BMOP/sound Releases New Albums by Keeril Makan and George Perle

Keeril Makan: Dream Lightly (#1066)

George Perle: Complete Serenades (#1067)

Boston, MA (For Release 09.03.19) — Known as the nation’s foremost label launched by an orchestra and devoted exclusively to new music, BMOP/sound today announced the release of two new albums: Keeril Makan: Dream Lightly and George Perle: Serenade, led by conductor Gil Rose and performed by the musicians of the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP).

Raised by parents of Indian-South African and Russian-Jewish heritage, Keeril Makan was immersed from an early age in a broad array of musical cultures—rock, blues, western and Indian classical traditions—that give color and edge to his musical ideas. He “brings the spirit of his diverse musical inheritance into the still center of his compositions, building structures with deep patience and infinite calm. Makan, who teaches at M.I.T., may be surrounded by high technology, but his music reveals an abiding affection for acoustic instruments” (The New Yorker). Dream Lightly includes four of Makan’s works that combine lyric and harmonic musical qualities with the most advanced techniques of electronic music. The album’s eponymous track requires electric guitarist Seth Josel to play delicate and ethereal harmonics for almost the entire work. According to Makan, it is not a concerto in the traditional sense. “Rather it is as if the orchestra exists inside of the guitarist’s head, helping, supporting, and coloring.”

The second summer release is the debut recording of the complete serenades by Pulitzer Prize-winner George Perle. Serenade No. 1 for solo viola plus 10-piece orchestra is followed by Serenade No. 2 which has no solo instrument, but 11 instruments. “Both of these pieces have five movements, so they sort of participate in a certain musical concept, really a kind of 18^th-century notion of something which is between a suite and a symphony, like a divertimento,” explained Perle. Serenade No.3 is also a five-movement work, but for solo piano and 10-piece chamber orchestra. It was choreographed by American Ballet Theater and nominated for a Grammy Award for its 1986 Nonesuch recording.

About BMOP/sound         
BMOP/sound, BMOP’s independent record label, was created in 2008 to provide a platform for BMOP’s extensive archive of music, as well as to provide widespread, top-quality, permanent access to both classics of the 20th century and the music of today’s most innovative composers. BMOP/sound has garnered praise from the national and international press; it is the recipient of six Grammy Award nominations and its releases have appeared on the year-end “Best of” lists of The New York Times, The Boston Globe, National Public Radio, Time Out New York, American Record Guide, DownBeat Magazine, WBUR, NewMusicBox, and others. Admired, praised, and sought after by artists, presenters, critics, and audiophiles, BMOP and BMOP/sound are uniquely positioned to redefine the new music concert and recording experience. Launched in 2019, BMOP's digital radio station, BMOP/radio, streams BMOP/sound's entire catalog and airs special programming. BMOPsound.org

Keeril Makan: Dream Lightly
Composer: Keeril Makan (b.1972)
Release Date: September 3, 2019
TRT: 61:07
Works: Dream Lightly (2008), If We Knew the Sky (2014), Tender Illusions (2010), Still (2006)
Performers: Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), led by Gil Rose (conductor)

George Perle: Serenades
Composer: George Perle (1915-2009)
Release Date: September 3, 2019
TRT: 54:00
Works: Serenade No.1 (1962), Serenade No.2 (1968), Serenade No.3 (1983)
Performers: Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), Donald Berman (piano), Wenting Kang (viola), led by Gil Rose (conductor)

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