is good to spend some time in such good company.”

Kim McCormick, PanPipes [Autumn 2017]

“The Waldland Ensemble gives intense and thoroughly committed performances, handling well the gamut of compositional ideas, from the immediate to the abstract and from the quiet to the thrilling. Lyrical lines are heartfelt; hushed passages whisper and weep; turbulent episodes are full of vigor and technical bravura; and furious outbursts are edgy and strident. Clarinetists and violists will have fresh ideas for recitals, and chamber music fans will find much to like.”

Hanudel, American Record Guide [May/June 2017]

“Clarinettist Jeremy Reynolds, viola player Hillary Herndon and pianist Wei-Chun Bernadette Lo are expert champions of repertoire they bring brilliantly to life.”

Donald Rosenberg, Gramophone [March 2017]

“Here is an entire CD of finely wrought compositions... [Kenji Bunch's Four Flashbacks] is really quite gorgeous... [Anthony Constantino] has already made quite a name for himself, and this work amply demonstrates why... [Dana Wilson's A Thousand Whirling Dreams] was one of the highlights on the disc for me... With over 400 works to her credit, I can claim to know only a small fraction of the output of Libby Larsen, but everything I’ve heard by her is a winner, and her Ferlinghetti is no exception... This is a wonderful recital, with splendid playing by The Waldland Ensemble, whose members cannot be faulted in any parameter of music-making... I cannot fault any facet of the CD’s production either. Chamber music lovers, and many others, should waste no time in acquiring this disc.”

David DeBoor Canfield, Fanfare [May/June 2017]

“The virtuoso Waldland Ensemble energize our musical senses and provide us with excitement and depth with a program of modern world premier recordings of American chamber music... There is not a clinker to be heard and nothing save ultra-dynamic energy and lyric power in this anthology. The somewhat unusual instrumentation seems entirely right in the hands of this potent trio... We immerse ourselves happily in this music (or I do, anyway), which gives us a great number of reasons to celebrate the ongoing local efflorescence of the modern vernacular-influenced sound of the best in American chamber music today. Very much recommended!”

Grego Edwards, Gapplegate Classical Review [January 2017]

“The Waldland Ensemble plays all the music with considerable skill and a particularly fine sense of ensemble.”

Mark J. Estren, InfoDad [January 2017]

Clarinetist Jeremy Reynolds maintains an active international performing career, having appeared on six continents. He has performed for the International Clarinet Association’s ClarFest, International Alliance for Women in Music, University of Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium, International Double Reed Society, National Flute Association and the Great Southwest Flute Fest. Internationally, Reynolds has also appeared at Clarimania in Poland, ClariBogota in Colombia, One Month Festival in South Korea, Cultural Festival of Portugal’s World Exposition and the Australian Clarinet and Saxophone Festival. He has performed with the Colorado Symphony, Colorado Music Festival, Des Moines Metro Opera, New World Symphony, National Repertory Orchestra, National Orchestral Institute, Aspen Music Festival and Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra. Reynolds also brings dynamic chamber music performances to the concert stage, having won awards at both the Coleman and Carmel National Chamber Music Competitions. Additionally, he has collaborated with numerous esteemed artists, including Itzhak Perlman, Don Weilerstein, Stefan Milenkovich and Merry Peckham. A passionate educator, Reynolds has been invited to teach at renowned international music conservatories, including the Versailles Conservatory of Music, Seoul National University, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya, Conservatorio de Música de Murcia and in Taiwan at Soochow University and Tainan University of the Arts. Currently on faculty of the University of Denver Lamont School of Music, Reynolds has served as Principal Clarinetist with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and is currently Assistant Principal Clarinet with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic Orchestra. Jeremy Reynolds is a Buffet Group Performing Artist/Clinician and Lomax Classic Mouthpiece Performing Artist.

Violist Hillary Herndon has earned a national reputation for her brilliant playing, insightful teaching and creative programming that draws from multiple disciplines. She has been heard on NPR and PBS and has collaborated with some of the world’s foremost artists, including Itzhak Perlman, who described Hillary as “having it all… a gifted teacher and an excellent musician.” Herndon is dedicated to expanding the repertoire for viola through research, performance and advocacy of little known works. Herndon’s first recording, La Viola: Music for Viola and Piano by Women Composers of the 20th Century, was released on MSR Classics to critical acclaim [MS1416 2-CD]. A committed teacher, Herndon has a thriving studio at the University of Tennessee and has held summer positions at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, Round Top Festival Institute and Montecito International Music Festival. She has presented master classes at the Juilliard School, University of Michigan, Louisiana State University, International Primrose Competition and Festival and in Brazil. Herndon, whose teaching articles have been published in the Journals of the American Viola Society and the American String Teachers Association, serves as Secretary of the Board of Directors for the American Viola Society and holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard School. [ www.hillaryherndon.com ]

Pianist Wei-Chun Bernadette Lo leads an active career as a collaborative artist, chamber musician and music educator. Having extensive knowledge in both vocal and instrumental music, she has served as studio pianist for renowned artists such as Martina Arroyo, Cynthia Haymon and Carol Vaness. She has also worked closely with numerous opera institutions, including the Illinois Opera Theater, University of Tennessee Opera Theatre, Sugar Creek Opera, Opera Illinois, El Paso Opera and Knoxville Opera. Since 2008, she has served as an official collaborative artist for the Orpheus Nation Vocal Competition in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Equally at ease with instrumental repertoire, Lo has served as an official accompanist for numerous festivals, including the Tennessee Cello Workshop, UT Viola Celebration and Western Kentucky University Violin Fest. She has performed in numerous master classes, and with acclaimed instrumentalists, including Yuri Mazurkevich, David Griffin and Tadeu Coelho. Lo has served as conference pianist for the International Horn Symposium, Southeast Regional Tuba-Euphonium Conference and International Tuba Euphonium Conference, and is the recipienet of a Sewanee Faculty Development Grant and Tennessee Arts Commission “Arts Build Community” Grant. A member of the faculty for the Viola Winter Intensive in Ohio and South Carolina and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, Lo is also Visiting Professor of Music at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Prior to her appointment there, she was the staff pianist for Western Illinois University. Lo holds degrees from the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana) and Peabody Conservatory. Her mentors include Robert McDonald, Ellen Mack, Gustavo Romero and Timothy Ehlen. KENJI BUNCH (b.1973)
FOUR FLASHBACKS
I. With bustling energy
II. Gentle
III. Driving
IV. Quiet, calm

ANTHONY CONSTANTINO (b.1995)
RITUAL SONGS
I. Prelude
II. Lamentation
III. Profanation

DANA WILSON (b.1946)
A THOUSAND WHIRLING DREAMS
I. To smash the night...
II. To break this shadow...
III. Into a thousand lights of sun

MICHAEL KIMBER (b.1945)
VANISHING WOODS

LIBBY LARSEN (b.1950)
FERLINGHETTI
I. crazy to be alive in such a strange world
II. ... a man with a mirror for a head...
III. In Paris in a loud, dark winter
IV. It could have been anyplace but it wasn’t It was London
V. ... some sad nude...
VI. ... fifty-one clowns in back all wearing nothing but Stars and Stripes...
 



MSR Classics