These are all world premiere recordings, recordings, produced by Michael Fine himself. Jin Choi was engineer for the sessions at Cuesta College’s Harold J. Miossi Center for the Performing Arts. Evidence Classics are distributed world-wide by Harmonia Mundi/PIAS and can be heard on all the major streaming services including Apple Music, Spotify, and Idagio…
Scott Yoo, Artistic Director of Festival Mozaic and First Violin of the Mozaic Quartet said:
It is a lot of fun to make music with close friends. It is a privilege to bring to life the music of a great composer, who also happens to be a friend. This recording is both. Performing these pieces was so interesting. They look extremely simple upon face value, but even after a few measures we all realized that each phrase was very complex and detailed. We all got the best results when we relaxed and purged our minds of any restless thoughts – Michael’s music, very much like Copland’s, demands a certain amount of serenity. My colleagues and I hope we have done the music justice in this album. – Scott Yoo, Director, Festival Mozaic, Violin 1, Mozaic Quartet.
Evidence Classic’s Executive Director, Jean-Hugues Allard said:
“It is an honor and a pleasure to release our second recording of the music of the composer Michael Fine who offers us here again a magnificent disc, with five works highlighting the expressive power of the woodwinds , and which will undoubtedly be added in the future to the core repertoire of chamber music. Written in an original Franco / American musical aesthetic, sometimes close to that of Milhaud or Gerschwin, these quintets served by exceptional soloists remain resolutely modern and visionary. A particularly successful recording also in terms of sound, which will delight the most demanding audiophiles. Well done Michael!”
Composer and producer Michael Fine added:
As a clarinet player, I feel a particular affinity for my colleagues in the woodwind section. Each of these Quintets attempts to capture not only the character of the instruments but also the musicians for whom each piece was written. Recording these with dear friends and colleagues at Festival Mozaic, was a particular joy, especially after two weeks of working together in the Festival Orchestra. I owe a debt of gratitude to Scott Yoo, Artistic Director of the Festival, whose idea it was to perform and record these works and to my colleagues who gave their time, energy, and extraordinary musicianship for this project.
Five for Five (catalogue nr, EVCD070); Quintets for Winds and String Quartet by Michael Fine
Fei Xei, bassoon; Robert Walters, English Horn; Anton Rist, clarinet; Xiaodi Liu, oboe; Alice K. Dade, flute, Scott Yoo, violin; Erik Arvinder, violin; Maurycy Banaszek, viola; Jonah Kim, cello
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