The album title, "American Gifts," reflects that all works are by American composers and span different time periods and geographical origins.
Composer Biography
Roger Sessions, another composer on this album, taught for fifty years at institutions like Princeton University and The Juilliard School and was known as an American exponent of modernism in music.
Performer Biography
Nancy Zeltsman, the other marimba duo performer, has premiered 125 solo and chamber works and taught at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and Berklee College of Music for 26 years.
Recording & Production
The works by Sessions, Fine, and Brackett were recorded in May 2018 at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, while Michael Tilson Thomas's Island Music was recorded live in January 2005 at Davies Symphony Hall.
Composer Biography
Irving Fine, a composer featured on this album, was placed in an American 'Stravinsky School' by Aaron Copland due to his use of polychords, polytonality, and modal ambiguity.
Performer Biography
Jack Van Geem, one of the marimba duo performers, had a 32-year career as Principal Percussionist with the San Francisco Symphony and taught at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for 28 years.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Michael Tilson Thomas, a composer on this album, dedicated his work Island Music to Lou Harrison, Bill Colvig, and Ingolf Dahl, whose music he continues to champion and who influenced his own artistic development.
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