Andrey Stolyarov - ...in peace ...in peace  combines the glossy reverberations of a church choir with the icy metal of a sustaining vibraphone, resulting in music which is as peaceful as it is bewitching. ...in peace is an ethereal, resonant work for double SATB choir and vibraphone. Russian-American composer Andrey Stolyarov 's was inspired by both Anne Brontë's "Self-Communion" and Sara Teasdale's "Peace", combining the two texts into one musical setting. The piece was commissioned and premiered by CONCORA , of which Stolyarov is a member, one of the top professional choirs in New England. ...in peace  is a deliberately gentle work, with Stolyarov being obviously influenced by the contemporary world of choral composition, most notably by the likes of Eric Whitacre. The entire work revolves around the opening vibraphone gesture, setting up the hollow sound of a D to A open fifth, and very gradually expands its harmonic content. One of Stolyarov's m...

 Elliot Roman - Tzirklshpitz Tzirklshpitz  employed intense rhythms and intricate meter changes to continually excite the listener and keep momentum all the way to the final snap pizzicato. Tzirklshpitz , a winner of the 2021 BMI Student Composer Awards , is an insightful and engaging orchestral fanfare by the young composer Elliot Roman . Throughout the work, Roman flaunts his exquisite control of orchestration and timbre, quite a feat considering the expansive size of the agglomeration of brass, winds, strings, and percussion on stage. Roman's short usages of solo violin and violoncello clearly stuck out as effective, thought-out timbral nuances. He did not fall into many  student composer pitfalls commonly heard in new works for full orchestra. The only aspect of his orchestrational language which was not incredibly effective, was the overuse of the solo piano. The specific orchestration, lacking doublings in most lines, does make the piece significantly harder on the ...

 Himmelsrandt - Allusionen Despite being meant as references, or allusions, to particular musical styles, Himmelsrandt's songs never seem mindlessly derivative nor parodic, but rather authentic interpretations of classical music in a modern world. Allusionen , German for allusion, is the title of Himmelsrandt 's latest chilling album release. The approximately forty-minute long album is comprised of nine tracks, alternating between pieces for piano and Trautonium, an early synthesizer, and songs for unaccompanied viola. Himmelsrandt is the name under which composer/violist Peter Honsalek writes and releases his work, described as a "modern classical music project". Honsalek's writing is reminiscent of many clichés which come to mind when imagining 'contemporary classical music', but is soundly rooted in traditional practice and musical integrity (listen to the entire album here ). Alternating between the sound worlds of two contrasting solo instruments is ...