Songs of Love and Hope

Annie Gill & Andrew Stewart

Release Date: November 13, 2021

Their album was released on November 13, 2021 and features 32 tracks of vocal and piano collaboration. Songs of Love and Hope is available on all streaming platforms.

Resistance

Garth Baxter

Release Date: February 8, 2019
Navona Records (NV6206)

“The most musically satisfying are the title-track, Resistance, and Ballade for a Princess, both expertly rendered by Andrew Stewart, who accompanies Melissa Wertheimer in the diptych The Silver Run, as well as the piano trio From the Headwaters.” (Gramophone Magazine)

Andrew Stewart, piano; Melissa Wertheimer, flute; Nicholas Currie, violin; Diana Greene, piano; Kenny Baik, saxophone; Bonghee Lee, piano

Composer Garth Baxter calls his commitment to form and aesthetic "modern traditionalism." And indeed, his new album Resistance may just offer the best of both worlds in one captivating experience. Each piece has certain features in common: they are immediately, intuitively accessible to the listening ear, and all of them draw upon Baxter's ability to evoke sincere emotions with every note. The compositions that make up Resistance each come with a story to tell. Starting off the album is The Silver Run, a soaring depiction of The Silver Run area in Maryland as told by the voices of flute and piano. This stunning soundscape is followed by the passionate Could You Dream What I Dream for violin and piano, matched only in romantic quality by Romance Without Words and Il y a Longtemps ("Long Ago"). This expression of love is followed by Des Larmes Encadrées (“Framed Tears”), a sentimental reflection inspired by his familial ties with a fellow artist who plays the saxophone. Resistance, the title track, is a triumphant stance in favor of tonal, lyrical music in an age of atonality and the breakdown of harmony. Its power is balanced by the dark yet deeply moving story of MacPherson’s Lament, inspired by Scottish fiddler James MacPherson and his last composition, written just before his hanging. On the other hand, Ballade For A Princess, inspired by Chopin’s Fantasie-Impromptu, reflects the beauty and romance portrayed in so many of that Romantic composer’s compositions. These powerful, moving sentiments are tastefully balanced by the guitar duo Edgefield, in which Baxter melds traditional rhythms with a highly innovative yet understandable way of modulating through different keys. From the Headwaters aptly brings Resistance to a close, tying in the harmonies of its predecessor with the lyricism of the rest of the album. One could almost imagine that, were Brahms alive and composing today, this is what his music would sound like.

Ask the Moon

Works for voice & Piano
Garth Baxter

Release Date: January 12, 2018
Navona Records (NV6133)

“And throughout, Andrew Stewart at the piano is a singer's dream.” (Gramophone Magazine)

Composer Garth Baxter makes his Parma debut with a collection of his exquisite works for voice entitled Ask the Moon. This album is about the human condition and the pursuit of light in darkness. A setting of Sara Teasdale’s “Nights Without Sleep,” for voice and piano commences the album’s journey of introspection. Then there is Three Madrigals—“There is a Lady Sweet and Kind,” combines the elegance of the English art song with the character of a Stephen Foster folk tune; the performance of “The Silver Swan,” a dark Irish ballad of sorts, is evocative of the Leontyne Price recordings of Samuel Barber’s art songs; “Love Me Not for Comely Grace,” embodies its text, demonstrating the sweet, yet complicated burden of affections. Following is Is This the Cost?” an elegiac exemplar of Baxter’s flair for dramatic writing derived from Act II, Scene II of his opera Lily (Lisa VanAuken, librettist). Four Views of Love begins with “When You Are Old,” a reflective setting of the classic Yeats text. Be prepared for an incredible climax that expresses fully the ranges of the piano and the human voice trailed by blissful catharsis. Closing the album is Skywriting, a cycle “drawing on words by Linda Pastan.” In the composer’s own words—“[Pastan’s] poems have so often touched me so deeply and in such a very personal way that it feels as if she has been listening to my thoughts. The title of the album, Ask the Moon, comes from the closing line of the final song, ‘Why are your poems so dark?’”

Songs And Arias By Garth Baxter

Release Date: september 9, 2014
Centaur Records (3359)

Performer: Andrew Stewart, Katherine Keem, Kathrin Murray, Peter Scott Drackley

This album of modern Garth Baxter-composed art songs, features coloratura soprano Katherine Unha Keem, with accompanying musicians Andrew Stuart at the piano, guitarist Kathrin Murray and tenor Peter Scott Drackley. Mr. Baxter is noted for his modern traditionalist style of writing, a style that combines the traditions of form and clear melodic writing with the use of contemporary harmonic approaches and other elements. Well known for her skilled singing technique, clear and effortless high notes, and artistic interpretations, Ms. Keem has a vocal range of four octaves.