Harvest (2024)

Ant teams up with Turkish-British singer & lyricist Brigitte Beraha for ‘Ensconced’ - the lush new album. There are guest appearance from Kit Downes, Petros Klampanis, Ernesto Simpson, Matt Calvert, Max Luthert, Duncan Eagles, Jamie Murray and Adam Kovacs.

William Grant Still (1895-1978) from Little Rock was a pioneer in many ways. He was the first African American to successfully depart from the generally acceptable genres of jazz and pop. He lived to see a symphonic work and an opera of his performed, he conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic and directed an important Southern orchestra. The respect that he acquired is reflected in two Guggenheim fellowships and five honorary doctorates, as well as a growing number of top-quality recordings of his works. This album is dedicated to the composer's impressive art songs. Two dozen works, including simple spirituals, expansive, declamatory and captivating scenes, touching miniatures and provocative challenges paint a portrait of a self-assured man asserting his musical authority.

On their second ECM duo album Romanian pianist Lucian Ban and US violist Mat Maneri find fresh inspiration as they follow the trail of Béla Bartók, revisiting the folk music that spurred the imagination of the great Hungarian composer who, in the early 20th century, collected and transcribed numerous pieces from Transylvania. For the duo these songs have become “springboards and sources of melodic material” for arrangements “that capture the spirit of the original yet allow us to improvise and bring our own world to them. If you go deeper into the source material, new vistas open up. These folk songs teach us many things.” Recorded live in October 2022 in the context of the Retracing Bartók project in Timișoara, these performances also bear testimony to the finely attuned understanding that Lucian Ban and Mat Maneri have achieved in their long-running musical partnership.

Exceptional pianist Bruce Liu, winner of the 2021 International Chopin Competition, has recorded Tchaikovsky's most famous solo piano work “The Seasons” for his second studio album. With his unique interpretation of The Seasons, Liu brings the colors and moods of each month to life, once again showcasing his exceptional talent and profound musicality. Acclaimed by the press as a “pianist with a captivating musical personality” (Financial Times) and for his distinctive blend of “feline agility and lightness of touch” (New York Times), Liu recently won the OPUS Classical Award for his first studio album “Waves”.