Music from the new recording “Far in the Heavens: Choral Music of Stephen Paulus”
True Concord Voices & Orchestra; Eric Holtan, Conductor
Street Date: September 11, 2015
Label: FRESH! From Reference Recordings

World Premiere Recordings! Choral Music by beloved composer Stephen Paulus

iTunes/Apple Music: http://apple.co/1U2Oq5C
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1J4qYg1

Stephen Paulus (1949-2014) was hailed as “a bright, fluent inventor with a ready lyric gift” by The New Yorker. A prolific composer of over 500 works, he wrote for orchestra, chorus, chamber ensembles, solo voice, keyboard and opera.  He was a recipient of both NEA and Guggenheim Fellowships. Described as uniquely American, his musical language was characterized as “irresistible in kinetic energy and haunting in lyrical design” by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, while The New York Times praised him for “melodic patterns that are fresh and familiar at the same time” and scoring that is “invariably expert and exceptionally imaginative in textures and use of instruments.” His music is represented on over fifty recordings.

Far In The Heavens is comprised of recently composed and previously unrecorded works by Stephen Paulus, including two works that were commissioned and premiered by True Concord Voices & Orchestra: The Incomprehensible for their fifth anniversary season in 2009, and Prayers and Remembrances for the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 tragedy in 2011. GRAMMY®-award winning producer Peter Rutenberg of Los Angeles produced the album, and Mr. Paulus supervised the recording in Tucson, Arizona.  Tragically, Stephen Paulus suffered a major stroke just six weeks after recording the album. He never recovered, and passed away in October 2014 after being in a coma for more than a year.

True Concord Voices & Orchestra, founded in 2004 by music director Eric Holtan as Tucson Chamber Artists, draws on the first rank of choral and instrumental musicians from Arizona and the United States. True Concord’s artistic mission is to enrich lives through the transformational power of classical music. It accomplishes this primarily through the performance of masterworks and the diverse music of the United States, making its New York City debut at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall with Paulus’s Prayers and Remembrances in September 11, 2015, and its international debut with this recording. With this album, True Concord seeks to bring together hearts from Tucson with those from around the world, through the power of music by one of America’s greatest and most beloved composers. "This CD is the culmination of everything Stephen ever wrote in his entire career...he must have had a premonition that this CD needed his final touch." -Patty Paulus, wife of the late Stephen Paulus.

Far in the Heavens: Choral Music of Stephen Paulus 

Far in the Heavens: Choral Music of Stephen Paulus (Sampler)

We at RR believe that how a recording sounds is as important as the music itself. "Prof." Keith O. Johnson, our chief engineer and Technical Director, is a true audio legend, having designed and patented many innovative products in the professional and consumer fields. The RR Sound comes from his singular methods and equipment, hand-built or extensively modified by him. Microphone techniques range from single-point Blumlein to spaced omnis to complex studio mixes, depending on the musical forces and the performing space involved. Our goal is to recreate the sound of real musicians making music in real space.