In January Inscape returns to the Grammy-nominated studios of Sono Luminus to record a new transcription of Igor Stravinsky's beloved ballet, "Petrushka."  Written in 1911 for Sergei Diaghilev and the famed Ballets Russes, the original Stravinsky work calls for an orchestra of over 100 players. For this project, Inscape commissioned noted composer David Plylar to transcribe "Petrushka" for the seventeen principal musicians of the Inscape Chamber Orchestra. 

The recording of this new reduction will be released in 2015.  

On June 24, 2014, Inscape released its “Hérodiade EP,” a digital exclusive recording of Paul Hindemith's ballet score, Hérodiade, on the Sono Luminus label.  Commissioned by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge for Martha Graham, the work was originally premiered alongside Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring at the Library of Congress in 1944.  “This work was lacking a compelling and widely available recording,” says Artistic Director Richard Scerbo, “and that is why we are so excited to present this rarely performed work.”  Hérodiade will be featured on several of our concerts next season, including our CD release concert at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at University of Maryland, as part of the NextNOW Festival.

Conceived for both iTunes and HD digital download, “Hérodiade EP” has already been recognized as a “lively yet precise reading of the work…” (Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review).  Hérodiade is available from these high-res sites, as well as iTunes:

Stay tuned for the release of our new full length Pure Audio BluRay/CD  release “American Aggregate” scheduled to for August 26, 2014. 

Inscape's recently released album, Sprung Rhythm, received a GRAMMY® nomination in the category of Best Surround Sound Album.  The announcement was made on December 6, 2013 following the live TV broadcast of nominations in popular music.  Sprung Rhythm features six works commissioned by Inscape from three emerging American composers: Justin Boyer (Bethesda, MD); Nathan Lincoln-DeCusatis (Frederick, MD); Joseph Hallman (Philadelphia, PA).

The album was recorded and released by Sono Luminus, a leading record label in the area of surround sound recordings.  Led by Managing Director Daniel Shores, Sono Luminus is no stranger to the GRAMMYs ® having been nominated twice before, and most recently a winner of the Best Engineered Classical Album at the 53rd GRAMMY ® Award.  Shores approached Inscape with a recording proposal in 2012 after learning of the ensemble’s work through the crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter.  Sono Luminus was founded in 1995 by Sandy Lerner and Len Bosack, founders of Cisco Systems, after deciding their expertise in digital signal processing, computational mathematics and physics would enable them to bring a new level of recording fidelity to music.  Their studio is located 60 miles from Washington DC in Boyce, Virginia.

Inscape returns to the studios of Sono Luminus in January 2014 to record their next surround sound album entitled American Aggregate.  This album presents the world premiere recordings of seven works commissioned by or specifically arranged for Inscape.

From all of us at Inscape, we congratulate Daniel Shores, Dan Merceruio and the entire team at Sono Lumius for this incredible accomplishment!  

Our next album!

Inscape returns to the studios of Sono Luminus in January to record our next album, American Aggregate.  This album presents the world premiere recordings of seven works commissioned by or specifically arranged for Inscape.  Like our first album, Sprung Rhythm released in July 2013, this disc will feature a collection of chamber ensemble works by some of America's most diverse and exciting young composers.

Now is your chance to play a part!

Make a fully tax-deductible donation online today via JustGive and become an album sponsor.  Your name will appear in the CD booklet, and all donations over $100 will receive a complimentary copy of American Aggregate!

The album includes:

• Dan Visconti: Black Bend (premiere recording of new arrangement for Inscape)
• Stephen Gorbos: What I Decided to Keep (premiere recording of new arrangement for Inscape)
• Armando Bayolo: Wide Open Spaces (premiere recording)
• Gregory Spears: The Bear and the Dove (premiere recording of new arrangement for Inscape)
• Joseph Hallman: The Extraordinary Ms. Gryssandra Wycke (commissioned by Inscape)
• Julia Adolphe: Wordless Creatures (premiere recording of new arrangement for Inscape)
• Nathan Lincoln-DeCusatis: Oblivion (commissioned by Inscape)

Working with Sono Luminus records affords us the unique opportunity to record these works in state-of-the-art 7.1 surround sound.  The album will be released on a multi-channel Pure Audio Blu-ray disc (featuring 7.1. and 5.1 surround mixes, and 2.0 high-resolution stereo mix), as well as standard CD and mp3.  The surround sound audio gives the listener an immersive listening experience and provides an incredibly realistic way to experience new music, as if you were in the middle of the ensemble!

Inscape is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a generous grant from the "Performing Ensembles Program" of the Aaron Copland Fund for Music.  This grant will support our general operating costs for the remainder of the 2013/14 season.  The Copland Fund states that "The program’s objective is to support performing organizations whose artistic excellence encourages and improves public knowledge and appreciation of serious contemporary American music." 

Inscape has performed a number of works by Aaron Copland over the years, starting with our founding concert which featured the Suite from Appalachian Spring in its original chamber version.  Most recently we performed Appalachian Spring and Quiet City on February 20, 2011 in Bethesda, Maryland.  The concert also featured the world premiere of Nathan Lincon-DeCusatis's Chopin Syndrome.