Tuesday, March 3, 2009

CD HotList: 'composers from the worldwide African diaspora' on Nyaho's CD 'ASA'


 [ASA: Piano Music by Composers of African Descent; William Chapman Nyaho, piano; MSR Classics MS1242 (2008)]


CDHotlist.btol.com
Asa: Piano Music by Composers of African Descent; Label: MSR Classics (dist. Albany);
Composer: Various Composers; Performer: William Chapman Nyaho;
Cat.#: MS 1242; Period: Contemporary; Genre: Classical; Release type: New; Comments:
This is a fascinating and mostly impressive collection of brief pieces for piano by a variety of composers from the worldwide African diaspora; six of the eleven selections are world-
premiere recordings. Nyaho is an excellent pianist and gives each piece a bright and
enthusiastic reading. Not every composition is top-notch, but many are excellent, and taken
together as a survey they provide a very interesting picture of Africa's influence on
contemporary art music around the world. (RA)”

William Chapman Nyaho was born in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 28, 1958. He was to become a virtuoso pianist, gifted professor of music and dedicated collector and editor of piano music of the African Diaspora. Dr. Nyaho's website is http://www.nyaho.com/   His credits include a remarkable 5-volume anthology of sheet music published by Oxford University Press, Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora.  His first solo piano CD of works of composers of African descent is Senku: Piano Music by Composers of African Descent, Musicians Showcase 1091 (2003).

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