WHO WE ARE

Communication and the delivery of ideas is at the heart of why we make music. Whether investigating the human condition, culture, or history through music, we choose our projects and create our programs to be about something. We defy genre and break down the walls of tradition, reimagining and redefining the classical music experience…

We are the Catalyst.

Hailed by the New York Times at their Carnegine Hall debut as "invariably energetic and finely burnished...playing with earthly vigor," Catalyst Quartet is comprised of top Laureates and alumni of the internationally acclaimed Sphinx Competition. Their programming ranges from traditional and obscure works from the classical music tradition, to collaborations across genre and medium that invite and challenge audiences to a new understanding of the 21st century string quartet.

UNCOVERED

Over the course of time there have been many overlooked artists in classical music, especially because of their race or gender. It is important to acknowledge that we have not yet heard the whole story due to this sidelining of musical voices. Composers like Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Florence B. Price, and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson have contributed beautifully crafted work to the repertoire but are not widely celebrated because quality recordings and performances of their music are rare or non existent. With this recording project we are helping to change this unfortunate reality.

THE MUSIC

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Piano Quintet in G Major Op. 1

5 Fantasiestucke Op.5

Clarinet Quintet in F sharp minor Op. 10

Florence B. Price

String Quartet in G Major (1929)

Five Folksongs in Counterpoint (1951)

Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson

String Quartet No. 1 "Calvary"

*This album will be a DOUBLE DISK feature! More than 2 hours of music!

GUEST ARTISTS

We are thrilled and honored to have these wonderful musicians joining us on this album!

STEWART GOODYEAR

Proclaimed "a phenomenon" by the Los Angeles Times and "one of the best pianists of his generation" by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Stewart Goodyear is an accomplished young pianist as a concerto soloist, chamber musician, recitalist and composer. Mr. Goodyear has performed with major orchestras of the world , including the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Bournemouth Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, MDR Symphony Orchestra (Leipzig),  Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony , Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and NHK Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Goodyear began his training at The Royal Conservatory in Toronto, received his bachelor's degree from Curtis Institute of Music, and completed his master's at The Juilliard School. Known as an improviser and composer, he has been commissioned by orchestras and chamber music organizations, and performs his own solo works.  Last year, Mr. Goodyear premiered his suite for piano and orchestra, "Callaloo", with Kristjan Jarvi and MDR Symphony Orchestra in Leipzig, and last summer, the Clarosa Quartet premiered his Piano Quartet commissioned by the Kingston Chamber Music Festival. Mr. Goodyear performed all 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas in one day at Koerner Hall, McCarter Theatre, the Mondavi Center, and the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas.

Mr. Goodyear's discography includes Beethoven's Complete Piano Sonatas (which received a Juno nomination for Best Classical Solo Recording in 2014) and Diabelli Variations for the Marquis Classics label, Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto and Grieg's Piano Concerto, and Rachmaninov's Piano Concertos No. 2 and 3, both recorded with the Czech National Symphony under Stanislav Bogunia and Hans Matthias Forster respectively, and released to critical acclaim on the Steinway and Sons label. His Rachmaninov recording received a Juno nomination for Best Classical Album for Soloist and Large Ensemble Accompaniment. Also for Steinway and Sons is Mr. Goodyear's recording of his own transcription of Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker (Complete Ballet)", which was released October 2015 and was chosen by the New York Times as one of the best classical music recordings of 2015. Mr. Goodyear's recording of Ravel's piano works was released in the spring of 2017, and his new recording "For Glenn Gould", that combines repertoire performed by Gould in his US and Montreal debuts, has been released this past March.

Highlights of the 2018-19 season are his debut with Chineke! at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, return engagements with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria Symphony orchestras, and three recitals for the Chamber Music Society of Detroit. He has been commissioned to write a work for piano and orchestra for the Toronto Symphony, and it will be premiered January 2019.

ANTHONY MCGILL

Clarinetist Anthony McGill is one of classical music’s most recognizable and brilliantly multifaceted figures. He serves as the principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic — that orchestra’s first African-American principal player — and maintains a dynamic international solo and chamber music career. Hailed for his “trademark brilliance, penetrating sound and rich character” (The New York Times), as well as for his “exquisite combination of technical refinement and expressive radiance” (The Baltimore Sun), McGill also serves as an ardent advocate for helping music education reach underserved communities and for addressing issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in classical music. McGill was honored to take part in the inauguration of President Barack Obama, premiering a piece written for the occasion by John Williams and performing alongside violinist Itzhak Perlman, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and pianist Gabriela Montero.

McGill’s 2018-19 season includes performances of concertos by Bolcom, Copland, Mozart, and Strauss with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Tallahassee Symphony, Vermont Symphony, and Austin Symphonic Band. He will also collaborate together with soprano Miah Persson in a performance of Schubert’s “The Shepherd on the Rock” together with Iván Fischer and the New York Philharmonic. Additional performances include a collaboration with the Dover Quartet for the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and a recital with soprano Julia Bullock for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with collaborations with the Brentano Quartet for Princeton University and a tour of Asia with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

McGill appears regularly as a soloist with top orchestras around North America including the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, Baltimore Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and Kansas City Symphony. As a chamber musician, McGill is a favorite collaborator of the Brentano, Daedalus, Guarneri, JACK, Miró, Pacifica, Shanghai, Takacs, and Tokyo Quartets, as well as Emanuel Ax, Inon Barnatan, Gloria Chien, Yefim Bronfman, Gil Shaham, Midori, Mitsuko Uchida, and Lang Lang. He has led tours with Musicians from Marlboro and regularly performs for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Festival appearances include Tanglewood, Marlboro, Mainly Mozart, Music@Menlo, and the Santa Fe, Seattle, and Skaneateles Chamber Music Festivals.

In January 2015, McGill recorded the Nielsen Clarinet Concerto together with Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic, which was released on DaCapo Records. He also recorded an album together with his brother Demarre McGill, principal flute of the Seattle Symphony, and pianist Michael McHale; and one featuring the Mozart and Brahms Clarinet Quintet with the Pacifica Quartet that were both released by Cedille Records.

A dedicated champion of new music, in 2014, McGill premiered a new piece written for him by Richard Danielpour entitled “From the Mountaintop” that was commissioned by the New Jersey Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, and Orchestra 2001. McGill served as the 2015-16 Artist-in-Residence for WQXR and has appeared on Performance Today, MPR’s St. Paul Sunday Morning, and Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. In 2013, McGill appeared on the NBC Nightly News and on MSNBC, in stories highlighting the McGill brothers’ inspirational story.

A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, McGill previously served as the principal clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera and associate principal clarinet of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. In-demand as a teacher, he serves on the faculty of the Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute of Music, Bard College’s Conservatory of Music, and the Manhattan School of Music. He also serves as the Artistic Advisor for the Music Advancement Program at the Juilliard School, on the Board of Directors for both the League of American Orchestra and the Harmony Program, and the advisory council for the InterSchool Orchestras of New York.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

With your generous support you will not only help us make this album, but you will also be helping to share this amazing repertoire with the world.

Your contributions will go towards the following costs:

Engineer, Mixing + Mastering for this DOUBLE DISK album

Hall Rental

CD Printing

Album Design

PR

*Thanks to our fiscal sponsors, the Sphinx Organization, all donations to this campaign are TAX DEDUCTIBLE. 

Other Ways You Can Help

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