A Gramophone Review!

Ars Lyrica's debut CD on Naxos, with music by Alessandro Scarlatti, has gotten good reviews so far, including a great notice in the October issue of Gramophone, the leading magazine of the classical recording industry. Only sorry I can't put a link to it here, since Gramophone chooses not to make its monthly content available online unless you subscribe. So go to your local bookstore, get a copy, and read all about soprano Melissa Givens' "impassioned performance of strongly characterised and eloquent music," cellist Barry Sills' "exemplary skill and taste," and my own "impressive" work with a Scarlatti toccata. And if you haven't yet bought the CD, get one from us at Ars Lyrica.

New Solo Bach CD

I'm delighted to announce my just-released recording of Bach Organ Works for the Christmas Season, on the Centaur label. The disc was recorded on the Fisk-Nanney organ at Stanford Memorial Church. The Fisk, one of several organs in Stanford's "Mem Chu," can be seen in the center of this picture; surrounding it are the twin cases of the indestructable 1900 Murray Harris instrument -- which has survived numerous major earthquakes! The Stanford Fisk is a marvelous vehicle for Bach especially, since it plays in two historical temperaments and has a wide variety of German Baroque colors.

This new disc is available from Ars Lyrica or from Centaur. Enjoy!

Yesterday Ars Lyrica joined Block 7, a new local wine bar and retail shop, for a wine tasting and preview of the 09-10 season. It was great to see many of our supporters there, and even better to meet so many new people. Here's a toast to Ars Lyrica's new publicist, Monica Danna, and our fearless executive director, Kinga Ferguson, for organizing such a wonderful event!

The season gets underway in just a week, with "A Musical Offering" on Sunday Sept 20 at 5 pm, in the Hobby Center's Zilkha Hall. This program, the first stop on our season-long "Musical Grand Tour," offers music of Bach and Telemann written for princely patrons and famous cities. We'll sample from Telemann's "Paris Quartets" and hear a joyous birthday cantata Bach wrote for Prince Leopold of Cöthen, among other works. Good seats are still available, but we're filling up fast, so get your tickets at ArsLyricaHouston.org