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    51 Strings
    'It is a glorious and almost unfathomable truth that it only takes 51 strings (four on the violin and 47 on the harp) to produce immensely beautiful music. While violin soloists often have a piano or an entire orchestra to serve as accompanist, the lone harp in the Kent / Shulman Duo does a fantastic job of uplifting and supporting her counterpart in a more sonically unique fashion. Violinist Peter Kent and harpist Amy Shulman have played extensively apart and as a duo worldwide for a number of years. Both imbibe a true appreciation for the music they play and that sensitivity is evident in each piece. Throughout '51 Strings' the violin takes the lead melody with it's resonance and sustain qualities while the harp becomes the delicate percussive instrument keeping each piece flowing while hopefully getting a brief shining moment to run through a glissando. The opening number is Camille Saint-Saëns' "Fantaisie," which runs seamlessly through a series of different moods with each episode ebbing with the violin rubatto and then urged along by the harp. Both instruments have exquisite tone and sound most impressive in the higher registers at quiet dynamic levels. Kent and Shulman form an excellent musical team by intertwining their respective strings in a matched timbre. Continuing in the impressionist style with a more ethnomusicology flair, the duo performs Manuel de Falla's "Spanish Dance No. 1" from the opera La Vide Breve. After expertly plucking along the Latin countryside, the duo journey to the English moors with a masterful arrangement of Ralph Vaughan Williams' "The Lark Ascending." The succulent, passionate tune captures the air of rural life in the British Isles, similar to the composer's "Six Studies in English Folksong" for cello and piano, however the combination of violin and harp is sweeter. Jumping back to the European mainland is French composer Jules Massenet's sensual "Méditation" from the opera Thaïs displaying beautiful harmonics. In classical music there is no one more perfect than Johánn Sebastian Bach. These two stellar musicians perform the third and fourth movements from his Violin Sonata in E Major, the "Adagio" and "Allegro" respectively. The final selections on this wonderfully diverse album are from the 20th century Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich. Two preludes are featured originally written for piano from his 24 Preludes, Op. 34. The first is a jumpy, humorous piece in A-flat Major with the harp carrying the left hand piano part adroitly as the violin jovially takes the melody. In the second, a musically inclined ear may pick up a snippet of the main theme from Gustav Mahler's Fifth Symphony in C-sharp minor. Lastly, rich in traditional Soviet drama and melancholy is "Romance" from the film The Gadfly. '51 Strings' not only demonstrates a more unique and aurally pleasing pairing of instruments but it also boasts a diverse assortment of musical styles sure to please any classical music lovers palette.' Review by: Kelly O'Neil Rating: 5 stars (out of 5) 'Peter Kent and Amy Shulman are each accomplished artists unto themselves. Harpist Amy Shulman, a graduate of Juilliard, has performed with numerous orchestral, chamber and contemporary music groups. She has also been heard in motion pictures, on television and on recordings by such greats as Frank Sinatra, Placido Domingo and Aretha Franklin. Violinist Peter Kent is a concertmaster in several orchestras in the Los Angeles area, and has performed on recordings by artists such as Michael Feinstein, Fiona Apple, Mariah Carey, Cracker and Shirley Horn. Beginning in 1982, the pair formed the Kent/Shulman duo, and has toured nationally to critical and popular praise. In 2012, the Kent/Shulman duo released their debut album 51 Strings. 51 Strings strikes it's first chord with Camille Saint-Saens' 'Fantaisie', a beautiful marriage of harp and violin that is subtly cast and sublime. Kent creates a beautiful framework from through which Kent's violin may dance. 'Spanish Dance No. 1' (Manuel de Falla) is a delightful turn, full of amazing energy and brilliant rhythmic counterpoints between Kent and Shulman. In contrast, the lyric beauty of Ralph Vaughan Williams' 'The Lark Ascending' is absolutely breathtaking, with Shulman providing subtle textures to highlight Kent's soaring melody lines. Johann Sebastian Bach gets fair time with "Adagio" and "Allegro". 'Adagio' mixes texture and lyricism, with each player carving out their own musical geography. There are moments of simple grace blending into sublime beauty here that captivate the listener's attention. Kent and Shulman build their resolutions slowly, leaving listeners on the very edges if their seats. 'Allegro' is a much more manic experience, with Kent bowing his way through undulating lines. 'Thais Meditation' (Jules Massenet) is contemplative and sweet, with a quiet vibrancy running underneath. The violin lines here are nothing short of gorgeous, most especially the high resolution with about 30 seconds to go. 'Berceuse' (Gabriel Fauré) finds Shulman as the perpetual 'yes, and' in a vibrant story told on four strings. It's a moment of beauty almost perfect in it's nature and mien. ?? Kent and Shulman close things out with three numbers from Dmitri Shostakovich. 'Prelude No. 1' plays off a vaguely Middle Eastern theme but quickly moves to a more classic Italian sound. The violin is vibrant here, while the harp is the glue that holds everything together. 'Prelude No. 2' is 93 seconds of quiet grace in song, with a subtle melody line that dances and lilts as if it were the air itself. Kent and Shulman close with 'Romance', with the harp marking off time as Kent tells a love story on violin. Peter Kent and Amy Shulman don't have much to prove at this point. As musicians they are acknowledged as some of the finest in their respective crafts. Yet on 51 Strings they find a way to move together beyond simple mastery into fine art. The ability to play notes with precision and a certain amount of grace is the mark of a master. The ability to breathe life through your instrument into a composition and bring it to life is the mark of an artisan. Both Kent and Shulman exhibit that ability in significant measure on 51 Strings. This is pure chamber music, much too expressive and full of life to ever be relegated to the background.' Review by: Wildy Haskell Rating: 4.5 Stars (Out of 5)? An excellent album this. Violinist Peter Kent and harpist Amy Shulman have put together a varied and colorful program that plays to the strengths of their unusual combination of instruments. Musical variety is achieved through subtle gradations of dynamics, and through a wide range of tone colors. Peter Kent is clearly a versatile violinist, and he knows exactly the tone to go for to complement the harp. Amy Shulman is also capable of varying her timbre as the music demands, through differing percussive levels in her attack, and by allowing the reverberation of the strings to overlap and mix into each other's harmonics. Most of the works on the program are arrangements, but the first piece, Saint-Saëns' Fantaisie, is a violin and harp original. And what a wonderful piece it is. The composer makes adventurous use of the harp, employing it as a full duo partner and never as mere accompaniment. His use of repeated note effects is particularly effective, as are his endlessly varied broken chords. And most importantly of all, he conjures some magical melodies, ideally suited to both instruments. In Manuel de Falla's Spanish Dance No. 1, the harp takes the role of the flamenco guitar, providing the ideal Iberian flavor and gentle propulsion throughout. The Lark Ascending is well-known in a wide range of settings and transcriptions, but the advantage of the harp here is that the violin does not have to compete to be heard. Even in it's original orchestral form, the piece presents a paradox: how can the soloist float on the breeze when the orchestral backing dem
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    I Read the Old Dream Slowly
    Collusion Music Australia Music by Australian composers Green, Hawkins, Davidson, Ball, Brophy, Sabin and Twist. Collusion, also known as Collusion Music Australia continues in the development of creative and unique performance practise of chamber music in Australia since it's inception in 2002. For 10 years the ensemble has consistently performed 20th and 21st century art music with or without visual collaboration. Their resident choreographer is Gareth Belling, whom directed/choreographed Collusion's full length Ballet 'Transient Beauty' for the Restrung Festival in 2012. Susan Hawkins, resident composer for Collusion was the musical director and composer. Reviewer Mat Foley stated, 'In your face, it is. In your mind, it gets.' In Collusion's vast and impressive repertoire, music from Messiaen to Hindemith, Takemitsu to Australia's Andrew Schultz, Nigel Sabin, and Nigel Westlake engage large audiences. 2013 sees Collusion invited to perform at the World Clarinet Fest' in Assisi Italy, The Queensland Music Festival, The Australia Saxophone and Clarinet Convention Sydney, and will take up a position as an Ensemble in Residence at Griffith University's Queensland Conservatorium of Music in Collusion's home city Brisbane, Australia. The ensemble has also riveted audiences at the Judith Wright Centre for Contemporary Arts, The Brisbane Powerhouse, Chapel on Chapel Melbourne, Fireworks Art Gallery, The Queensland Art Gallery and at the University of Queensland and Southern Queensland, and the North Queensland Centre for Music. Venue themed performances, collaborations with performance and visual artists at nightclubs, showrooms, professional ballet studios, school classrooms, churches, online, on a river bank, as well as at Concert Halls, have visually and aurally inspired audiences (including up to 20,000 school children per year from 2008) to digest many different styles of art music composition. Of their 2007 CD release 'In Depth' (MOVE) Tony Way of The Green Guide commented, "Collusion demonstrates a great empathy with the living tradition of chamber music in this country, and their enterprise in making this disc is to be applauded." "The instrumental playing and recorded sound are excellent"- John Barns, 3MBS FM Libretto "The ensemble performance throughout is impeccable as is the sound quality"- Laura Mathison, 4MBS Program Guide. Collusion has performed at festivals such as Soul Food, Restrung, Crosssbows, Bangalow, Tyalgum, Evocations, International Messiaen Conference, and has toured for Musica Viva Countrywide and Education programs. Benjamin Greaves (violinist): is the director and a founding member of Collusion Music Australia. A freelance musician, his speciality and training is chamber music, however he is also a freelance orchestral musician. He has performed for the Camerata of St John's Chamber Orchestra as principal 2nd violin and guest leader, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, the Queensland Ballet, X, Brisbane, Adelaide International Cabaret, and Queensland Festivals amongst others. He has broadcast solo for ABC Classic FM. He has collaborated with contemporary artists like Jazz Trio Elixir, Circa Australia, Human Nature, and even played in professional music theatre productions such as South Pacific for Opera Australia. He studied with Carmel Kaine and Mary Nemet, and has performed in masterclasses for Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Maxim Vengerov, Oleh Krysa and the Takacs String Quartet. Benjamin's continual attention to professional development as both a performer and pedagog has been supported in the past by Arts Queensland attending masterclasses of Rodney Friend. Brieley Cutting (pianist): was accepted into the Queensland Conservatorium at age 13 and graduated at 18 with first class honours and a performance of Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No.1 with the Queensland Conservatorium Orchestra, winning all major performance awards. Following this, Brieley studied at the Australian National Academy of Music, the Queensland Conservatorium with Natasha Vlassenko, and at the Royal College of Music in London where she graduated with Distinction. Brieley has performed as soloist with the Melbourne, Adelaide, and Queensland Symphony Orchestras, and received 2nd prize in the Kerikeri International Piano Competition 2010, and was keyboard winner of the Symphony Australia Young Performer's Awards in 2006. Brieley has been recipient of prestigious awards from the Tait Memorial Trust, Australian Music Foundation, and the David Paul Landa Scholarship. Currently pianist with Collusion, she is also Artistic Director of the Commercial Road Chamber Music Series, Brisbane and a doctoral student at Griffith University. Danielle Bentley (cellist): is a founding member of Collusion. As a freelance musician, she has performed in countless concerts and recording sessions around Australia with acclaimed classical, jazz and popular music ensembles and artists. These include: the Paris Opera Ballet, Opera Queensland, Opera Australia, Australian Ballet, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Camerata of St John's, Olivia Newton-John, Pete Murray, Harry Connick Jnr, Kanye West, Missy Higgins, Xavier Rudd, Kate Miller-Heidke, Pavarotti, Nigel Kennedy, Jon English, Il Divo, Jerry Lewis, Sarah Blasko, Hugh Jackman, Amici Forever, Kate Ceberano, Marcia Hines, Rolf Harris, Aled Jones, Tommy Lee - to name a few. Danielle is an academic, writer, poet and curator. She curates Restrung New Chamber Festival, which was the topic of her PhD exploring contemporary string practice and festival programming. Danielle is also the Festival Manager for Queensland Conservatorium's Crossbows small ensembles festival. Diana Tolmie (clarinettist): Woodwind specialist Diana Tolmie has had a wonderful time for the past 25 years with her career performing in a multitude of musical genres instigated by a Churchill Fellowship and a Queen Elizabeth Trust Award.&nbsp,Consistent session work has included the Queensland Symphony, Tasmanian Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic and Orchestra Victoria. With over 30 professional musicals under her belt allowing her national and international travel, she is unafraid to cross genres being as comfortable in Clint Allen's Frank Zappa Big Band as she is with the Doch Gypsy Orchestra and is employed for many contemporary and mainstream live, television and recording events. As lecturer of the saxophone, clarinet and bass clarinet at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University she also convenes the professional industry preparation strand My Life As A Musician and is founder and conductor of the Queensland Conservatorium Saxophone Orchestra which tours internationally. Currently an Australian Music Examinations Board examiner, Diana has also acted as an AMEB consultant and editor with 3 publications in her bibliography in addition to editing the Australian Clarinet and Saxophone Magazine.&nbsp,.
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    Spun for a Loop
    Disappearance is a distinctive project that impeccably fuses it's influences of hip-hop, rock, blues, funk and reggae into the most unique, experimental hip-hop/rock band today. Their high-energy, hook-filled songs have steadily amassed a loyal local fan base that grows every day. Word of their live performances has spread like wildfire throughout their hometown of Palmdale and surrounding cities. Originality, in a sense, is quite the understatement when it comes to Disappearance, they'll groove the fans into a state of serenity with a flowing, Sublime-like ballad, then aurally assault the audience with a hard-hitting, guitar-solo-filled solid rock song a-la-R.A.T.M. with no warning. It's hard to go wrong when a group of talented young musicians combine a mix of incredible songwriting, an insane amount of emotion, a massive amount of stage presence, and a good look. Disappearance delivers on all of them.
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    Journey's Threads
    7 pieces of music featuring the beautiful counter tenor voice of Daniel Tucker and the elegant violin playing of Michael Peck, combined with the delicate piano, classical guitar, vocals and electronics of Ian Harris. An album that moves from breathtaking simplicity to dazzling virtuosity, creating varied landscapes of polished sound. REVIEWS "There are some classical music aficionados who are averse to the atonal tendencies of many modern compositions. Pianist Ian Harris however, has masterfully counteracted this trait with his clever inclusions of aurally pleasing tones and placid sparkle. On the Britain's second album The Journey's Threads he once again works with counter tenor Daniel Tucker and violinist Michael Peck. The opener "Over Ice Land" is hauntingly beautiful with it's stark mysterious aura. Tucker's vocals are lovely and ethereal with Peck and rustic flute calls echoing in the distance. Harris lends his vocals in the latter half of the song with his warmth nicely complementing the celestial counter tenor. The mostly instrumental "Between White Clouds" takes the romantic notion of painting the aural picture the title implies, yet Harris' rendering is more sophisticated. The delicate bells and electronic noises he employs around his piano work are like the wispy silver linings of the clouds. Peck's violin statements are thither and gone like a gentle gust. In the final portion of the song, Harris' tender vocals sing the title. "Walking Towards the Rainbow" is a quiet piano solo that begins with a melodic idea twice stated, as if to build up the gumption. Then Harris gently and ever so subtly plays an eighth note journey of rises and falls like footsteps on a garden path, yet as glistening as the water from a stream flowing over smooth pebbles. The listener can become so absorbed that the ending seems to sneak up. Water is actually heard along with mechanical gears in the onset of "Of the Loss of Time," whose lyrics are taken from the Elizabethan poet John Hoskins' work of the same title. Harris mixes synthesized strings with Peck while Tucker chants in this more modern sounding piece with no clear tempo and long pauses. Each musical idea is independent yet with the echo and the counter tenor's legato vowelizations there is a shroud of mist that encompasses and binds the song together. More direct is the violin and piano conversation in "Journey to the Horizon." Harris and Peck at times sound like they are playing in different key signatures, yet the two instrumentalists deliberately and expertly continue their statements exhibiting excellent dynamics and musicality. "L'espoir d'été" loosely translates to "the hope of summer" and Harris plays a cheery lead on piano adorned with violin, bells, triangle and synthesized bass guitar sachets. His lovely grace notes on the keys and overlaid vocals at the end harbour tranquility. The most mesmerizing piece on The Journey's Threads is the violin featured "Song of the Trees." Peck is multi-tracked playing different voices crying their own lament, yet they all fit into each other by a greater design, like the giant canopy of an antediluvian forest. Harris plays classical guitar adding structure and a glint of sunshine as it pours down into the depths and touches the golden branches beneath the thick leaves. Faint electronic pings undulate quietly as the song hypnotically melds all the musical voices in and out of each other until finally fading away. Harris has been an avid composer for over fifteen years. Therefore it is not surprising how elite and polished The Journey's Threads is. The composer's unique instrument pairings and shrewd melodic weavings can easily bring modern music to a wider and more appreciative audience." Reviewer: Kelly O'Neil, Review You Rating: 4 stars REVIEW The music found on The Journey's Threads involves the three-fold combination of counter tenor Daniel Tucker's vocals, Michael Peck's violin and Ian Harris' piano and various electronic instrumentation. It's a 7-song release that veers among jazz, classical pop and what used to be termed new age music. This album, however, is under Harris' name. Harris is both a composer and a video artist based in the UK. He's a trained visual artist, with a BA in Fine Art, as well as a scholarly musician with an MA in music. One of his more fascinating past works is the music he created for a 2001 film version of a Thomas Mann novel, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 3. He's also worked on orchestrations for multi-instrument performances, some of which were presented at the famous spiritual event, Greenbelt Festival. The album's most classical sounding track is one titled "Walking Towards The Rainbow." It's a mid tempo piano piece that clocks in at 3:29. For whatever reason, it conjures up images of an Irishman searching for that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Maybe it's the word 'rainbow' in the title that brings such stereotypical pictures to the mind. Nevertheless, it's a pretty tune and quite a meditative one. "Of The Loss Of Time" makes excellent use of Tucker's vocals, as his voice simply soars over the instrumental section of the piece. This track is music put to a poem by John Hoskins, who was not only a writer of poems, but also a scholar of Greek, a lawyer, judge and politician. It's interesting to hear the way Tucker's voice plays off Peck's violin on this one. It's a credit to Tucker's singing ability that many times the listener may have trouble aurally discerning the difference between the vocal parts and the string parts. Tucker is such a spot-on singer when it comes to hitting the right notes, there are portions when his vocal and Peck's violin blend together nearly seamlessly. This is fascinating, and likely one of the probable reasons Harris chose to include both of these two artists on his project. "Journey To The Horizon," on the other hand, is an excellent collaboration between Harris and Peck. This one leans particularly close to the jazz spectrum of the stylistic continuum, as both Harris and Peck trade notes throughout. It leaves the overall impression of a jazz standard, only performed instrumentally. "L'espoir d'ete," is a slow, thoughtful piece. The project's finale, "Song of the Trees," multi-tracks the violin for both a beautiful and mysterious creation. One imagines environmentalism is near and dear to Harris' heart, as the cover photo on his album is a close-up of a very green leaf. The inside cover pictures a similar leaf, only this time a red one. Although it's difficult to pick out just one theme intended for this project, nature is one of it's bigger ones. In addition to the aforementioned "Song of the Trees," along with the leaf photography utilized in the CD's artwork, the land is mentioned in "Over Ice Land," clouds come up with "Between White Clouds" and God's amazing natural invention, the rainbow, plays into "Walking Towards The Rainbow." The overall impression left by this work is that of beauty. Beauty that is consistently found in nature, matched with beautiful music likely intended to reflect nature's beauty. Rock and pop music fans may be hesitant to investigate an album such as this one that prominently features a counter tenor singer in it's credits. For many, the very thought of a classical participant might give them cause to hesitate. However, once you hear what these three talented musicians have created together, your prejudices will likely disappear like a vapor. Reviewer: Dan MacIntosh, Review You Rating: 4 Stars (out of 5) REVIEW Those who haven't listened to a lot of new age releases might think of new age as a genre that is electronic 100% of the time. But while it is true that some new age recordings rely on electronic programming exclusively, that is by no means true of all new age recordings. Many other new age albums have successfully combined the electronic and the acoustic. On such albums, electronic programming and synthesizers are likely to be used alongside acous
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