IN SYMPATHY Album to Release on Cedille Records

Cedille Records will release In Sympathy, a digital album of music by Chicago-based composer and pianist Mischa Zupko, on Friday, November 13, 2026. Featuring saxophonist Timothy McAllister, the Civitas Ensemble, and the ~Nois Quartet, the recording brings together science, acoustics, urban life, and instrumental color as Zupko explores resonance in both its physical and emotional dimensions, revealing the saxophone through intimate chamber textures, kinetic virtuosity, and unusual acoustic phenomena.

Called a 'powerhouse' by the Chicago Tribune and praised for composing 'music that simply asserts itself with force and eloquence' (Positive Feedback), Zupko joins McAllister in Tailgate, Simple Song, From the Skyline, and In Transit. McAllister performs with the Civitas Ensemble in a new arrangement of Anechoic Rhapsody and the title work, In Sympathy. The ~Nois Quartet plays Quantum Shift and a bonus track features Zupko's grandfather, Ed Sarché, performing his 1940s song, 'So Alone Am I,' from which Zupko quotes in In Transit.

The album centers on the world-premiere recording of In Sympathy, written for McAllister and Civitas' combined instrumentation of saxophone, violin, cello, and piano, with the addition of nine tuned, resonating wine glasses. Zupko conceived the work during his 2024 residency as Fermilab Research Alliance guest composer, where conversations with theoretical physicists Chris Quigg and Luis Mendoza led him to consider resonance on a much larger scale, from its role in modern theories on the formation of matter to its use as a tool for particle discovery, and ultimately as a guiding principle connecting physics and music.

Those conversations inspired Zupko to explore sympathetic resonance, the physical phenomenon in which one object begins vibrating in response to another sounding at its resonant frequency. Working with programmer Brad Robin and technical collaborator Todd Johnson, Zupko spent a year designing a system in which sounds produced by the musicians activate corresponding wine glasses. Custom transducers (a device that converts energy from one form to another) cause the glasses to resonate, creating an acoustic response to the instruments' matching pitches rather than to something generated from a prerecorded or synthesized sound.

For Zupko, the idea extends beyond acoustics. 'Just as the instruments and glasses respond across space through shared frequencies, this piece allows us to experience how meaningful connection arises not from uniformity, but from the ability to respond, adapt, and move in relation to one another,' he writes. 'In this way, In Sympathy becomes both a musical and conceptual exploration of what it means to coexist in ways that foster creativity.'

The work will also be released in a separate track as spatial audio in Dolby Atmos.

The album also fulfills a longstanding wish for Zupko to record In Transit with McAllister, who commissioned the five-movement work in 1999. 'We have lived with this piece together since its inception more than 25 years ago, and our interpretation has evolved through years of performing, listening, and responding to one another,' Zupko says.

Written during a period of self-discovery, In Transit unfolds as a musical travelogue, from the dense fog of Seattle and salsa clubs of Miami to a breathless drive through Manhattan and a contemporary jazz reverie. Linking all five movements is music drawn from 'So Alone Am I,' a song Zupko's maternal grandfather, Ed Sarché, wrote in the 1940s. Fragments of the melody recur throughout the work before gradually coming into focus in the third movement, which shares the song's title. The album's bonus track features Sarché's own recording of the song.

Zupko also joins McAllister on piano for the album's opening track, Tailgate, a tightly constructed musical depiction of road rage in which saxophone and piano pursue one another in a canon, gradually drawing closer until the two collide in unison amid jarring leaps and accents. They also perform Simple Song, written in memory of saxophonist Frederick Hemke, Zupko's friend, mentor, and longtime champion. Inspired by Hemke's love of direct, unadorned melody, the work incorporates a quotation from Debussy's 'Voiles.'

The three movements of From the Skyline draw on views of Chicago from Zupko's former 15th-floor apartment, including evolving ice formations along Lake Michigan in the opening movement, titled Crystal; moonlight reflected across the water in Chasing Moonlight; and the city's celebrated architecture and energy in Brick and Steel, which incorporates 'found' percussion instruments and an extended tenor saxophone solo.

In a world premiere recording of a new arrangement of Anechoic Rhapsody, originally scored for clarinet and piano trio, McAllister performs with Civitas Ensemble, for whom the arrangement was written. Composed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the work takes its title from the completely soundproof environment of an anechoic chamber. Its recurring pulses grow out of the rhythms of breath and heartbeat, moving between meditation, instability, and reverie before building to a climactic piano solo.

The ~Nois Quartet performs Quantum Shift, an eight-minute work of intense virtuosity inspired by the movement of electrons between energy states. Built entirely from a three-note cell, the music passes rapidly among the four saxophones as its textures, tempos, and gestures change abruptly, requiring what Zupko describes as 'absolute precision and synergy' from the ensemble.

In Sympathy is Cedille's fourth album featuring Zupko's music and follows the recent world-premiere recording of his three-movement Harpsichord Concerto, released as a digital single. Scored for harpsichord and string quartet, the work features two-time Grammy-nominated American harpsichordist Jory Vinikour, praised for his 'sense of spontaneity and security' (San Francisco Chronicle).

The recording was produced by James Ginsburg and engineered by Bill Maylone in Mary Patricia Gannon Hall at DePaul University in Chicago.

Mischa Zupko

Mischa Zupko writes music for performers who seek depth, risk, and mastery, creating immediate and emotionally powerful experiences for audiences. His commissions, recordings, and collaborations with many of today's leading soloists and chamber musicians reflect a voice shaped by urgency, depth, and artistic fearlessness. Zupko's music has been commissioned and performed by major ensembles, including the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Pacific Symphony, the New York Youth Symphony, the Civitas Ensemble, the Fulcrum Point New Music Project, Eighth Blackbird, and the Lincoln Trio. Additional support has come from the Fromm Foundation, Barlow Endowment, and Gilmore International Keyboard Festival. His works have been presented at Carnegie Hall, Ravinia, the Moscow Conservatory, and major festivals, including Aspen. His recordings reflect a balance of virtuosity and emotional immediacy. His honors include first prize in the Pacific Symphony's American Composers Competition, multiple ASCAP Morton Gould Awards, and the Aspen Music Festival's Jacob Druckman Prize. Zupko teaches at DePaul University and serves as Artistic Advisor to Nova Linea Musica.

Timothy McAllister

Saxophonist Timothy McAllister, hailed by The New York Times as 'one of the foremost saxophonists of his generation,' has premiered more than 300 works and appeared with major orchestras worldwide. He has championed concertos dedicated to him by John Adams, John Corigliano, Jennifer Higdon, Adolphus Hailstork, Steven Mackey, Tyshawn Sorey, and James Lee III, with upcoming premieres by Viet Cuong and Paul Moravec. His discography includes more than 60 albums, and he is a member of the Grammy-winning PRISM Quartet and the Marsalis-McAllister-Ames Trio. McAllister performs regularly with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra alongside other top ensembles in the region and serves as Professor of Saxophone at the University of Michigan.

~Nois Quartet

Equal parts 'fiendishly good and fiendishly goofy' (Chicago Tribune), ~Nois Quartet is a 'prolific, charismatic young ensemble' (Musical America) that has given more than 200 performances in its first decade. The quartet has appeared at LONG PLAY, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Princeton Sound Kitchen, and University of Chicago Presents, and has collaborated with composers including Clarice Assad, Chris Cerrone, Jessie Montgomery, Nico Muhly, and Augusta Read Thomas. Its recordings span more than a dozen albums, including What is ~Nois (New Amsterdam Records). ~Nois Quartet comprises János Csontos, Jordan Lulloff, Julian Velasco, and Natalia Warthen.

Civitas Ensemble

Founded in 2011, Civitas Ensemble is a leading Chicago chamber music group whose repertoire spans four centuries and a wide range of styles. The ensemble has commissioned and premiered more than ten new works while building ongoing relationships with living composers. Community engagement is central to its mission, with performances in hospitals, retirement communities, and partnerships with organizations including Chicago Lighthouse and the Center for Food Equity in Medicine. Civitas also collaborates across disciplines with dancers, visual artists, and poets. Highlights include performances with Yo-Yo Ma, a MacArthur Foundation-supported international project, and the Cedille recording Alla Zingarese.

About Cedille Records

Launched in November 1989 by James Ginsburg, Grammy Award-winning Cedille Records (pronounced say-DEE) is dedicated to showcasing and promoting the most noteworthy classical artists in and from the Chicago area. A nonprofit record label, Cedille's mission is to produce and disseminate audiophile recordings presenting the finest classical music performers and composers in and from Chicago. The recordings further the careers and legacies of these Chicago artists as Cedille invests not only in the recordings but also in the artists represented on them. The label's catalog of more than 200 front-line albums brims with attractive, off-the-beaten-path repertoire from the Baroque era to the present day, including world premieres of well over 400 classical compositions. Works from the classical canon, when they do appear, are usually heard in particularly imaginative programs. Cedille never removes albums from its catalog, and each recording is a permanent documentation of the artists' work. With more than 180 Chicago artists and ensembles, over 80 making their professional recording debuts on the label, Cedille brings the area's most significant classical music artists to a worldwide listening public. Cedille recordings are available on CD, as MP3 and hi-resolution FLAC downloads, and on all major streaming platforms. Learn more about Cedille Records and explore the label's catalog at cedillerecords.org.

Tracklist

In Sympathy — CEDILLE RECORDS — CDR 90000 247

Timothy McAllister, saxophone (alto, except as noted)

MISCHA ZUPKO (b. 1971)

1. Tailgate^ (2:49) with Mischa Zupko, piano

2. Simple Song (2:47) with Mischa Zupko, piano

From the Skyline^^ (17:08)

3. I. Crystal (7:42)

4. II. Chasing Moonlight (4:30)

5. III. Brick and Steel (4:51) with Mischa Zupko, piano

6. Anechoic Rhapsody* (10:57) with Civitas Ensemble

7. Quantum Shift (7:52) ~Nois Quartet

8. In Sympathy* (9:52) with Civitas Ensemble

In Transit (22:46)

9. I. Red Walls of Fog (5:28)

10. II. Mango Cafe (5:43)

11. III. So Alone Am I (4:27)

12. IV. Rush Hour! (2:33)

13. V. The Dream (4:31) with Mischa Zupko, piano

14. Bonus track — Ed Sarché: 'So Alone am I' (1:59) performed by the composer

^soprano saxophone ^^tenor saxophone

TT: (76:44)

*WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING