Spratlan: Invasion — Music and Art for Ukraine Nadia Shpachenko

• Lewis Spratlan (b. 1940): Invasion:
• 1 Spratlan: Invasion 12:25
• Piano Suite No. 1:
• 2 Spratlan: Piano Suite No. 1: I. Capriccio 05:21
• 3 Spratlan: Piano Suite No. 1: II. Dirge 05:16
• 4 Spratlan: Piano Suite No. 1: III. Pastorale 03:28
• 6 Rags:
• 5 Spratlan: 6 Rags: No. 1, Goose Eye Mountain Rag 03:51
• 6 Spratlan: 6 Rags: No. 2, Speck Pond Rag 04:29
• 7 Spratlan: 6 Rags: No. 3, Mahoosuc Notch Rag 04:33
• 8 Spratlan: 6 Rags: No. 4, Mount Greylock Rag 03:22
• 9 Spratlan: 6 Rags: No. 5, Pelham Lake Rag 02:52
• 10 Spratlan: 6 Rags: No. 6, Chesterfield Gorge Rag 03:58
• 2 Piano Sonatas:
• 11 Spratlan: 2 Piano Sonatas: No. 1, Presto 01:52
• 12 Spratlan: 2 Piano Sonatas: No. 2, Gentle 03:23
• Wonderer:
• 13 Spratlan: Wonderer 20:57
• Total Runtime 01:15:47

Info for Spratlan: Invasion — Music and Art for Ukraine

As she watched in horror her home city of Kharkiv (and the rest of Ukraine) being destroyed and civilians being murdered every day, pianist Nadia Shpachenko tried to come up with ways to express her feelings of utter despair and anger, as well as hope and resilience, through her music making. In addition to performing fundraising concerts featuring music by Ukrainian composers, she decided to put together a new album to support Ukraine humanitarian aid. Reference Recordings is proud to release this album, with 100% of proceeds benefitting Ukrainian people affected by the war. Shpachenko commissioned Ukrainian artists to create paintings/artworks to use in the album booklet, online and in­-person galleries, and the accompanying music videos, as their responses to the music. Also featured are artworks made by children in Kharkiv, as their responses to the war.

The key piece on the album, titled "Invasion" (for piano, alto saxophone, horn, trombone, timpani, snare drum, and mandolin), is Shpachenko's longtime collaborator Lewis Spratlan's response to this tragic war. It was composed for Shpachenko during the period of February 24-March 13, 2022. The rest of the album features World Premiere recordings of solo piano music also by Spratlan. These pieces reflect on the human experience, often finding solace and inspiration in nature and music of the past. "Wonderer," a major piece that closes the album, connects in its character to the current experience of many Ukrainian people, especially those displaced by the war. The hero, searching through the unknown, overcoming pain, and reminiscing about things past, triumphs at the end.

A "gifted and versatile pianist" (San Francisco Chronicle) and GRAMMY® Award winner, Nadia Shpachenko enjoys bringing into the world things that are outside the box - powerful pieces that often possess unusual sonic qualities or instrumentation. Nadia's 2019 Reference Recordings album The Poetry of Places, featuring world premieres of architecture-inspired works, won the Best Classical Compendium GRAMMY® Award. She is a Steinway Artist, Schoenhut Toy Piano artist, and professor of music at Cal Poly Pomona University.

Lewis Spratlan, winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize in music, was born in 1940 in Miami, Florida. He is the recipient of numerous awards and Guggenheim, Rockefeller, NEA, Bogliasco, and MacDowell fellowships. He continues producing new works at a prodigious rate.

Nadia Shpachenko, piano
Pat Posey, saxophone ("Invasion")
Aija Mattson-Jovel, horn ("Invasion")
Phil Keen, trombone ("Invasion")
Yuri Inoo, percussion ("Invasion")
Joti Rockwell, mandolin ("Invasion")
Anthony Parnther, conductor ("Invasion")

Nadia Shpachenko
Multiple GRAMMY® nominated pianist Nadia Shpachenko has performed extensively in solo recitals and with orchestras in major venues across North America, Europe and Asia. Described by critics as a “truly inspiring and brilliant pianist… spellbinding in sensitivity and mastery of technique,” Nadia enjoys bringing into the world things that are outside the box – powerful pieces that often possess unusual sonic qualities or instrumentation. Nadia’s concert highlights include recitals at Concertgebouw, Carnegie Hall, Bargemusic, the Phillips Collection, Disney Hall, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, as well as numerous appearances as a soloist with orchestras in Europe and the Americas.

An enthusiastic promoter of contemporary music, Nadia has given world and national premieres of more than 60 piano, string piano, and toy piano works by composers including Elliott Carter, George Crumb, Daniel Felsenfeld, Tom Flaherty, Annie Gosfield, Yuri Ishchenko, Vera Ivanova, Leon Kirchner, Amy Beth Kirsten, Hannah Lash, James Matheson, Missy Mazzoli, Harold Meltzer, Adam Schoenberg, Lewis Spratlan, Gernot Wolfgang, Iannis Xenakis, Peter Yates, Jack Van Zandt, and many others. She performs on piano, toy piano, harpsichord, and percussion in concerts that often also feature recitation, electronics and multimedia. Nadia’s process of extensive research in preparing pieces for performance has led to a series of lecture-recitals that relate artistic and philosophical developments with musical ones, and explore the new ways in which composers and performers interact in today’s networked world. She has recently performed contemporary solo works on the Piano Spheres Series and Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella Series.

Described as “heroic” (MusicWeb International), “exceptional” (Textura Magazine), “memorable” (New Classic LA), and “a new favorite” (Pictures on Silence), Nadia’s world premieres CD “Woman at the New Piano: American Music of 2013” was released worldwide on the Reference Recordings label, featuring four solo and two duet compositions (performed with pianist Genevieve Feiwen Lee) written for the album by Tom Flaherty, James Matheson, Adam Schoenberg, and Peter Yates. Woman at the New Piano was nominated for 58th GRAMMY® Awards in 3 categories: Best Classical Compendium, Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance by Nadia Shpachenko and Genevieve Feiwen Lee for Tom Flaherty’s “Airdancing” for Toy Piano, Piano and Electronics, and Producer of the Year, Classical for Marina A. Ledin and Victor Ledin. Nadia’s upcoming 2018 Reference Recordings release “Quotations and Homages” will feature solo and collaborative works for 6 pianists (performed with Ray-Kallay Duo, HOCKET and Genevieve Feiwen Lee) inspired by a variety of earlier composers and pieces. Nadia’s upcoming 2019 Reference Recordings album “The Poetry of Places” will feature new solo and collaborative works (performed with LA Phil pianist Joanne Pearce Martin and LAPQ percussionists Nick Terry and Cory Hills) inspired by diverse buildings.

As a distinguished chamber musician, Nadia frequently collaborates with prominent artists, most recently including Boris Allakhverdyan, Emanuel Borok, Martin Chalifour, Jin-Shan Dai, Kevin Fitz-Gerald, Vijay Gupta, Maja Jasper, Dahae Kim, Jerome Lowenthal, Kathleen Supové, Marek Szpakiewicz, Ben Ullery, and the Lyris and Argus Quartets. Her recent collaborative performances were featured on Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Chamber Music Series, the Hear Now Music Festival and the Salastina Music Society.

A dedicated educator, Nadia is currently Professor of Music at Cal Poly Pomona University, where she leads the Piano Performance program and was awarded the 2017 Provost’s Award for Excellence in Scholarly and Creative Activities. She is also on the faculty of Claremont Graduate University, where she teaches Doctoral piano students. In addition, Nadia has recently served as visiting faculty at Pomona College, guest lecturer at the California Institute of the Arts, Artist in Residence at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and University of South Carolina, and piano faculty at the Sarasota, Montecito, and Beverly Hills International Music Festivals. Winner of more than a dozen piano competitions, she frequently gives master classes and presents contemporary music workshops in conservatories and universities worldwide.

Nadia Shpachenko completed her DMA and MM degrees at the University of Southern California, where she was awarded the title of Outstanding Graduate. Her principal teachers included John Perry, Victor Rosenbaum, and Victor Derevianko. Nadia Shpachenko is a Steinway Artist and a Schoenhut Toy Piano Artist.

Booklet for Spratlan: Invasion — Music and Art for Ukraine