Publicity & Reviews
Most artists not only are far too busy to distribute and publicize their CDs, but also find it difficult to speak up about themselves. This is where we excel - we love bragging up all of our artists. They are accomplished musicians who have worked all their lives to play their instruments at the highest standard of excellence.
Con Brio’s distribution includes submissions to online sellers and digital download sites as well as distribution through Albany Music Distributors. Artists are featured on a page on our site with photo, bio, reviews, CD cover, links. New releases are submitted to NARAS for a Grammy Award.
Our artists' CDs are sent to classical radio stations in the USA and Canada as well as online and print publication reviewers. The following is a sample of some of the reviews we have generated for our artists:
For the Icicle Creek Piano Trio - Ravel and Schubert
"The performance by the Icicle Creek Trio comes as close to being “definitive” as any I expect to hear in my lifetime. …This is a chamber ensemble I look forward to hearing soon in much more of the mainstream piano trio repertoire. A five-star recommendation."
--Jerry Dubins, Fanfare
"Don't judge people by their names–this is a wonderful album! It even made me take delight in the Schubert, a work that usually drives me out of the room. …This is one album that is absolutely worth having."
--Gil French, American Record Guide
"The playing is warmly considered, meticulous in articulation and blend, and silken in sonority. Violinist Jennifer Caine, cellist Sally Singer, and pianist Oksana Ezhokina gauge Schubert's brooding lines with affecting subtlety. They emphasise the music's contrasts of light and dark within a true chamber-music context, as if they're seated in the room feet away from your ears.
"The Icicle Creek musicians pair Schubert with Ravel's Piano Trio, which they limn in shadings of exquisite sheen and vibrancy. The score's mysterious radiance receives as much attention as the sweeping activity. Icy it most definitely is not." --Donald Rosenberg, Gramophone Magazine
"For their debut on disc, the players have bravely chosen works already over-subscribed in the present catalogue. They catch all the subtle, shimmering shades of the Ravel Trio, but this is essentially a young, virile and robust view of the score. I particularly enjoyed the piano's spiky introduction to a second movement that is illuminated by brilliant flashes of light."
--David Denton, the Strad
“The name “Icicle Creek” doesn’t really do this piano trio justice. They perform with such fiery passion that there couldn’t possibly be anything frozen within 100 yards of them. But at the same time, this superbly talented group seems to be at its finest when they’re interpreting Ravel or Schubert’s more melancholy passages, each melody tinged with mourning. So maybe there is something to be said for the chilliness of their chosen name. But hot-and-cold clichés aside, this stellar recording captures some truly stunning musicianship.”
--Chris Robley, CD Baby
For Richard Arnell Symphonies 4 & 5 - MusicaNova Orchestra, Warren Cohen, director
"This CD is a fine independent project coming out of a collaboration between a small California record label and the founder and conductor of the MusicaNova Orchestra of Scottsdale, AZ."
"Sonics on the recording are excellent, and the MusicaNova Orchestra plays like a highly professional aggregation."
--Audiophile Audition - John Sunier
"I was surprised and then delighted to discover this disc."
"Cohen conveys the natural pulse of the music whether in syncopated exertion, benign sanguine reflection or the uproar of conflict (#4) and celebration (#5)."
"I trust that Con Brio and Warren Cohen will give us the other Arnell symphonies but of even greater value now is for us to hear works such as Sinfonia Quasi Variazione and Ode to the West Wind – works which are already under the belt of MusicNova and their free spirit of a conductor. The MusicNova concert programmes should be an education to the administration and policy people in the world’s ‘great’ orchestras with their tired programme choices and dowdy predictability."
--MusicWeb May 2008 - Rob Barnett
"Lest the music be forgotten, it is simply gorgeous....a glorious experience not to be missed."
--Jerry Dubins, Fanfare Magazine
For Stephen Reck, guitar Saudade
"...perfectly enjoyable. He's clean, has a pleasant tone..."
"His best work here is in the most challenging piece, Dodgson's Fantasy Divisions, which he navigates with more involvement and imagination than in any other piece."
--American Record Guide - Keaton
For Patrick Beckman - American Scenes Vol 1&2
"Individualistic, innovative, and inspirational American Scenes Vols 1 & 2 provides a highly polished musical experience expertly written and performed by one of the country’s leading Urban jazz pianist/composers."
-- Jeff Perkins, BlogCritics (France)
For Stanley Wilson - Cole Porter CD
"Wilson sings with enthusiastic expression"
"Let's Misbehave had just the right amount of cute, mischeivous feel to fit the song, and Let's Do It had the light humorous touch that the song requires. Easy to Love had a serious earnestness, making it a touching love song."
"I Concentrate on You had the right blend of light swing and expressive vocals to make it a delightful number."
--Anna L Franco, New York City, USA - Music & Vision
For "Bach: Three Sonatas for Violin Solo - James Greening-Valenzuela
"[Greening-Valenzuela has] more courage and imagination than the average (and above-average) modern-day virtuoso..."
--American Record Guide
"Greening-Valenzuela plays expressively throughout, and his technical resources are impressive...
From the opening bars of the G minor Sonata we are clearly in for a thrilling time..."
--Roy Brewer - MusicWeb
For "Ernst Bacon: Violin Sonata and David Diamond: Chaconne for Violin and Piano" - James Greening-Valenzuela, violin and John Walker, piano
"... this is a performance of potency and passion..."
--The Strad
"Both works on this short CD are written in an immediately approachable idiom that is most appealing. Both, also, are carefully and successfully crafted in their own ways.
"...this Violin Sonata is a thoroughly confident affair, given here in a most committed performance by Greening-Valenzuela and Walker. The violinist has an expressive, but not distracting, vibrato and a strong sense of line that suits this music perfectly. In addition, Greening-Valenzuela’s sweet top register is well-captured in the first movement."
"The Chaconne (Diamond) is quite a remarkable work… Greening-Valenzuela suavely characterises the various variations."
--Colin Clarke - MusicWeb
For "Delectable Pieces" - Volkert-Walther String Trio: Mark Volkert, violin, Geraldine Walther, viola, Jan Volkert, cello
"Violinist Mark Volkert's skilful arrangements for string trio are felicitous and idiomatic, so much that one quickly forgets the originals."
"All three veer towards the espressivo side of romantic..." and "The recording is pleasingly full and rounded..."
--Julian Haylock - The Strad
"Chamber music CDs rarely contain such a diversity of composers as are collected here. Mark Volkert's arrangements are attractive and are played with good pace that gives a fresh appeal to the pieces. There is optimum balance between players... The studio acoustic adds an attractive bloom in resonance for the lower register of the cello and this gives an enhanced richness to the recording. "
--Raymond Walker - MusicWeb
"The playing abounds with a spirit of unanimity and good humor… The players make an elegant case for this music; the individual voices are distinct, and the blend they achieve is dynamic.
It's highly recommended for chamber music aficionados.
--Georgia Rowe, Contra Costa Times
Musical America International Directory: Your CD cover is displayed in our ad in the Musical America Directory. This publication is sent all over the world and is used as a reference volume for managers, presenters, and anyone who is involved in the classical music business.
Please email us with any questions or more information about our services: mail10[at]ConBrioRecordings[dot]com