For the following album:
Chapelle:Works for Solo Piano
in these categories:
Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Best Contemporary Classical Composition Place in Landscape Moulin de Senlis
This is my recent album Works for Solo Piano of twelve solo piano compositions performed by the pianist Michelle Schumann. It took three years to produce with two recording sessions both done on a Steinway Model D concert grand piano.
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ABOUT THE PIANIST – MICHELLE SCHUMANN
Michelle Schumann has enjoyed performing with some of the finest musicians gracing the world’s stages, including violinists Soovin Kim, Charles Wetherbee, and Brian Lewis; cellists Clancy Newman and Sara Sant’Ambrogio; and the Jupiter, Cavani, Carpe Diem, and Chiara String Quartets. Michelle’s other collaborations include the Meridian Arts Ensemble, American Repertory Ensemble, American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, the Austin Symphony Orchestra, and Long Beach Opera.
Schumann was artist-in-residence and professor of piano at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor where she was the founder and Artistic Director of the Hillman Visiting Artists Series. She received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The University of Texas at Austin and additionally holds a Young Artist Diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a Performance Diploma from the Vienna Conservatory. Her principal teachers included Anton Nel, Gregory Allen, and Marilyn Engle with additional teaching mentors including Emmanuel Ax, Peter Serkin, Ursula Oppens, Anne Epperson, and James Dick.
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ABOUT THE COMPOSER – ERIC CHAPELLE
Eric Chapelle is a composer and producer based in Austin, Texas.With influences ranging from experimental music to 20th century classical compositions, Chapelle’s music is lyrical, impressionistic, and at times minimalistic all rolled into one.In the 90’s Chapelle did the soundtracks for 14 episodes for the Texas Park and Wildlife Department television series, Made in Texas, broadcast on KLRU/PBS. Subsequently, then did the soundtrack for the documentary film Texas the State of Water – Finding a Balance, also produced by the Texas Parks and Wildlife, and narrated by the late Walter Cronkite, and broadcast on PBS in 2005. The water theme became a tune called Water Theme being Track 8 on his album Across the Water released in 2010. Chapelle was one of the ten composers on the Navona Records album Piano Spectrums, a solo piano compilation album of solo piano compositions performed by Anna Kislitsyna released on April 8, 2022.
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MUSIC REVIEWS
“Works For Solo Piano is a gorgeous album from composer Eric Chapelle and pianist Michelle Schumann. The piano works consistently consume with emotional depth and varied soundscapes, from the frolicking vibrancy of opener “Place in Landscape (Baga Beach)” to the spacious mystique of “First Light.” Chapelle’s captivating compositions are played to mesmerizing effect by Schumann,…”
The highlights are numerous. “Place in Landscape Moulin De Senlis” casts a haunting quality to start, reminiscent of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s piano works, and then traversing into a spine-tingling intensity of trickling beauty past the three-minute turn. Elsewhere, “Reflection No. 1” emits a romantic, tender quality in its lusher disposition, while the closing “Dusk to Dawn” sends chills with its melancholic, nocturnal soundscape. Works For Solo Piano is a standout showcase in composition and performance from Eric Chapelle and Michelle Schumann.-OBSCURE SOUNDS review by Mike Mineo
FOR ADDITIONAL REVIEWS ABOUT THIS ALBUM CLICK HERE.
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Tracks 9 through 12 were recorded on June 14, 2021 at the Fikes Chamber Hall at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas on a Steinway Model D concert grand piano.
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To either listen as a stream or to download the twelve solo piano compositions as wav files from this recent CD album Works for Solo Piano, click here to listen or download.
| Track Number | Title | Length in Minutes |
| 1. | Place in Landscape (Baga Beach) | 3:20 |
| 2. | In the Presence of Beauty | 3:20 |
| 3. | First Light | 2:47 |
| 4. | (Fall) Leaves falling on a gray day | 4:19 |
| 5. | Transformation | 4:14 |
| 6. | Place in Landscape Moulin de Senlis | 8:16 |
| 7. | Full Circle | 5:22 |
| 8. | Prelude in C# Minor (In Remembrance) | 4:12 |
| 9 | Reflection No. 1 | 2:49 |
| 10. | Nocturne No. 1 | 3:06 |
| 11. | Contemplation from a Distance | 3:31 |
| 12. | Dusk to Dawn | 3:49 |
You can also hear the whole album on Apple Music , Spotify, Tidal, or Bandcamp.
There are two music videos from two tracks from the album Works for Solo Piano.They are Track 6, Place in Landscape Moulin de Senlis, which is a FYC for the Best Contemporary Classical Composition
Here is a free download of the piano notation score of this composition of Track 6 as a PDF file of my solo piano composition Place in Landscape Moulin de Senlis
Click here to download the score Place in Landscape Moulin de Senlis
And here is the other music video of Track 9 Reflection No. 1
For additional reviews of this recent CD Album Works for Solo Piano, click here for seeing reviews at Reviews of Works for Solo Piano.