Blue Griffin Recording To Release DAVID BIEDENBENDER: RIVER OF TIME With Lansing Symphony Orchestra

Blue Griffin Recording will release David Biedenbender: River of Time on January 30, 2026. The world premiere recording features the Lansing Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Music Director Timothy Muffitt, with trumpet soloist Neil Mueller.

Composed by David Biedenbender, River of Time was commissioned by Mueller, Muffitt, and the Lansing Symphony Orchestra. The work is a reflection on the philosophical and physical nature of time, drawing inspiration from the phrase “river of time,” as well as texts including Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations and Carlo Rovelli’s The Order of Time. The composition explores themes of impermanence, presence, and humanity’s relationship to time.

The three-movement work unfolds as Becoming, which evokes swirling and shifting perceptions of time; Flowing, which centers on stillness and presence; and Crossing, which questions linear conceptions of time and imagines the possibility of moving freely through it. Biedenbender has described the work as deeply personal, shaped in part by moments of reflection drawn from his own life.

The recording showcases Mueller, Professor of Trumpet at Central Michigan University and Principal Trumpet of the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, in a technically demanding solo role. The orchestra provides the accompanying framework, continuing a legacy that dates back to the ensemble’s founding in 1929.

River of Time was recorded live on January 12, 2024, at the Wharton Center for Performing Arts at Michigan State University. The recording was produced by GRAMMY-nominated producer Sergei Kvitko. Funding support for the release was provided in part by a Faculty Research and Creative Endeavors Grant from Central Michigan University’s Office of Research and Graduate Studies and The Sam & Mary Austin Fund for New Music.

The recording will be available for radio broadcast beginning January 26, 2026.