The musical output of the Schulich community is diverse. In this new series, we'll be highlighting different new releases from Schulich faculty, alumni, or students that have been making waves each month. September brought us solid debut recordings from emerging artists as well as new albums from industry pros—scroll down to discover some music that especially stood out to us.
The Enlightened Trumpet – Paul Merkelo (Sony Classical)
Released Sept 6, 2019
Listen on Apple Music
Schulich faculty member Paul Merkelo’s fourth album showcases a variety of well-known works written by Georg Philipp Telemann, Leopold Mozart, Franz Joseph Haydn, and Johann Nepomuk Hummel during the Age of Enlightenment (1688 – 1815), a time period of great change for both music and the trumpet itself. Merkelo’s cadenza at the end of the opening movement from Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in Eb encapsulates the tone of brilliance, sophistication, and nuance featured across the whole recording.
Origins – Duo Kalysta (Leaf Music)
Released Sept 6, 2019
Listen on all platforms
The debut recording by Duo Kalysta (flutist Lara Deutsch and harpist Emily Belvedere) has been a long time coming—they met at Schulich in 2012 and later went on to win the McGill Concerto Competition. Origins features their musical chemistry as a duo in Claude Debussy’s Prélude à l’aprés-midi d’un faune and Vespertine by Jocelyn Morlock, and changes up the pace with the inclusion of violist Marina Thibeault on R. Murray Schafer’s Trio for Flute, Viola & Harp, and a string trio on André Jolivet’s Chant de Linos.
You Sound Like Pine Trees – Kyle Hutchins Trio (Florafone Records)
Released September 12, 2019
Listen on Bandcamp
One of the first releases by new label Florafone Records, You Sound Like Pine Trees brings drummer Kyle Hutchins (BMus 2014) together with saxophonist Evan Shay (MMus 2018) and guitarist Aimé Duquet (BMus 2013). The three are no strangers to performing together, as they make up three quarters of Shay’s group Lawful Citizen. Their musical connection especially shows through expansive tunes like Great Scott and WWITH?, the latter featured below in a performance by the group at Résonance Café in 2017.
Crushed – The Plastic Waste Band (Florafone Records)
Released September 17
Listen on Bandcamp
Emerging jazz bassist Ethan Cohn (BMus 2017) leads a band of Schulich students and alumns through a set of his original music inspired from the world’s political and environmental climate. Cohn’s progressive writing and inspired playing from the whole ensemble make this release a must-listen.
Chopin: Ballades & Impromptus – Charles Richard-Hamelin (Analekta Records)
Released September 20, 2019
View on Analekta Records
Pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin (BMus 2011) has a long association with Chopin’s music both on recording and in concert—in fact, this will be his fourth release to include music by the composer, and his third that focuses exclusively on Chopin’s repertoire. As we’ve come to expect, Richard-Hamelin renders this record’s repertoire with an incredibly refined touch and large range of emotion.
Watch Richard-Hamelin perform Chopin’s Ballade No. 3 in A-flat Major, Op. 47 in a 2015 performance at the Fryderyk Chopin Institute:
Releasing an album soon? publicity.music [at] mcgill.ca (Email us to let us know).
