Jennifer Koh's BACH & BEYOND PART 3 Concludes Landmark Series On Cedille Records Nov. 13

American violinist Jennifer Koh's Bach & Beyond Part 3, available Nov. 13, 2020, on Cedille Records, concludes her critically acclaimed set of albums based on her recital series.

Koh says the initiative aspires to "strengthen the connection between our past and present worlds through a historical journey" from Johann Sebastian Bach's early-18th-century sonatas and partitas for solo violin to Bach-inspired music of the 20th and 21st centuries, including recently commissioned works.

"My Bach and Beyond project presents the works of Bach that I have long loved, in communion with the music of contemporary composers who I am dedicated to championing."

On the new album, Koh offers Bach's florid and fanciful Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003; Luciano Berio's expressive Sequenza VIII, from 1976, reflecting his reverence for the Ciaccona from Bach's Partita in D minor; the world-premiere recording of Pulitzer Prize winner John Harbison's For Violin Alone, a seven-movement dance suite inspired by Bach's partitas and composed for Koh in 2015; and Bach's Sonata No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005, celebrated for its colossal Fuga movement.

The release is a double-CD set priced as a single disc (Cedille Records CDR 90000 199).

Recording Team

Bach & Beyond Part 3 was produced and engineered by multiple Grammy Award-winner Judith Sherman September 16-18, 2017, at the American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York; and September 8-10, 2019, at the concert hall of the Performing Arts Center, State University of New York, Purchase, New York.

Jennifer Koh on Cedille Records

Bach & Beyond Part 3 is Koh's 14th Cedille Records album.

On Bach & Beyond Part 2, released in 2015, Koh performs Bach's Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001; Bela Bartok's Sonata for Solo Violin Sz. 117, BB 124; Kaija Saariaho's Frises; and Bach's Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002. Toronto's The WholeNote said, "Koh, as always, is superb, her intelligence and interpretation always matching her outstanding technique."

Koh's Bach & Beyond Part 1, released in 2012, includes Bach's Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006; Eugène Ysaÿe's Sonata No. 2, Op. 27; Saariaho's Nocturne; the world-premiere recording of Missy Mazzoli's Dissolve, O My Heart; and Bach's Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004. The Newark Star-Ledger praised Koh for "her distinctive voice over a range of styles."

Koh's Cedille discography includes last season's Limitless, on which she performs eight contemporary duets with the composers themselves. The Chicago Tribune named it among the "Best Classical Albums of 2019," praising it as "a testament to Koh's adventurousness and the creativity of all involved." The Strad called it "an enterprising collection of breathtaking new music."

BBC Music Magazine described the violinist's Saariaho X Koh, devoted to music of the Finnish composer, as "a delicate yet visceral recording."

Koh's String Poetic, featuring the world-premiere recording of Jennifer Higdon's title track, earned a Grammy nomination.

"One of the more acclaimed violinists of our time" (Washington Post), Koh has been highly visible during 2020 as a result of her online performance series Alone Together featuring short new works donated by established composers and commissioned from talented young composers who may be struggling financially because of the Covid-19 crisis.

Koh has been honored as "A Force of Nature" by the American Composers Orchestra and as Musical America's 2016 Instrumentalist of the Year. Her website is jenniferkoh.com.

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