# Albany Records

> Presenting interesting, imaginative releases and copious world premieres, the music on Albany Records is uncommonly classical\.

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## Pages
- [About](https://www.albanyrecords.com/about/)
- [Contact](https://www.albanyrecords.com/contact/)
- [Home](https://www.albanyrecords.com/)
- [News](https://www.albanyrecords.com/news/)

## Posts
- [The Inside Story: Ching\-Chun Lai and HER SYMPHONIC VOICE](https://www.albanyrecords.com/the-inside-story-ching-chun-lai-and-her-symphonic-voice/)
- [The Inside Story: Jessica Krash and TRUE STORIES](https://www.albanyrecords.com/the-inside-story-jessica-krash-and-true-stories/)
- [The Inside Story: Heidi Louise Williams, Ney Fialkow, and DIORAMA BRASIL](https://www.albanyrecords.com/the-inside-story-heidi-louise-williams-ney-fialkow-and-diorama-brasil/)
- [The Inside Story: Ketty Nez and ONLY THE PATH REMAINS](https://www.albanyrecords.com/inside-story-ketty-nez-only-the-path-remains/)
- [The Inside Story: Benjamin Shorstein, Stephen Michael Newby, and THE DRUM AND THE DREAM](https://www.albanyrecords.com/inside-story-benjamin-shorstein-stephen-michael-newby-the-drum-and-the-dream/)

## Albums
- [Memories \& Roots](https://www.albanyrecords.com/catalog/troy2010/): Ileana Perez Velazquez has a special relationship with poetry, and so it is no surprise that an album titled MEMORIES \& ROOTS would be heavily influenced by music's sister art\. Born in Cuba, Perez Velazquez draws an intimate portrait of her cultural and spiritual heritage, while musically illustrating what it means to be a creator in the American cultural landscape today\.

Perez Velazquez's compositions are cerebral, meticulously constructed, yet saturated with a cordial, effervescent humanity\. At the center of MEMORIES \& ROOTS stands the imperishable conditio humana: of toil, suffering, tireless striving, and ultimate transcendence through art\. These works, like the poems by which they're inspired, are motivated by a profound longing for ascent, and Perez Velazquez expresses this as compactly and effectively in a solo violin as she does in a string quartet and chamber ensemble\. 
- [Joseph Marie dall'Abaco: 11 Capricci](https://www.albanyrecords.com/catalog/troy1897/)
- [Bonds Unsung](https://www.albanyrecords.com/catalog/troy2036/): Composer Margaret Bonds is chiefly remembered for two things: her music, and her ability to shatter seemingly\-unbreakable glass ceilings in the music industry as a Black woman in the early\-to\-mid 20th century\. Soprano Sequina DuBose champions these achievements on BONDS UNSUNG, a cross section of vocal works ranging from piano\-voice duos to large choral compositions\. 
Considering the obstacles that Bonds faced, it is not surprising that her works feature a consistent undercurrent of defiance\. What's remarkable is how varied this energy develops in the individual pieces: blossoming into delicate lyricism here, bursting into exaltation there\. DuBose is the perfect match for these works, as is the rest of the ensemble\.
- [Petunias](https://www.albanyrecords.com/catalog/troy2037/): On PETUNIAS, the Charlotte Strings Collective has made it their mission to save meritorious music by Black women from passing into oblivion\. PETUNIAS draws its name from an Alice Walker poem about the resilience of Black women in the face of their unique challenges; particularly, the homes and communities they have loved and lost, and which are herewith memorialized for posterity\. The music is often wistful in its lyricism, longing in its melodies, and nostalgic in its narration; beneath all the melancholy, however, stirs a fierce, unbroken determination\.
- [Homegrown Melodies](https://www.albanyrecords.com/catalog/troy2016/): The concept of “home” is a complex and nuanced mix of nostalgia, belonging, and memory that varies from person to person\. On HOMEGROWN MELODIES, the Burnt Reeds wind quintet explores their own meaning of home with six new works about the Carolinas\. Even through wordless instrumental music, the ensemble expresses profound emotion, pondering the Carolinas as not a single place, but a plurality of many Carolinas for a diverse group of people and cultural traditions\.

## Artists
- [Ileana Perez Velazquez](https://www.albanyrecords.com/artists/ileana-perez-velazquez/): Cuban born composer Ileana Pérez Velázquez’s music has been heard in concerts and international festivals in Cuba, the United States, and throughout Central and South America, Europe, and China\. Recent performances of her music include the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music summer 2024, Ensemble Connect at Carnegie Hall in January 2025, the LA Philharmonic Pan\-American New Music at Walt Disney Hall in 2024, Miranda Cuckson at the Cutting Edge Concert Symphony Space, and Momenta Quartet at Americas Society \(NYC\) in 2023\.
- [Charlotte Strings Collective](https://www.albanyrecords.com/artists/charlotte-strings-collective/): Charlotte Strings Collective celebrates the music of Black composers through dynamic performances and educational initiatives, fostering recognition for both contemporary and historically overlooked artists\. It is composed of students, faculty, and alumni from University of North Carolina, Charlotte; Davidson College; and Winthrop University; students and alumni from Northwest School of the Arts; members of the Charlotte Symphony; local orchestra directors; freelance musicians; private string teachers; and public\-school music educators\. CSC first performed together virtually in the summer of 2020 as a musical affirmation that Black Lives Matter\. 
- [di\.vi\.sion](https://www.albanyrecords.com/artists/di-vi-sion/): di\.vi\.sion is a 35\-musician group founded by Kurt Briggs in 2001 and based in the Bronx\. The name is inspired by the group’s flexibility to divide forces as needed, and also references the musical form of division — the gradually accelerating variation of melodic material over a ground bass\. The core group is the di\.vi\.sion piano trio: violinist Kurt Briggs, cellist Matt Goeke, and pianist Renée Cometa Briggs\. 
- [Bill Banfield](https://www.albanyrecords.com/artists/bill-banfield/): In the past 25\+ years, Bill Banfield has produced a body of productive music/ arts scholarship activities, books, compositions, recordings, establishing an active teaching, student and music/ lecture programming development, professional service and creative work, that contributes to contemporary arts leadership\.

Banfield was appointed in 2019 as a research associate with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage \(CFCH\), one of the Smithsonian’s 12 research and cultural centers\. His work focuses on what he identifies as cultural through\-lines, delineating the ways in which contemporary artistry and new works harken back and hold onto critical cultural linkages to understand\.
- [Alessio Masi](https://www.albanyrecords.com/artists/alessio-masi/): Born in Sicily, Alessio Masi is a young pianist and composer acclaimed for his pianistic eloquence and remarkable interpretative maturity\. He graduated from the Manhattan School of Music in New York with highest honors under the guidance of Daniel Epstein and he is the winner of the First Prize at the “Hermès per i Talenti” competition, which awarded him a three\-year sponsorship from Hermès Italia and a European concert tour as part of the “H\.Y\.T\.A\.” project\. He also received a special invitation to the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, where he returns each year as a Visiting Student of the Verbier Festival Academy\. 

## Optional
- [Sitemap index](https://www.albanyrecords.com/sitemap_index.xml)