Ekstasis Duo's first recording, 'Women's Voices,' is out in four days

Photo: Isabelle Wroblewski

The acclaimed Ekstasis Duo (cellist Natasha Farny and pianist Eliran Avni) release their first recording - a 16-track digital album featuring 19th and 20th century female composers on October 10, 2022.

The long awaited album, "Women’s Voices,” celebrates the talent of composers Louise Farrenc, Lera Auerbach, Clara Schumann, Alma Mahler, Ethel Smyth, and Nina Simone.

The Duo has created a special landing page for the CD on HearNow with links to Spotify, Amazon Music, etc. The links will go live on the release date, October 10. 

For now, audiences can click and hear short clips of each of the pieces.

Click here to hear clips from the album and for access to the album on streaming services.

Visit here to view the album on the Ekstasis website and read the newly released program notes.

"Women's Voices"

RELEASE: October 10, 2022

Louise Farrenc, Sonata in B-flat Major, op. 46

Lera Auerbach, 24 Preludes, op. 47, no. 7 & no. 24

Clara Schumann, Drei Romanzen, arr. for cello and piano, op. 22

Alma Mahler, Fünf Lieder, I. The Silent City

Ethel Smyth, Sonata in A minor, op. 5

Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Lament

 Tribute to Nina Simone, arr. D. Kaufman

“My Baby Just Cares for Me”

“Don’t Smoke in Bed"

“Love me or Leave me”

Recorded at:

Rosch Recital Hall, SUNY Fredonia, New York, August 1-3, 2020

Paul Coleman, sound and editing

Bernd Gottinger, sound and mastering

See project trailer here.

The album is also available as an unedited concert for digital presentations. See Sample here. 

Want to hear the duo live? Don't mis the October 15th New York State Premiere of award-winning composer Avner Dorman's Double Concerto for Cello, Piano, and Orchestra, an unforgettable wild ride not to be missed with conductor Jaman Dunn and the College Symphony Orchestra at SUNY Fredonia's Rockefeller Arts Center. (Ticket information and more here.)

Ekstasis Duo

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Music that lifts the spirit can be intensely joyful, profoundly moving, and unforgettable. Ekstasis is committed to creating juxtapositions and similarities through daring programming. Ekstasis Duo thrives on the contrast, intensity, and passion that they find in these compositions. The duo's aim is to share music that electrifies audiences and offers every possible emotion on the spectrum.

With a focus on storytelling that pinpoints an aspect of the human condition or creates an atmosphere through sound, Ekstasis Duo's concerts offer solo and chamber music works, and occasionally incorporate multimedia, readings, video, and visual art. In recent seasons, the duo has promoted the music of minority composers with two programs: "Women's Voices" and “... From the Shadows.” These initiatives also included lectures, audio and video recordings.

The 2022-2023 season includes a workshop and performance of music by Chinese composer Chen Yi and performances of "... From the Shadows" with music by George Walker, Henriette Bosmans, Lili Boulanger, Alexander Zemlinsky, and Alma Mahler. The duo will appear at Chautauqua’s Lenna Hall, Buffalo’s Friends of Vienna series, Grand Valley State University in Michigan, and at Arts in the Village series in Rehoboth, MA. Previous concerts of “... From the Shadows” included engagements with Arizona’s Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts, Ohio’s Holland Theater, and Maryland’s Resonance Chamber Music Series.

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Since their debut in 2018, The Ekstasis Duo has appeared on distinguished series such as New York City’s Merkin Hall, Eastman's Morning Chamber Music Series, and Rochester’s "Live from Hochstein." During the summer of 2020, the duo recorded music for their upcoming debut CD, "Women's Voices," to be released October 10, 2022. This program inspired Ekstasis to give lectures online and in person both nationally and at an international conference in Lucca, Italy. A multimedia project involving live music and video occurred in 2021 as a result of winning Fredonia’s Kasling Award and a paper on women’s compositions for cello and piano was published in 2021 in the College Music Society Symposium. Postponed engagements due to COVID-19 include California’s L'Ermitage Foundation in Los Angeles and Tateuchi Hall at the Finn Center at Mountainview, New York’s Community School of Music and Arts, Bard College, The Eastman School of Music, and GetClassical Revelation Gallery. More details on the artists can be found at:

?www.ekstasisduo.com

Press Contact:

Laura Grant, Grant Communications

917.359.7319

Laura@grant-communications.com