Many thanks to Fanfare Magazine for reviewing “Moxie“ by the Chamber Winds of South Dakota!

This article originally appeared in Issue 49:3 (Jan/Feb 2026) of Fanfare Magazine.

Moxie is the debut release for the newly formed Chamber Winds of South Dakota. The ensemble is comprised of talented musicians, professors, conductors, producers, and arts administrators. It seems to be a Who’s Who ensemble for many high-achieving wind players from throughout the Midwest with a strong focus on South Dakota. The ensemble consists of Elizabeth Robinson and Stephanie Kocher on flute; Jennifer Wohlenhaus Bloomberg and Robin Michelle Sweeden on oboe; Michael Walsh and Beverly Gibson on clarinet; James Compton and Martin J. Van Klompenberg on bassoon; Sam Gowen and Amy Laursen on horn; and Mark Stevens on piano.

I wish that there were more chamber wind groups that performed this type of repertoire around the U.S. I often feel that we are limited as musicians to either having to gravitate to playing in smaller chamber groups like a quartet, trio, or duo or are pushed toward the larger ensembles like the full-orchestra setting. In most areas of the U.S., universities are one of the primary places where this type of chamber music receives regular attention. Having more ensembles that encompass players from multiple institutions can help keep the art form strong and communities collaborating.

I appreciate the ensemble creating a link through the theme even if each piece wasn’t dedicated to the exact same topic. My favorite piece included is Jonathan Newman’s Concertino for Flute Solo, Chamber Winds, and Piano. Personally, I always gravitate to Newman’s works as they never disappoint.

The recording was completed and produced by founder Meerenai Shim with her studio Aerocade Music. Shim has a deep personal understanding of how to record for winds unique to someone who has played a wind instrument for much of her life. The balance and clarity are stellar from beginning to end. I look forward to hearing the next release from the Chamber Winds of South Dakota. Natalie Szabo

This article originally appeared in Issue 49:3 (Jan/Feb 2026) of Fanfare Magazine.

Flutist Meerenai Shim’s new album is a dazzling, cutting-edge recital which is riveting from first to last. Actually “flutist” doesn’t convey the half of what Shim does here. She plays piccolo, flute, alto flute, bass flute, contrabass flute, piano, drums, cello, Otamatone (we’ll get to that), and provides vocals. She’s curated the recital to perfection and acted as producer for the album. Phew. All that effort pays off handsomely, though.

Shim starts with a contemporary classic, Steve Reich’s Vermont Counterpoint. This is a fast, hectic whirlwind of a piece. Its compositional technique is predicated on the construction of canons between short repeating melodic patterns, substituting notes for rests, and creating new melodies from their combination. It’s scored for three alto flutes, three flutes, three piccolos, and one solo part all pre-recorded, plus a live solo part. Shim, multi-tracked, plays all the instruments with exhilarating virtuosity and one is instantly aware of the care that has been taken with the canvas of sound.

Janice Misurell-Mitchell’s O Sapientia, which follows, uses the antiphon of that name by the medieval composer Hildegard von Bingen as a starting point for what feels like a journey through an evolving soundscape, from something truly ancient at the start to a much more jagged and fragmented present. Shim’s flutes at the start evoke organ chords, and the talented countertenor Carl Alexander’s vocals are reminiscent of plainchant. Multi-tracking is cleverly used as the piece evolves so that the range of sounds becomes more complex and mysterious, until we seem far from its origins at the conclusion. It’s a transportive and immersive experience.

Three pieces by Meghann Wilhoite come next. The composer explains that they originated as an EP for an electronic music project. When Shim made contact about Wilhoite writing a new piece for her, Wilhoite suggested that she “cover” the EP. The result is extraordinary. Shim plays cello and drums as well as flutes on As if, a thrilling and relentless exploration of the combative. She adds piano to flutes on You Don’t Belong Here, a more austere and reflective piece which closes beautifully with a flute choir. The Audacity, the final piece in the group, has its roots in rock with Shim playing a simple flute part over a distinctive beat. An Otamatone (a miniature synthesizer shaped like an eighth note) also makes a surprising but subtle appearance. I very much enjoyed this unpretentious two and a half minutes of music whose cumulative effect defies conventional analysis.

Brent Miller’s Miniatures, Book 4: Preset Etudes is a playful juxtaposition of some flute writing redolent of the technical exercise or etude and a Korg drum machine, played out over six short sections. I found it joyfully eccentric (among Shim’s duties as a performer is a reading of the Korg manual) and utterly fascinating.

The album closes with The Honorable Elizabeth A. Baker’s Whispers on the Wind. Baker says the piece, the longest on the album, “explores the liminal space where wishes of the heart are made and answers to questions, that one never speaks aloud, are softly carried on streams of air.” That liminal quality is powerfully evoked by the astounding range of sounds and textures contained in the work’s 22-minute duration. In some ways what we hear is a reminder of what has gone before on the album, excitingly developed. So multi-tracking and the spoken word feature again, together with an extended palette of electronic sounds, to which Shim adds a Glissando Headjoint for her flute to extraordinary effect. The performer uses a video score, which I would have loved to have seen. Its “Codex” gives some examples, which actually help to imagine not just the score but also its effect: “Big circles, low pitch, deep pitches in the lower range”; “Text is read into the flute breathy and hanging on sibilance”; “Chaos dots are a mixture of sounds of any choice, with separation at the atomic level they build in the electronics as a wall of sound.” You have to commit to this piece as a listener. If you do, it opens up and rewards.

The Audacity is a wonderful showcase, then, both for contemporary composition and for a very special performer. Shim has done an excellent job too as producer. The album is not “about” the technology it uses, but Shim’s vision for its potential has clearly been liberating. The result is deeply memorable. Dominic Hartley

This article originally appeared in Issue 49:3 (Jan/Feb 2026) of Fanfare Magazine.

It’s too bad (to say the least) that we are at a point in American history at which this CD needed to be made as a reminder of what we could lose and what we already are losing. On the CD itself, coloratura soprano Chelsea Hollow is pictured with the words “This Machine Kills Fascists” written on her throat, the same words that Woody Guthrie painted on his guitars in the 1940s. The point is this: our government is trying to limit the rights of human beings because of their origin, their beliefs, their religion, their gender and sexual identities, and their attitudes about what is right and what is wrong. Cycles of Resistance is a collection of nine songs or song cycles that sing out against such oppression, and that celebrate the heroes and the survivors alike.

It is refreshing to hear classical music (or close enough) that also could be described as protest music, as that genre usually is associated with folk music. (Again, see Woody Guthrie.) Protest music doesn’t have a particular sound, though—at least not here. The music on this CD falls into a number of different styles, from homey lyricism (several of the works) and operatic drama (ditto) to pitched declamation over popular dance beats (AOC Takes the Floor) and music aligned with Glassian minimalism (The Beauty of Disability). I’m not prepared to say that all of it is good—some of it is a little self-important, and some of it is like sitting through a college classroom talk-in—but, as I suggested at the beginning, its being good seems less important than getting the word out in every way one can about how something is rotten in our American state of Denmark. I guess time will tell whether a work is good or not. For now, one could say that each work has a job to do, and each work gets that job done.

To give you an example of what is on this CD, take the opening cycle, with music by Niloufar Nourbakhsh and texts by Valarie Kaur. The first movement of The Darkness of the Womb is a sung narration of how Kaur’s Sikh grandfather was imprisoned for months upon his arrival in the United States because of his foreign appearance. Upon his release, he became a farmer and looked after the farms of his Japanese-American neighbors during their own detention in World War II. In the second movement, Kaur describes how she became a lawyer after 9/11 in response to the murder of her uncle and to the sentiment that blazed up against those perceived as “other.” “And then my son was born” are the words that open the third movement, in which Kaur muses on how her son, “a brown boy,” is being given a world more dangerous to live in than the one she was given. In the fourth movement, she speaks out against the rise of white nationalism and the rage that it has engendered. The cycle ends with hope, however, as Kaur asks herself if this darkness is the darkness of the womb, not of the tomb—is a new America waiting to be born? It closes with the words, “Tomorrow we will labor in love through love and your revolutionary love is the magic we will show our children.” Nourbakhsh’s music is an effective setting for Kaur’s words, simple and songlike when referring to her family, anguished when describing oppression and violence. Hollow is taken to the upper limits of her vocal range, leaving no doubts about the intensity of Kaur’s words and feelings. Several other works on this CD challenge how far Hollow’s voice can go, but her instrument is powerful and unconstrained.

All of the music on this CD, by the way, was commissioned by Hollow, so her commitment to this project is by no means casual or situational. Many of the works are accompanied by pianist Taylor Chan, an excellent musician who is active in the new-music scene. Others are accompanied by (or Hollow’s voice is modified by) electronics such as vocoder, looper pedal, modular synthesizer, and fixed media.

Cycles of Resistance is not easy listening, in the sense that it forces the listener to confront unpleasant truths about the state of our state. The music and the texts do not seek to entertain, but to educate, raise awareness, and inspire. As I mentioned at the beginning, one wishes that it were no longer necessary, such as in the America that Valarie Kaur dreams of, to write and perform such music, but as long as it is, it is good to have artists as strong and full of integrity as Chelsea Hollow, and also the composers and writers represented on this CD, who are able to do it. Raymond Tuttle

Many thanks to Take Effect for reviewing “Moxie” by the Chamber Winds of South Dakota!

A highly eloquent affair that thematically surrounds the landscape of Utah, the aftermath of Trayvon Martin’s death, and hardship of musicians following Covid, every selection here is flawlessly executed and appreciated.

Read the rest!

“This disc presents music that is clever, delightful, and sometimes thought-provoking, all in excellent performances. Not just for flutists.”

— Colin Clarke, Fanfare Magazine

This article originally appeared in Issue 49:3 (Jan/Feb 2026) of Fanfare Magazine.

Mostly bird-themed works provide the material for this delightful celebration of things avian via the medium of flute(s) and piccolo.

The disc begins with Gay Kahkonen’s Missouri Adventure for four flutes, the opening “Forest and Sky” seeming to owe a debt to Copland’s famous Fanfare. The second movement, “The River is Wide,” is full of crosscurrents, as it were, between flutes, with the cheekiest of closes. Energy pervades “Missouri Adventure” with a sense of abandon that seems to invoke childhood shapes. Listen carefully, though, and one hears spot-on ensemble. The players have managed to combine this with a palpable sense of vitality in the recording studio: no mean feat. This piece was commissioned as a celebration of Missouri’s statehood bicentennial; the inspiration is that state’s many national parks.

Ensemble trills, so neat and buzzing here, launch Kimberly R. Osberg’s Fowl Play. The first movement has the intriguing tile “Discopeckque.” The music of the whole piece explores exotic chickens (who knew?), four types, one per movement, each capturing the specific type of chicken’s characteristics. “Discopeckque” is expertly written, its complexities minimized through expert performance here to reveal a piece that just puts a smile on one’s face. “Chasing Tail” is more circumspect (or is that “Cicums-peck-t”?), with a nicely varied timbal surface (no missing the “whistling” piccolo). “Featherbrained” is almost a chorale for flutes with a hint of an American folk song about it. Nicely lyrical, this is a most enjoyable 2.5 minutes (including some interesting, gentle, chicken-y effects). “Cock Flight” is a varied finale and is certainly not throw-away. Again the flutists negotiate the territory with expertise. It is with a piece by Osberg that the disc ends, Hoppy Feet for solo flute, a delightful portrait of the Rockhopper penguin, described in the notes as “the world’s smallest—and arguably, most ridiculous—penguin” which is “known as much for its unusual antics as its distinctive plumage.” Osberg honors both the unusual elements but also accords the penguin respect by not overly making fun of it. Effects are done with pomp and ease by Robinson.

I do think more space between tracks would be good: “Cock Flight” goes pretty much straight into Nicole Chamberlain’s Death Whistle. Interestingly, works by Osberg and Chamberlain also featured on the Merian Ensemble’s Navona release Book of Spells (which I reviewed in Fanfare 48:2). Here, we have Chamberlain’s Death Whistle for solo piccolo (Elizabeth Robinson getting a chance to shine alone). Written for the present performer, it is apparently full of inside jokes. Even without being privy to these, it works, full of clever effects in “Ear Knife” before the slower “Ballistophobia” pits blowed notes with more percussive effects. The final “#PiccolOhMyGod” continues the effects but in a more frenzied, yet somehow cheeky fashion. The other Chamberlain piece occurs toward the end of the disc: the flighty Spooklight, which celebrates an urban legend from Joplin, Missouri. It “flirts with the supernatural” according to the notes. It’s basically Halloween fun, and all the better for it. It is also expertly written and perfectly delivered here.

That sudden move from track to track does mean that the sudden arrival of a couple of flutes for Lisa Bost-Sandberg’s Starling after the solo piccolo Death Whistle is a bit sudden. Slowly additive chords change color intriguingly: this is expert writing. The piece celebrates “the beautiful murmurations flocks create.” At just a touch over seven minutes, this is the disc’s space for reflection. There appears to be a bass flute in the equation, nice and throaty.

Ann McKennon’s Flamingo! paints a ground-based ballet of flamingoes with great wit, again for flute ensemble. Another expert, light touch at work from the composer here, and the influence of ballet (Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker to the fore, it seems) is clear.

This disc presents music that is clever, delightful, and sometimes thought-provoking, all in excellent performances. Not just for flutists. Colin Clarke

Join composer Nicolás Lell Benavides and mezzo-soprano Melinda Martinez Becker for a free listening party to celebrate the release of Canto Caló. Join us to listen to the music with the artists and discuss the making of the album.

Friday, October 10, 2025
8 PM Pacific
RSVP here for the party.

Sunday, September 14, 2025
7:30PM
Center for New Music
55 Taylor St. San Francisco, CA

Tickets: $15/$10 for members

Flutist Meerenai Shim will play an album release show for her fourth solo album, The Audacity. Meerenai will premiere two pieces by Brent Miller and Janice Misurell-Mitchell. Also on the program: “Whispers on the Wind” by The Honourable Elizabeth A. Baker and “Vermont Counterpoint” by Steve Reich.

The Audacity is Meerenai’s fourth solo album, and her first in ten years. She spent the last decade producing others’ recording projects and nurturing a micro record label, Aerocade Music, that is now a non-profit corporation.

The Audacity features multitracking and the use of the recording studio as a musical instrument. The compositions commissioned for this recording project also work well as pieces to be performed live. Brent Miller’s piece is for Korg drum machine and flute. Janice Misurell-Mitchell’s piece features the sampled lovely countertenor voice of Carl Alexander.

Join Chamber Winds of South Dakota's Artistic Directors, Elizabeth Robinson and Don Linn, for a free listening party to celebrate the release of “Moxie.” Come over to Bandcamp to listen to the music with the artists and chat about the making of the album. 

Friday, June 13, 2025
7PM Central
RSVP here for the party.

Celebrate with us on Sunday, March 23, 2025 at the Center for New Music in San Francisco.

Sunday, March 23, 2025
7PM
Tickets: $25 general/$20 for members
Center for New Music
55 Taylor St. San Francisco, CA

BUY Tickets

Center for New Music Event page

Facebook Event page

2025 is the 10th year of Aerocade Music and the first year as a non-profit record label. Celebrate with us at our Birthday Concert featuring performances by Aerocade Artists Isaac Io Schankler, Nick Norton, Elizabeth Robinson, Alchymie & Gregg Skloff, and Chelsea Hollow & Taylor Chan. Arrive on time for a pre-concert reception catered by local musician and vegan chef, Philip Gelb!

Nick Norton will provide a live spatial mix of his new piece for four harps, recorded by Elizabeth Huston. Soprano Chelsea Hollow and pianist Taylor Chan will perform selections from "Cycles of Resistance," a cathartic and resilient journey through international resistance movements from the last 120 years. Flutist Elizabeth Robinson will perform "Death Whistle" for solo piccolo by Nicole Chamberlain. Isaac Io Schankler will premiere some nascent works for accordion + electronics. Alchymie & Gregg Skloff will present "TRITION: Echoes from the Ice Moon," an improvisational performance weaving deep drone, ambient textures, and ethereal soundscapes to evoke the mysterious beauty of Neptune's largest moon. Through shifting sonic currents, the keyboard and contrabass duo explores Triton's icy geysers, retrograde orbit, and haunting solitude in the vastness of space.

Performers:

ALCHYMIE

Alchymie /aka Jennifer Theuer Růžička/, was created in 2013. Through electronic and acoustic instruments, sound loops, improvisation and field recordings Alchymie spans ambient soundscapes, electronica, new age and drone; painting textural atmospheres of sound for recordings or performances with a conceptual focus. Alchymie explores sound as a way to provide multidimensional well-being, create community, and open discussions about the power of sound in our world today.

Jennifer has been composing and performing professionally for over 30 years. Classically trained in piano performance with an eclectic background in R&B, funk, fusion, rock, jazz, pop, new age, and experimental. Diving into esoteric electronica as a member of the Beta Lyra project, exploring the cosmos by collaborating with experimental drone artist Gregg Skloff, and performing & recording internationally— having toured with Alexander O’Neal, former Paisley Park artist David “T.C.” Ellis, Mallia “The Queen of Funk” Franklin from Parliament-Funkadelic and Parlet; and performances with Czech legends Pavel Bobek, and Karel Šůcha and Laura A Její Tygří(Laura and Her Tigers). Collaborations with Fred Johnson- acclaimed jazz vocalist/author/arts educator and artist-in-residence at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa, Fl; The Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Fl for the exhibition Dalí’s Floral Fantasies.

She has taught piano throughout her career both in the USA and Czech Republic to young and old, helping them to discover the joy within music and in learning an instrument.

Jennifer continues to follow Alchymie in music, searching for the beauty that is transformation.

GREGG SKLOFF

Noticing contrabassist Gregg Skloff [he/his] carrying his instrument on a city sidewalk, a passing stranger once asked him, “Classical or jazz?”

Gregg’s reply: “All of the above AND BEYOND!”

This remark, while glib, is quite apt; as his album The Glacial Enclosure (Eiderdown Records, 2016) – along with his other work – can demonstrate, Gregg Skloff manages to combine and transcend many lineages and languages of composition and improvisation.

Gregg’s scope has encompassed various forms and hybrids of rock, folk, jazz, chamber music, noise, sound-object installation, and non-idiomatic improvisation. His solo efforts have largely inhabited the realm of minimal electro-acoustic ambient drone, heard to profound effect on albums such as This Time The Ride Belongs To Us (2014), Mamua Baso Suite (2019), and River Cat Cenotaph (2021).

Based in the Pacific Northwest since 1997, Gregg Skloff has played in ensembles led by Bhob Rainey, John Gruntfest, Urs Leimgruber, Moe! Staiano, Matana Roberts, and Gino Robair, among others. He has been a member of The Naked Future (also featuring bass clarinetist Arrington de Dionyso, pianist Thollem McDonas, and drummer John Niekrasz), whose album Gigantomachia was released by ESP-Disk’ in 2009, and more recently of Humming Amps Trio (led by Kevin Doria of GROWING). From 2011 to 2019, Gregg hosted the “And Otherness” program on Coast Community Radio, where his affinity for innovative, ethereal, and/or outré sounds led writer Robert Ham to describe him as “one of the Oregon coast’s finest supporters of experimental music.”

CHELSEA HOLLOW

Dazzling audiences with her easy coloratura, storytelling, and passionate performances, Chelsea Hollow loves finding new ways of connecting her art to the world around her. She “shows how it’s done” with her “fun and effortless” performances curated to welcome audiences into the intimacy of recital seamlessly weaving together music from all eras and genres. Recent operatic performances include Birds and Balls with Opera Parallèle, Dolores with West Edge Opera, and Albert Herring with Pocket Opera. Known for her “soaring high range” and “stage panache,” favorite traditional roles include Die Königin der Nacht (Die Zauberflöte/Mozart), Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos/Strauss), Blonde (Die Entführung aus dem Serail/Mozart), Olympia (Les Contes d’Hoffmann/Offenbach), Lakmé (Lakmé/Delibes), and Marie (La Fille du régiment/Donizetti). Concert appearances include Concerto for Two Orchestras (Gubaidulina) with the Berkeley Symphony, Carmina Burana (Orff) and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Golden Gate Symphony Orchestra and Judas Maccabaeus by Handel with the San Francisco City Chorus.

Chelsea Hollow “has rewritten the book on the potential of musical activism” creating art that invites her audiences to think collectively and gain perspective. In 2023, she released her debut album, Cycles of Resistance, including 22 commissions in 8 languages chronicling international stories of human resilience. In recognition of this project, Chelsea presented on a panel hosted by the United Nations’ Office of Human Rights to discuss Art and Activism. Hollow cherishes her mission as an artist to build capacity for empathy, harness a venue for community healing, and amplify marginalized voices.

In addition to her solo work, Hollow createdAllowed to be Loud (2021) for the students of San Francisco Ruth Asawa School of the Arts (RASOTA) Vocal Department, commissioning song repertoire for young voices using texts by Bay Area high school students, The Kids and Art Foundation, and other anonymous community members. Highlights from the 21 commissioned songs include, “Being a Student in 2020” (Emily Shisko), “The Future Holds Water in a Wicker Basket” (Joel Chapman), and “I am Growing” (JooWan Kim). For more information on Chelsea’s work, please visit chelseahollow.com.

TAYLOR CHAN

Taylor Chan learned the art of collaboration—in music and in life—while completing her M.M. in Collaborative Piano at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. There, she is currently a staff accompanist and coach to students in Voice / Opera Studies, and has the pleasure of regularly performing alongside them in musical theater and opera productions. She has also held various administrative positions at SFCM in production-adjacent roles, enjoying projects that involve technical writing, data management, creating efficient systems, and identifying ways to optimize collaborative workflow.

Most recently, her relationship with music has expanded in the direction of pedagogy, as she actualizes her general life-calling of knowledge transmission. She would like to pass on her methodologies of self-led skill acquisition to younger artists’, in order to enable them to transcend the limitations of their personal challenges, to raise their ceilings of self-expression and self-actualization.

In addition, she enjoys analyzing piano technique and articulating principles of its physics and physiology, approaching it as a simultaneously scientific and spiritual study. She wishes to change the culture in which chronic repetitive-stress injuries are a given, yet rarely openly discussed.

Her favorite past performances include: the full-length version premiere of Mortal Lessons (2018), a medical oratorio by Ryan Brown (b. 1979); Meredith Monk’s Ellis Island, with pianist Kate Campbell, in a side-by-side concert between SFCM and San Francisco Contemporary Music Players (2018); Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians at the 2019 Hot Air Music Festival, and Philip Glass’ La Belle et la Bête with Opera Parallelè.

Outside of music, her interests include interpersonal psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, writing, design, visual art, and cats.

NICK NORTON

Nick Norton makes things out of sound. His debut album Music For Sunsets caused electronica.org.uk to proclaim him a composer and sound artist to be reckoned with, and Foxy Digitalis called the album an expensive sonic treat.

Born in Los Angeles, Nick grew up going to shows in the Ventura County punk scene, playing sax in his school’s jazz band, and spending summers on Catalina Island. He went to college at UC San Diego, where he discovered minimalism, noise rock, and avant garde classical music, and graduate school for composition at King’s College, London, and UC Santa Barbara. While earning his PhD Nick assisted electronic music pioneers Clarence Barlow and Curtis Roads with their work and got hooked on using audio technology to make art. During this time he founded and ran the experimental concert series Equal Sound, completing his doctorate with a dissertation titled “Concert Production As Composition.”

After a couple years as an adjunct professor Nick bailed on academia to pay the rent. While picking up recording and live sound gigs to support himself he started learning the ropes of post production. He now hops back and forth between cutting music and sound for film and TV, producing and engineering albums and concerts, and making music with his friends.

Nick has lately been interested in AI tools and ethics, live spatial audio, and field recording. He is very active in his community—he serves on the Emerging Technology Committee of the Motion Picture Editors Guild, regularly produces projects in support of charitable causes, and teaches music production at Santa Monica College. Nick enjoys good company, fantastic meals, political philosophy, travel, sci-fi, nature, board games, Zen Buddhism, and dogs.

ELIZABETH ROBINSON

Flutist and educator Dr. Elizabeth Robinson is an active soloist, orchestral, and chamber performer. Known for her infectious energy and boundless enthusiasm, Dr. Robinson has shared the stage with orchestras and wind ensembles across the country. In addition to her current position as Marvin Maydew piccolo chair of the Topeka Symphony, she has performed regularly with the Colorado MahlerFest orchestra, Heartland Opera, and dozens of other groups.

Her debut album, Aviary, can be found on Aerocade Music. Described as “…worth a listen, and these performers and composers are worth watching” (Flutist Quarterly), Aviary features a collection of Robinson’s audience-friendly commissions for solo flute, piccolo, and flute quartet. Among them is Kim Osberg’s Fowl Play, a piece inspired by the coffee table book Extraordinary Chickens. The album was honored by the American Prize in the chamber music category, as well as the Ernst Bacon American Music category.

Aviary has blossomed what is now Aviary Quartet, a group of professional flutists dedicated to exploring the whimsical side of chamber music. The 2024-25 season will feature choral transcriptions by Dale Trumbore, as well as a whimsical ode to the American hippo bill, Lake Bacon, by Lisa Neher.

Robinson’s most recent project was the creation of the Chamber Winds of South Dakota, a modern-day ode to 18th and 19th century Harmoniemusik which brought musicians from around the Midwest to South Dakota for a weekend of chamber music. The Chamber Winds debut album is anticipated in early 2025.

In an effort to expand the flute repertoire, Robinson co-founded the Flute New Music Consortium (FNMC), and currently serves the organization as Vice President. Since its start in 2013, FNMC has commissioned new works from composers including Zhou Long, Carter Pann, Valerie Coleman, Samuel Zyman, and Reena Esmail.

Robinson coordinates FNMC’s annual composition competition and is proud of collaborations with several of its winning composers. In addition to organizing performances of the works commissioned by FNMC, Dr. Robinson often promotes works from the competition. For her efforts in growing FNMC, Dr. Robinson has been recognized in the National Flute Association’s Flutists’ Quarterly Magazine and by the Atlanta Flute Club Newsletter.

Dr. Robinson was appointed to the faculty at South Dakota State University in 2022.

ISAAC IO SCHANKLER

Isaac Io Schankler (they/them) is a composer, accordionist, and electronic musician interested in how technology complicates the ways we create and consume music. Their music has been described as "beautiful, algorithmic, organic, dystopian" (I Care If You Listen) and “remarkable listening” (Sequenza21). They have collaborated with a variety of musicians and ensembles, including the Ray-Kallay Duo, Friction Quartet, the SPLICE Ensemble, Autoduplicity, Nouveau Classical Project, gnarwhallaby, the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet, Lorelei Ensemble, Juventas New Music Ensemble, Nadia Shpachenko, Scott Worthington, and Meerenai Shim. Additionally, Schankler has written music for acclaimed video games like Ladykiller in a Bind and Analogue: A Hate Story.

Schankler is the artistic director of the concert series People Inside Electronics, and Associate Professor of Music at Cal Poly Pomona.

A letter from Aerocade Music founder Meerenai Shim

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Dear Aerocade Music supporters,

I’m proud to announce that Aerocade Music, Inc., a non-profit corporation, was formed this summer to continue the mission of helping independent musicians distribute their music. This mission started in 2015, when Aerocade Music, LLC was established. Initially, it was supposed to be a vanity label to release my own projects. As soon as I announced the label I was approached by producer/engineer Lanier Sammons who was seeking a label for the Post-Haste Reed Duo album he was producing. I signed up to distribute that Post-Haste Reed Duo album and Aerocade Music became a regular micro-label for other independent classical music-adjacent musicians.

The first Post-Haste Reed Duo album released on Aerocade Music.

Since 2015, I have learned a few things and figured out a system to keep this small label going, but you can only go so far by doing things alone. In order to keep Aerocade going for the long haul, I asked some close colleagues for advice on starting a non-profit so that this label can support musicians well into the future. With guidance from Brent Miller (board treasurer), Lanier Sammons (board secretary), Elizabeth Robinson (board member), and For Purpose Law Group, Aerocade Music, Inc. was formed.

I’m actively working on tying up loose ends and closing up the LLC by the end of this year. The few assets belonging to the LLC are being donated or will be donated to the new Aerocade Music Inc.

Going forward, Aerocade will still be a tiny label since we don’t have any employees. It will still be my labor of love and my main volunteer activity. (I hope Aerocade can hire an Executive Director one day to take over most of the day-to-day tasks. You can help make that happen by donating!) In 2025 we will celebrate Aerocade Music’s 10th anniversary and the 1st birthday of Aerocade Music, Inc. by releasing four albums by new and current Aerocade Artists! We will also have a party in San Francisco sometime in March 2025 so please keep an eye out for that event.

Thank you for buying our albums and listening to our releases. Music and art is just as important today as it ever was. It’s an essential part of humanity. Even if capitalism doesn’t value music, we can’t live without it. If you’ve read this far into my letter, you probably think music is important too. There are many ways you can help get new music out into the world:

• Keep making music yourself.

• If you hear something you like, share those music links with your network.

• Buy recorded music on your favorite format or buy merch from artists.

• Go to concerts and take a friend.

• Donate to Aerocade Music, Inc. and other organizations working on getting more music out to the public.

Even if no one listened, I’ll still be making music, but it’s nice to know you are out there listening once in a while. Thank you for your continued support for Aerocade Music. I’m so excited for the future!

Sincerely,

Meerenai

Meerenai Shim, Board President
Aerocade Music, Inc.

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Aerocade Music Inc is a charitable not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation, tax ID number 99-4229727.

Textura Reviews “Aviary” by Elizabeth Robinson

One imagines Takemitsu would be captivated by Aviary, and were he still with us Messiaen would no doubt have the collection on repeat too. Credit Robinson for crafting an album filled with one delightful moment after another, but credit also her flute-playing partners for helping to generate its harmonic sound world and the composers for giving them wonderful material to perform. For flute lovers especially, the album's a must-have, but its appeal is hardly exclusive to a single group.

Read the rest of the thoughtful review on Textura.org!

Aviary is reviewed in the current issue of The Flutist Quarterly:

“Robinson is joined by Emlyn Johnson, Carmen A. Lemoine, Erin K. Murphy, and Nicole Riner for the ensemble tracks, and the group’s playing is magnificent, with gorgeous blend, impeccable intonation, and complementary vibrato between the players. They seem to be uniformly comfortable with the many extended techniques required, and their sensitive and enthusiastic interpretation brings this music to life in a satisfying, exciting way. Particularly notable is Robinson’s piccolo playing, which is lively and virtuosic with a flexible delicacy. The low flutes in the “Featherbrained” movement of Osberg’s Fowl Play” have no trouble taking the spotlight with their melodies, building a rich, harmonic sound world that is even more exciting in the section of pizzicato tonguing about halfway through the movement.

Aviary is worth a listen, and these composers and performers are definitely worth watching.”

- Jessica Dunnavant, The Flutist Quarterly

Thank you Jessica Dunnavant and The Flutist Quarterly! If you’re a member of the National Flute Association, read the rest of the review here.

Listen to the album here.

This post is adapted from Meerenai Shim’s blog (with permission).

In a previous blog post, I wrote about how to estimate the cost of producing an album/CD. In that post, I told readers to ask around for recommendations to find a good recording engineer or studio. Now, I feel like going with recommendations alone is not adequate. I’m revisiting this topic because I’ve experienced my share of disappointing experiences with engineers and studios in various locations and types of recording locations all over the country. I’ve produced 3 of my own solo albums plus 3 albums for other artists. I’ve co-produced 2 albums with my chamber ensembles, and a handful of singles/EPs. I’ve also seen (heard) some poorly engineered recordings when I evaluated recordings for release on my record label, Aerocade Music. I’ve had fantastic and terrible experiences in university settings. I’ve had wonderful and frightening experiences in small studios. My experiences with larger studios have been generally positive. I’ve worked with diligent, well-supervised student engineers-in-training and I’ve worked with terribly unqualified and overrated “professional” engineers.

The audience for this current blog post is Classical Music performers in the USA. I am also writing as if you are planning on recording a full-length album that you are self-producing and self-financing (with crowdsourcing or savings, etc.)

Don’t be like this squirrel. Read the rest of this post to learn how to invest your acorns well.

All studios come with a house engineer (or several). Some studios only allow certain engineers to record there. Many of the larger commercial studios (as opposed to the educational institutions and home recording studios) will allow outside engineers to record projects there. You can also hire an engineer to bring their gear and record you at a non-studio venue like a concert hall or church. Any of these scenarios can be legit and wonderful. Read on for some ideas on how to audition a recording engineer or studio.

Book a session. Record something (one piece or one movement) with the engineer or studio you are auditioning. This is the best way to tell if this person/place is right for you.

If a studio or engineer asks you to sign a contract other than acknowledging a simple outline of services offered, cancellation policies/fees, and the price list, this is HIGHLY IRREGULAR. You are self-producing and financing this album and hiring this engineer/studio for their time - on a “work for hire” basis. You have no legal or fiscal obligation to the studio or engineer beyond the recording time agreed to and the fees associated with that. You do not owe your engineer/studio any residuals or royalties, etc. If your studio or engineer is offering a package deal like a production or label services deal, that’s a whole different animal and there’s a whole other set of things to consider for those deals. This blog post will not help you evaluate those package deals. However, I will say that if you’re considering such a package deal, don’t sign anything until you do a lot more research and talk to other artists who have signed the same exact deal you’re considering. Don’t rely only on word-of-mouth and reputation. Ask to do a trial recording session like the one I’m suggesting in this blog post.

Ask all the questions you may have. Don’t assume they will explain as you go. Don’t worry about annoying the studio or engineer with your question. If your questions are genuine, and you’re not intentionally trying to be annoying, ask away. The way the staff/engineer responds to your questions will tell you a lot about if this studio/engineer is right for you. Are they patiently answering your questions? Did they ask you about what you’re trying to achieve during your session? Are they good listeners? Do you like the communication style of the studio staff/engineer?

Bring an external hard drive with you to your session and ask that they give you a copy of the entire ProTools* session at the end of your recording day. (Best practice: ALWAYS get a copy of that day’s work on your external hard drive. The studio or engineer may have it set up so that your session files are automatically uploaded to the cloud for you and that’s awesome, but it’s OK to be paranoid and want an extra copy on your hard drive.) If they give you any pushback on putting a copy of the session files on your hard drive, THIS IS A RED FLAG. 

*ProTools: Why? There’s nothing wrong with using another Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) to record. But I recommend a studio/engineer that uses ProTools because if you need to take the work you started with one engineer and finish it with another, using the same DAW will save you a lot of time because most professional studios/engineers use ProTools. 

Before they setup the microphones, the engineer should listen to you play up close, and from a bit away. They are putting their ears where they might place a microphone. If I’m playing cello, I’d expect the engineer to get on their knees to listen to my cello from around the bridge or F holes. (If they’re a house engineer recording you on the house piano while you’re playing conventional repertoire, I don’t expect them to put their head under the lid.)

After they set up all the microphones, they will record a sample of your playing. They should ask you to listen to the sample to see if the sound they captured is how you want it to sound. If you’re not sure, that’s OK. Just say so. The engineer can try other mic combinations or explain, based on their experience, whether this is a good sound for your instrument or the type of music you’re recording that day. You can ask for another option like different microphones or a different mix between the mics. (Most good engineers will offer an alternative before you ask.) If they push back on this and do not want to let you hear an alternative, it’s another red flag moment. Any time wasted is yours to waste since you’re paying for this time, so if they seem annoyed, it’s a red flag moment. Why is this a red flag? This is just the beginning of a long project. Recording an entire album is a stressful endeavor, even under optimal conditions. Evaluate the working relationship with the engineer as if you’re going to take a 30-day around-the-world trip with this person. (Or, if it’s the recording studio that you’re auditioning, pretend the studio is the tour bus that you’ll spend an entire month traveling on.) You will annoy each other at some point during the journey. That’s OK. Does this person seem like someone who can keep their cool and suggest a break rather than losing their temper? Does this studio have a separate room or outdoor space where you can go for a break? 

Setting up microphones and getting the sound just right can take some time, especially if there are many microphones that need to be set up. You may be ready to go but the engineer needs time to do their thing. Be patient at the beginning of your session.

From A/B Duo’s first recording session. Chris Jones warming up while the engineers at Chicago Recording Company finish setting up a bazillion microphones.

Is this engineer/studio proactive in helping you do your best work? Does the studio have all the basics you need? Clean bathroom, break room with basic coffee/tea, and a recording room that’s not completely dead so you can enjoy your sound in the space. 

While you record, keep a log of your takes. Your engineer can do some of this as well but you should keep your own record as you go. The engineer will tell you which take you’re on and you tell them if this is a good one, or a maybe. Note in your own log if it’s a good/bad take. An organized engineer should be able to flag all of the good or maybe takes as you go. (You definitely want an organized engineer!)

At the end of the recording session, ask the engineer to “bounce” all of your takes or all of your good takes so that you can listen to them at home to decide how to edit it. Depending on how simple or complicated your music/session was, your engineer may be able to make a compilation/rough edit of your good takes in a few moments. If you have studio time left, you can edit it with the engineer before you leave the studio. 

Post-Haste Reed Duo’s multi-day recording session at Fantasy Studios (Studio D). Listening to recent takes with bassoonist Javier Rodriguez, engineer Alberto Hernandez, saxophonist Sean Fredenburg, and producer Meerenai Shim.

Some engineers can’t read notated music but they can still be great to work with if they have amazing ears, like the ones I’ve worked with. If you’re recording new compositions with lots of mixed meter and/or have complicated form or instrumentation, I recommend finding an engineer who can read music. (Just because an engineer can read music, it doesn’t make them better than ones who cannot. A good engineer who can read music will make the editing and mixing process go faster than a good engineer who cannot read music.) 

Even after you’ve decided to work with one engineer or studio for your album, you can walk away at anytime (after considering the usual and reasonable late cancelation fees, if any.). No matter where you are in the process, you can always change engineers/studios. That’s another reason to get your session files on your hard drive at the end of every recording day. If you’ve recorded everything but the editing process isn’t going very well, you can stop working with that engineer and take your hard drive to another one to finish editing and mixing. Even if you’ve only recorded one of 4 movements, you can take those files and finish recording somewhere else. Listen to your gut. You can leave if you’re not feeling it or not 100% comfortable working with that engineer or studio.

I’ve had to bail on a studio/engineer twice. Once, at a small studio that had a good reputation, I asked for a click track of Q=112. They couldn’t figure out how to give me anything but 120. I didn’t feel safe pointing out the engineer’s mistakes or giving him advice on how to do anything so I paid for the rest of the time I booked for that afternoon and bailed. Another time, at a renowned conservatory with stellar facilities, the engineer couldn’t or wouldn’t set up a click track for me and I had to plug my iPhone into the headphone amplifier. This school didn’t have ProTools and it didn’t seem like a big deal in the beginning but it was obvious that this engineer didn’t really know his way around Logic (the DAW they had at this school) either. After that evening, I listened to that day’s recordings and there was a lot of click track bleed. (A good engineer should notice that the click track from the headphones is getting picked up in the microphones and will tell the musicians that we have to do it again after making proper adjustments.) We did not return for the next day’s session. 

After you’ve decided that the studio/engineer might be a good fit, listen to the recordings from your trial session. Does it sound good? This might be tough to evaluate because the way one listens to recording quality is very different from how classical musicians usually listen. Also, depending on what basic mix is used on your bounced audio, it can sound bad to a musician-listener because there’s no room mic (no reverb). Listen for extra noise like tapping feet or the click track that bled through your headphones to your mic. Is the sound equally clear when you’re playing loudly and quietly? Is everything super quiet? And when you turn up that super quiet recording do you hear a lot of hum/hiss of the air conditioning or fluorescent lights? Are there crackling noises or distortion? Some of the extraneous noise can be removed by a competent engineer after the fact but that could take a lot of extra time and money. It’s way better to have an engineer that will give you nice, clear recordings to begin with. If you’re not sure about the quality of the recording, ask a friend or colleague who has done a lot of recording or engineering for their opinion. Or you can contact Meerenai for a consultation. 

Do you have more questions? Did Meerenai miss anything? Let her know.

Kimberly R. Osberg (photo: Mauricio Herrera)

In Kimberly R. Osberg’s recent blog post about her pieces recorded by Elizabeth Robinson and company, the composer writes about the inspiration for each movement with photos and score samples.

Here’s an excerpt:

The last movement, Cock Flight, was inspired by the powerful and aggressive Sumatra chickens. While modern day Sumatras are more docile, they use to be bred as fighting birds and—what really sparked my imagination—could fly for short distances.

When it comes to a flute fight, there’s nothing more fun than pitting piccolos against each other. While I was tempted to score the movement for four piccolos, a few things kept me from doing so. One important factor being that I was trying to keep each part such that they only had to double one other instrument (so the first and second players double piccolo, the third player doubles alto, and the fourth doubles bass), the other being that—due to the limited range of the piccolo—I wanted to make sure I could really capture the raw power of the chicken, and felt I needed a lower octave to do so. While I didn’t initially anticipate it, having two piccolos and two flutes also opened a lot more possibilities for trading lines back and forth; this helped to really make the punches land harder and keep them coming faster.

Read the rest of the post on Osberg’s website.

Listen to the album, Aviary by Elizabeth Robinson.

Thank you to George Grella (Kill Yr Idols) and Tone Madison for including Oneira on your “Best of” lists for 2022!

Check out their lists:
Kill Yr Idols: Best Classical Recordings 2022
Tone Madison: Tone Madison’s top 20 records of 2022

Thank you textura for reviewing “Oneira” by Clocks in Motion!

“While it's possible to detect traces of Classical Minimalism and Balinese Gamelan in the material, [Bellor] possesses a natural gift for eluding reductive categorization. Stated otherwise, her writing is more identified by an expressive personal signature than allegiance to a particular genre or tradition. Without restricting itself necessarily, the music eschews dissonance for a vibrant, harmonious sound that dovetails excellently with the quartet's vibrant playing.”

Read the rest of the review at textura.

Listen to Oneira.

Congratulations to Tehillah Alphonso on her GRAMMY® nomination for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals for “A Change is Gonna Come” from “America Will Be” by Tonality & Alexander Lloyd Blake!

Photo courtesy of Tehillah Alphonso. Graphic design by Sean David Christensen.

Tonality’s Artistic Director Alexander Lloyd Blake and choir member David Morales were able to chat with Kelly Clarkson on her show about Tonality’s impact and the new America Will Be album! Watch the entire clip here: