Timeline: Released September 2021
Label: Orchid Classics
Performers: Kinetic Ensemble (artistic director & leader: Natalie Lin Douglas)
Producer: Brad Sayles

Full of world-premiere recordings, String Theory is an album of works by Pierre Jalbert, an American composer described in The New Yorker as "an acknowledged chamber-music master." The album's first three pieces, written for string orchestra, are all performed by Kinetic Ensemble, directed by Natalie Lin Douglas. String Theory, the album's title work, was inspired by the concept of quantum gravity and uses an array of techniques including harmonics, rapid bowing and vibrating strings that plays to the strengths of Kinetic Ensemble; Autumn Rhapsody muses on nature’s colorful autumnal display; and Elegy is a lyrical chorale. Prior to recording these works in the studio, Kinetic Ensemble gave the Texas premiere performances of all three works.

Jalbert: String Theory

String Theory: III. Rhythmus (Pierre Jalbert, Kinetic Ensemble)

Elegy (Pierre Jalbert, Kinetic Ensemble)

Autumn Rhapsody (Pierre Jalbert, Kinetic Ensemble)

Timeline: Released in September 2022
Label: Navona Records
Performers: Natalie Lin Douglas (violin), Andrew Laven (cello), Wesley Ducote (piano)
Producer: Todd Hulslander

Six Bagatelles is a work for violin, cello, and piano by composer Karim Al-Zand, which was premiered in 2019 by Natalie Lin Douglas and two colleagues. The work is inspired by the art of Robert Motherwell (1915–1991); each short movement is named after an image by the American abstract artist. The premiere recording of Six Bagatelles was released in 2022 on the album, "Karim Al-Zand: The Leader & Other Works" (NV6469), and performed by Natalie Lin Douglas (violin), Andrew Laven (cello), and Wesley Ducote (piano).

String Theory: III. Rhythmus (Pierre Jalbert, Kinetic Ensemble)

MIT Music and Theater Arts

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