Lavinia

Peaceful Choir by harpist Lavinia Meijer and chamber choir World Choir of Peace is a relaxing musical journey through the manifold colors and sounds of contemporary choral music. Renowned international composers have contributed entirely new works or arrangements for this unique recording project, including Sir Karl Jenkins, Grammy-nominated composer and pianist Hauschka, San Fermin mastermind Ellis Ludwig-Leone, composer icon John Rutter, Estonian pop-violinist Maarja Nuut and German soundtrack composer David Reichelt (8 Days). The album includes 15 world-premiere recordings and music by house-hold names such as Ola Gjeilo, Eric Whitacre, Max Richter, Hans Zimmer and Arvo Pärt.

Four years in the making, "Are You Still Somewhere?" sees Lavinia Meijer combine original compositions with her long stated dream of interpreting modern composers and musicians for the harp. Works by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Ólafur Arnalds, and Alexandra Stréliski all feature, as do collaborations with Dutch pianist Pieter de Graaf and punk legend Iggy Pop. Over the years, Lavinia Meijer experimented with electronic music, jazz, theatrical music, and avant rock. It was these experiments that led her to the ideas behind "Are You Still Somewhere?", and provided inspiration for her own compositions.

Since their first encounter in May 2011, Lavinia Meijer has worked with some frequency with Philip Glass, even though he has never written solo works specifically for the harp. However, many of his piano works and piano transcriptions, after minor adjustments, prove to be well suited to the modern pedal harp. Initially, Lavinia Meijer added Glass's five movement Metamorphosis to her repertoire, on the instigation of the undersigned, the Amsterdam gallery owner Robert Malasch and the American composer himself.