Featured composers
Unlikely Stories for violin and piano
Indian-American composer Reena Esmail works between the worlds of Indian and Western classical music, and brings communities together through the creation of equitable musical spaces.
Esmail’s work has been commissioned by ensembles including the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Kronos Quartet, Imani Winds, Juilliard415, Seattle Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the Santa Fe Pro Musica.
Esmail is the Los Angeles Master Chorale's 2020-2023 Swan Family Artist-in- Residence, and Seattle Symphony's 2020-21 Composer-in-Residence. Previously she was named a 2019 United States Artist Fellow in Music, and the 2019 Grand Prize Winner of the S & R Foundation's Washington Award. Esmail was also a 2017-18 Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Fellow.
Esmail holds degrees in composition from The Juilliard School (BM’05) and the Yale School of Music (MM’11, MMA’14, DMA’18). Her primary teachers have included Susan Botti, Aaron Jay Kernis, Christopher Theofanidis and Martin Bresnick, Christopher Rouse and Samuel Adler. She received a Fulbright-Nehru grant to study Hindustani music in India. Her Hindustani music teachers include Srimati Lakshmi Shankar and Gaurav Mazundar, and she currently studies and collaborates with Saili Oak. Her doctoral thesis, entitled Finding Common Ground: Uniting Practices in Hindustani and Western Art Musicians explores the methods and challenges of the collaborative process between Hindustani musicians and Western composers.
Indian-American composer Reena Esmail works between the worlds of Indian and Western classical music, and brings communities together through the creation of equitable musical spaces.
Esmail’s work has been commissioned by ensembles including the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Kronos Quartet, Imani Winds, Juilliard415, Seattle Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the Santa Fe Pro Musica.
Esmail is the Los Angeles Master Chorale's 2020-2023 Swan Family Artist-in- Residence, and Seattle Symphony's 2020-21 Composer-in-Residence. Previously she was named a 2019 United States Artist Fellow in Music, and the 2019 Grand Prize Winner of the S & R Foundation's Washington Award. Esmail was also a 2017-18 Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Fellow.
Esmail holds degrees in composition from The Juilliard School (BM’05) and the Yale School of Music (MM’11, MMA’14, DMA’18). Her primary teachers have included Susan Botti, Aaron Jay Kernis, Christopher Theofanidis and Martin Bresnick, Christopher Rouse and Samuel Adler. She received a Fulbright-Nehru grant to study Hindustani music in India. Her Hindustani music teachers include Srimati Lakshmi Shankar and Gaurav Mazundar, and she currently studies and collaborates with Saili Oak. Her doctoral thesis, entitled Finding Common Ground: Uniting Practices in Hindustani and Western Art Musicians explores the methods and challenges of the collaborative process between Hindustani musicians and Western composers.
Olu Pipila, arranged for string quartet
Sunil Santha is credited with championing the development of Sri Lankan music and folk songs in the mid-20th century. He chose to write and sing his songs in Sinhala, the language of Sri Lanka, at a time when music in that country was largely based on Hindustani and Tamil songs of India. Santha began his career as an educator, teaching music, physical training, and drama. In 1940 he left teaching to study music at the Bhatkhande Music Institute, becoming the first non-Indian Asian to receive a first in sitar and vocals. Between 1946 and 1952, Santha composed and recorded a number of songs for Radio Ceylon. On refusing to audition for the new Indian music director in 1952, Santha was effectively banned from Radio Ceylon. He began a small music school and taught many scholarship students. Although Santha was reinstated at Radio Ceylon in 1967 and had a resurgence of popularity in the 1970’s (with new compositions that included traditional Sri Lankan instruments), he was plagued with financial problems for the rest of his life.
Olu Pipila was the first song ever recorded onto vinyl by Radio Ceylon, with Santha as lead vocalist, composer, and lyricist. In the mid-20th century, Santha sought to elevate the general opinion of Sinhalese language and music in Sri Lanka, a controversial move which impacted his career significantly. However, this song (and Santha) have become beloved symbols of Sri Lankan pride, with Santha even featured on a postage stamp in 1999. Transcribed by Amal Abeysekera for string quartet from an arrangement by Manilal Weerakoon, this publication is offered with permission from Lanka Santha, the composer's son.
Sunil Santha is credited with championing the development of Sri Lankan music and folk songs in the mid-20th century. He chose to write and sing his songs in Sinhala, the language of Sri Lanka, at a time when music in that country was largely based on Hindustani and Tamil songs of India. Santha began his career as an educator, teaching music, physical training, and drama. In 1940 he left teaching to study music at the Bhatkhande Music Institute, becoming the first non-Indian Asian to receive a first in sitar and vocals. Between 1946 and 1952, Santha composed and recorded a number of songs for Radio Ceylon. On refusing to audition for the new Indian music director in 1952, Santha was effectively banned from Radio Ceylon. He began a small music school and taught many scholarship students. Although Santha was reinstated at Radio Ceylon in 1967 and had a resurgence of popularity in the 1970’s (with new compositions that included traditional Sri Lankan instruments), he was plagued with financial problems for the rest of his life.
Olu Pipila was the first song ever recorded onto vinyl by Radio Ceylon, with Santha as lead vocalist, composer, and lyricist. In the mid-20th century, Santha sought to elevate the general opinion of Sinhalese language and music in Sri Lanka, a controversial move which impacted his career significantly. However, this song (and Santha) have become beloved symbols of Sri Lankan pride, with Santha even featured on a postage stamp in 1999. Transcribed by Amal Abeysekera for string quartet from an arrangement by Manilal Weerakoon, this publication is offered with permission from Lanka Santha, the composer's son.
Selected Short Pieces for violin and piano
British violinist Ethel Barns was an active performer, composer and impresario of a concert series in the early years of the twentieth century. Trained at the Royal Academy of Music by the French violinists Prosper Sainton and Emile Sauret, Barns also studied composition and was an accomplished pianist. She graduated in 1895 with many honors– bronze and silver medals and certificates for violin, harmony, piano and sight-singing, as well as the Hine gift for composition and the Potter Exhibition for piano playing– and was elected Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. Barns concertized as both soloist and chamber musician, often playing her own compositions, in the years after her graduation. She married Charles Phillips, a professional singer, in 1899, and they began the Barns-Phillips Chamber Concerts, which continued until 1913. In the four concerts presented each season, pieces by Barns would always occupy a central spot in the program. She composed well over one hundred works, 53 of which were for violin and piano. Approximately 70% of her compositions were published early in the twentieth century by established firms such as Schott and Carl Fischer.
The three salon-style pieces selected for this collection (Serenade, Morceau, and Canzonetta) are of intermediate/advanced difficulty, and are a mix of sentiment and virtuosity. They can be performed as a set or individually (great encore material!) A fun alternative to traditional showpieces.
British violinist Ethel Barns was an active performer, composer and impresario of a concert series in the early years of the twentieth century. Trained at the Royal Academy of Music by the French violinists Prosper Sainton and Emile Sauret, Barns also studied composition and was an accomplished pianist. She graduated in 1895 with many honors– bronze and silver medals and certificates for violin, harmony, piano and sight-singing, as well as the Hine gift for composition and the Potter Exhibition for piano playing– and was elected Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. Barns concertized as both soloist and chamber musician, often playing her own compositions, in the years after her graduation. She married Charles Phillips, a professional singer, in 1899, and they began the Barns-Phillips Chamber Concerts, which continued until 1913. In the four concerts presented each season, pieces by Barns would always occupy a central spot in the program. She composed well over one hundred works, 53 of which were for violin and piano. Approximately 70% of her compositions were published early in the twentieth century by established firms such as Schott and Carl Fischer.
The three salon-style pieces selected for this collection (Serenade, Morceau, and Canzonetta) are of intermediate/advanced difficulty, and are a mix of sentiment and virtuosity. They can be performed as a set or individually (great encore material!) A fun alternative to traditional showpieces.
Esmail, Unlikely Stories for violin and piano
$23.00
$23.00
Santha, Olu Pipila for string quartet
$12.00
$12.00
Barns, Selected Short Pieces
$16.00
$16.00
Esmail, Unlikely Stories for violin and piano DIGITAL
$18.00
$18.00
Santha, Olu Pipila for string quartet DIGITAL
$10.00
$10.00
Barns, Selected Short Pieces DIGITAL
$13.00
$13.00