Miriam Khalil's Debut Disc Nominated for Classical Album of the Year
“Khalil's performances offer an energy and understanding that make hers a new definitive interpretation of the work.” Ayre: Live, the debut release from Against the Grain Theatre’s new in-house recording label, has been nominated for a 2019 Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year, Vocal or Choral.
January 30, 2019
““Khalil doesn’t so much sing the Argentine-born composer’s material as wholly inhabit it. The fluidity, grace, and seeming ease with which she executes the undulating melodies are stunning...””
Ayre: Live, the debut release from Against the Grain Theatre’s new in-house recording label, has earned a 2019 Juno Awards nomination for Classical Album of the Year, Vocal or Choral. The album has been critically acclaimed for its performances by Lebanese-Canadian soprano Miriam Khalil, who dispatches Osvaldo Golijov’s eclectic song cycle – with elements of Byzantine chant, Sephardic lullabies, Sardinian protest songs, and Arabic, Hebrew, and Christian texts – with aplomb.
Read reviews:
“One of my favourite albums of 2018… it is intimate yet powerful, piercing with emotion and mesmerizing in its tonal expression. The superb chamber ensemble of Toronto’s Against the Grain Theatre has a wonderful synergy with the company’s co-founder, soprano Miriam Khalil, a true star of this recording. Her immense range of colours and fascinating vocal transformations made her performance on this album both spectacular and touching.”
The WholeNote
“Khalil doesn't so much sing the Argentine-born composer's material as wholly inhabit it. Khalil's passionate engagement with the material is evident the moment her tremulous voice floats over a delicate foundation provided her by accordionist. The fluidity, grace, and seeming ease with which she executes the undulating melodies are stunning, and without wishing to downplay the magnitude of Golijov's accomplishment, it's her performance that most recommends the recording.”
Textura
“While Khalil’s delivery is unforced and achingly direct, it is far from artless or unpolished. The final movement, “Ariadna en su laberinto,” in particular is a tour de force of effortless virtuosity. Much of the movement is given over to wordless vocalise that traverses the entire compass of Khalil’s voice—she ascends from her lush, velvety lower register to a rhapsodic cantillation over an octave above without missing a beat, delivering the winding, highly ornamented phrases with a graceful fluidity that belies the iron control necessary to execute the extended passage. Ayre’s eclectic sources can feel blocky in their juxtapositions, like buildings from different eras of a city thrown up with no compromise or eye to overall aesthetic cohesion. In Khalil’s rendition, the impression is more of a lived-in landscape, one where tree and grass and hill and oasis have melded together into an intricate network, no one part fully extricable from any of the others. In this way, she makes Ayre feel like a piece for our time…”
Log Journal
“Best Recording of 2018: The clear standout was Miriam Khalil’s extraordinary performance of Golijov’s Ayre. It’s as spine-tingling on record as it was live.”
OperaRamblings
“Khalil’s performance shows her to be more than a singer: she is an elemental force. There are no missteps here… She sings with such tonal surety, such microscopic shading so as to mesmerize and move the listener, [then] rips through the text with ecstatic grunts, wails, menacing caterwauling. Khalil does great things as she leaps into operatic heights and sings long melismatic lines with solid technique and primal force.”
Opera Wire
"Ayre is so relentless in its storytelling that it’s almost exhausting – another emotional wave we can surely ride alongside Khalil, who sings the challenging work with her whole body. Few singers have the stamina or the stylistic palette that Khalil employs throughout Ayre, and it’s even more impressive when one remembers this is a live recording. With Ayre Live, Against the Grain Theatre has christened its new record label with a piece that evades definition, a game in which artistic director Joel Ivany excels. The recording is a nod to the opera collective’s roots, with its spotlight on founding member Khalil, but more importantly, it’s something that will make it into my daily playlist. It’s too bold for background music, too tough to forget after even just one listen."
The Globe and Mail
“The gutsy, political, and hypnotising Ayre Live, performed by Canadian soprano and AtG founding member Miriam Khalil…offers an energy and understanding that make hers a new definitive interpretation of the work. The album is also a bold way for Against the Grain to inaugurate its status as a record label…to lead with Ayre is to lead with a strong message of putting art and diversity first - without compromising on quality.”
Schmopera
Jorge Mejia and An Open Book Nominated for Latin Grammy
Mejia’s “Prelude in F Major for Piano and Orchestra,” from his album An Open Book, was nominated for Best Classical Contemporary Composition.
September 20, 2018
Photo by Laura Coppelman
Jorge Mejia’s memoir in music, An Open Book, has been nominated for a Latin Grammy Award. The album comprises 25 preludes for piano and orchestra, with the composer appearing as pianist alongside the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra.
A Steinway Artist, Jorge is a masterful storyteller dedicated to bringing new audiences to classical music. He was recently profiled in Billboard Magazine, graced the cover of Músico Pro Magazine, and was interviewed on WLRN Radio. Immediately following its Miami launch concert, An Open Book was hailed as "an instant classic...a rigorous and eclectic work" by El Nuevo Herald.
Mejia’s “Prelude in F Major for Piano and Orchestra” was nominated for Best Classical Contemporary Composition. The winner will be announced at the 2018 Latin Grammy Awards Show on November 15.
Jorge Mejia Lands on Cover of Músico Pro Magazine
“He delves with ivory keys into intimacies that words can not reach.” Pianist and composer Jorge Mejia talks with the magazine about stories, music, and straddling worlds of genre.
May 2, 2018
Pianist and composer Jorge Mejia is on the cover of the special 22nd Anniversary edition of Spanish-language Músico Pro Magazine, in a feature titled "A Life Dreaming In Music".
“I sat down with Jorge Mejía in his home, at the foot of a beautiful Steinway, where he generously interlaced original pieces and sections of well-known melodies to better illustrate his responses. It turns out to be a particularly suitable dynamic given the concept of the most recent addition of its repertoire. His most ambitious project as a composer and performer is titled An Open Book: A Musical Memoir, and offers a narrative as a prelude to each instrumental piece, where he delves with ivory keys into intimacies that words can not reach.”
An Open Book Featured on WLRN's Sundial
Luis Hernandez interviews Jorge Mejia in a segment that also includes a reading and orchestral excerpts from this musical memoir.
May 1, 2018
Pianist and composer Jorge Mejia joins Luis Hernandez on Sundial on WLRN in Miami to discuss An Open Book: A Memoir in Music.
Featuring a taste of An Open Book's innovative musical and narrative blend, Mejia's interview closes out the episode, beginning ~36:42.
An e-book alternating narrative vignettes with orchestral preludes recorded by the composer with the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, An Open Book is inspired by Mejia’s colorful family history in Colombia, musical coming-of-age, and charming romantic misadventures en route to meeting his wife, women’s rights advocate Amanda Mejia.
An Open Book will be celebrated with a reading and performance at Miami's Adrienne Arsht Center. The performance will feature a chamber orchestra, including members of the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, accompanying the composer at the piano. Co-presented by Miami cultural mainstay Books & Books, the launch concert kicks off Mejia’s Latin American tour, which will also include appearances in Ecuador and Uruguay.
Pianist and Composer Jorge Mejia Profiled in UM Connect
"Being in Miami allowed me to continue growing as a multicultural citizen, and I never felt that my identity had to be wrapped up in just one facet of who I am." Ahead of the release of An Open Book: A Memoir in Music on Sony Latin, composer and pianist Jorge Mejia is profiled in UM Connect.
April 25, 2018
Photo by Laura Coppelman
““Being in Miami allowed me to continue growing as a multicultural citizen, and I never felt that my identity had to be wrapped up in just one facet of who I am.””
Pianist and composer Jorge Mejia speaks with UM Connect about cultural identity, recording with the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, and sneaking into Frost to practice piano as a high school student!
An e-book alternating narrative vignettes with orchestral preludes recorded by the composer with the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, An Open Book is inspired by Mejia’s colorful family history in Colombia, musical coming-of-age, and charming romantic misadventures en route to meeting his wife, women’s rights advocate Amanda Mejia.
An Open Book will be celebrated with a reading and performance at Miami's Adrienne Arsht Center. The performance will feature a chamber orchestra, including members of the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, accompanying the composer at the piano. Co-presented by Miami cultural mainstay Books & Books, the launch concert kicks off Mejia’s Latin American tour, which will also include appearances in Ecuador and Uruguay.
Jorge Mejia Featured in El Nuevo Herald
“A musician who exemplifies the confluence that makes Miami unique.” Ahead of the release of An Open Book: A Memoir in Music on Sony Latin, composer and pianist Jorge Mejia speaks with El Nuevo Herald.
April 22, 2018
Photo by Laura Coppelman
““A musician who exemplifies the confluence that makes Miami unique.””
Ahead of the release of An Open Book: A Memoir in Music, pianist and composer Jorge Mejia spoke with El Nuevo Herald about cultural identity, musical genres, and how his dual careers inspire his work in both Latin music and classical music.
An e-book alternating narrative vignettes with orchestral preludes recorded by the composer with the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, An Open Book is inspired by Mejia’s colorful family history in Colombia, musical coming-of-age, and charming romantic misadventures en route to meeting his wife, women’s rights advocate Amanda Mejia.
An Open Book will be celebrated with a reading and performance at Miami's Adrienne Arsht Center. The performance will feature a chamber orchestra, including members of the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, accompanying the composer at the piano. Co-presented by Miami cultural mainstay Books & Books, the launch concert kicks off Mejia’s Latin American tour, which will also include appearances in Ecuador and Uruguay.
Jorge Mejia to release genre-bending "An Open Book: A Memoir in Music"
A heavyweight in the Latin music world, classical composer and pianist Jorge Mejia releases AN OPEN BOOK: A Memoir in Music on Sony Latin on May 4, 2018. This ambitious genre-blending project, born of Mejia’s devotion to storytelling in all its forms, is an e-book alternating narrative vignettes with orchestral preludes recorded by the composer with the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra.
March 20, 2018
““Jorge Mejia’s world is imagery, cinema, storytelling, and he doesn’t hold back.””
Photo by Laura Coppelman
To be released via Sony Music Latin, An Open Book: A Memoir in Music is an ambitious genre-blending project, born of Mejia's devotion to storytelling in all its forms. An audiobook alternating narrative vignettes with orchestral preludes recorded by the composer with the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, An Open Book is inspired by Mejia’s colorful family history in Colombia, musical coming-of-age, and charming romantic misadventures en route to meeting his wife, women’s rights advocate Amanda Mejia.
Drawing on his experiences as an immigrant in America, Mejia’s evocative compositional style explores intersections of identity, culture, and language. Mejia’s compositions have been played by the Nu Deco Ensemble and Miami Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Havana Lyceum Orchestra and pianist Simone Dinnerstein, who described his preludes as “almost a genre of their own. Composed to be performed next to spoken text, they create a wonderful cinematic effect, full of vibrant colors and lush melodies.”
Also available as an e-book with musical tracks, An Open Book will be celebrated with a reading and performance at Miami's Adrienne Arsht Center. The performance will feature a chamber orchestra, including members of the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, accompanying the composer at the piano. Co-presented by Miami cultural mainstay Books & Books, the launch concert kicks off Mejia’s Latin American tour, which will also include appearances in Ecuador and Uruguay.
Juilliard Duo Pay Tribute to WWI In Song
“The general reaction we have gotten from audiences is that it not only educates them, but it delivers them to a place and time that is really hard to feel without the music. People can actually feel these moments deeply within their souls and spirits.” Baritone John Brancy and pianist Peter Dugan release A Silent Night: A WWI Memorial in Song this month.
April 6, 2017
““This recital was so different – so refreshingly, marvelously different... The goal of a recital is not originality as much as making a statement as an artist. And at this, Brancy and Dugan succeeded superbly.””
Since their 2014 professional recital debut at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, baritone John Brancy and pianist Peter Dugan have crisscrossed the continent performing music inspired by and written during World War I. Hailed by The Washington Post as “refreshingly, marvelously different,” their WWI tribute program features the music of British, German, French, and American composers who lived through, fought in, and died in the Great War.
Performed for rapt audiences at Carnegie Hall, Joye in Aiken Festival, St. John’s College, University of Chicago, and the Société d’art vocal de Montréal, this acclaimed program has now been captured in the duo’s debut album, A Silent Night: A WWI Memorial in Song.
As official commemorative partners of the United States World War I Centennial Commission and its French counterpart, Mission du Centenaire, Brancy and Dugan perform at an April 6 event for foreign and American dignitaries. Commemorating the centennial of the U.S. entry into WWI, In Sacrifice for Liberty and Peace takes place at the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, MO.
Ahead of the album’s wide release, event attendees are able to purchase advance copies of A Silent Night, with all proceeds benefiting Arts in the Armed Forces, a non-profit organization founded by Brancy and Dugan's fellow Juilliard alumnus, actor Adam Driver. In hopes of bridging the gap between artist and soldier, AITAF performs contemporary American theater free of charge at military installations around the world, for active duty military servicemembers, veterans, military caretakers, and their families.
The album’s official launch will take place at the Yamaha Piano Salon in New York City on April 28.
Jamie Barton to Release First Solo Album on 11/11/16
All Who Wander features songs of Mahler, Dvořák and Sibelius, accompanied by pianist Brian Zeger.
October 19, 2016
Hailed by Alex Ross in The New Yorker as a “once in a generation talent,” mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton shares her deep appreciation for the art song repertoire, a cornerstone of her career, in her solo recording debut.
To be released by Delos Music on November 11, 2016, and featuring pianist Brian Zeger, All Who Wander includes selections by Gustav Mahler, Antonín Dvořák, and Jean Sibelius that speak to an adventurer’s spirit – savoring and reckoning with all of life’s experiences.
“All Who Wander is inspired by something that lives within all of us – the desire to step out of our ordinary lives, or society’s rules, and explore the world,” Barton said. “These songs share personal memories and thoughts, but the emotions they express are universal.”