E pluribus unum Liza Stepanova

• Lera Auerbach (b. 1973):
• 1 Images from Childhood: No. 5, An Old Photograph from the Grandparents' Childhood 01:21
• Kamran İnce (b. 1960):
• 2 Symphony in Blue 12:45
• Chaya Czernowin (b. 1957):
• 3 Fardanceclose 04:37
• Reinaldo Moya (b. 1975):
• 4 The Way North (Excerpts): IV. La Bestia 03:11
• 5 The Way North (Excerpts): VIII. Rain Outside the Church 03:58
• Anna Clyne (b. 1980):
• 6 On Track 07:23
• Eun Young Lee (b. 1967):
• 7 Mool 07:53
• Badie Khaleghian (b. 1985):
• 8 Táhirih the Pure: I. The Day of Alast 03:46
• 9 Táhirih the Pure: II. Unchained 05:59
• 10 Táhirih the Pure: III. Badasht 07:28
• Pablo Ortiz (b. 1956):
• 11 Piglia 03:52
• Gabriela Lena Frank (b. 1972):
• 12 Karnavalito No. 1 06:15
• Total Runtime 01:08:28

Info for E pluribus unum

Pianist Liza Stepanova, praised by The New York Times for her “thoughtful musicality” and “fleet-fingered panache,” announces the August 28, 2020 release of her new album E Pluribus Unum on Navona Records. This collection showcases nine renowned American composers with immigrant backgrounds, including Lera Auerbach, Anna Clyne, Gabriela Lena Frank, Kamran Ince, Reinaldo Moya, Pablo Ortiz, and world premiere recordings of music by Chaya Czernowin, Badie Khaleghian, and Eun Young Lee.

Born out of the political climate of 2017, E Pluribus Unum is an artistic response to the immigration policies implemented by the American government at that time. Stepanova explains, “Many of my colleagues, friends, and students in the music world found themselves or their communities to be directly affected. One of them was the wonderfully gifted young composer Badie Khaleghian, at the time my piano student, whose Iranian parents were barred from traveling to attend his graduation recital at the University of Georgia. In response to this situation, I decided to commission him for a new work that became the centerpiece of a recital program and this recording.”

While some of the works address the urgency of historical, cultural, and political calls for justice – above all, the music on this album reflects the composers’ roots, celebrates their immense contributions to American musical life, and a confluence of voices, narratives, and ideals.

An important part of this project is also Stepanova's collaboration with Syrian-American visual artist Kevork Mourad. Mourad's painting Between Two Worlds, a reflection of the immigrant experience, graces the cover of the album, and his forthcoming video collaboration with Stepanova, featuring a live performance of Reinaldo Moya's Rain Outside the Church, conveys the message of gaining voice and refuge through art.

Liza Stepanova, piano

Liza Stepanova
Praised by The New York Times for her “thoughtful musicality” and “fleet-fingered panache,” Liza Stepanova has performed at the Berlin Philharmonie, the Weill and Zankel recital halls at Carnegie Hall; Alice Tully, Merkin, David Geffen, and Steinway halls in New York City and at the Kennedy Center. She has appeared as a soloist with conductors James DePreist and Nicholas McGegan and live on WQXR New York, WFMT Chicago, and WETA Washington.

2019-2020 concert highlights include invitations to the Bowdoin Music Festival and Prague Piano Festival, solo recitals at USF Steinway Piano Series and East Carolina University Piano Series, and chamber music tours with the Lysander Piano Trio, winner of the Concert Artists Guild Competition, in Canada, Mexico, and across the US at Spivey Hall in Atlanta, the Crescent City Festival in New Orleans, Norton Museum in Palm Beach, and more. Stepanova is one of the founders of the Chamber Music Athens festival in Georgia and has been actively involved in performance, teaching and administration of the annual event. At the 2020 CMA, she will give the world premiere of a new substantial chamber music work by Lowell Liebermann, which was commissioned especially for her with her ensemble, the Yargo Trio.

Stepanova’s debut solo album Tones & Colors: Music and Visual Art (CAG Records, 2018), recorded with Grammy-winning producer Adam Abeshouse, was featured on Performance Today, in the BBC Music Magazine, and in recital at New York City’s National Sawdust. Her most recent project E Pluribus Unum (Navona Records, 2020) features piano music by contemporary immigrant composers, including three world-premiere recordings. Previous recordings with her numerous ensembles and partners include The Garden: Vocal Chamber Music by Tom Cipullo (Albany Records, 2018), praised by the American Record Guide for the “excellent performances … by the composer’s ‘dream team of interpreters’” and Lysander Piano Trio’s After A Dream (CAG Records, 2014), lauded by The New York Times for its “polished and spirited interpretations.”

Stepanova has performed as a soloist and chamber musician at international festivals at Castleton, La Jolla, Music@Menlo, Mostly Mozart, Copenhagen (Denmark), and Davos (Switzerland), where she had opportunities to collaborate with leading artists including violinist Cho-Liang Lin, violist James Dunham, clarinetist Charles Neidich, soprano Lucy Shelton, mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer and members of the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, and the Atlanta Symphony. Deeply committed to new music, she has premiered works by Jennifer Higdon and Libby Larsen and worked with composers William Bolcom, Gabriela Lena Frank, and John Harbison. Liza Stepanova studied art song collaboration with Wolfram Rieger in Berlin and was invited by the late Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau to perform in several of his master classes including the Hugo-Wolf-Tage festival in Austria. Since 2010, Stepanova has been on the faculty at SongFest at The Colburn School in Los Angeles and also served as the festival’s Associate Artistic Director and Piano Program Director for two years.

Stepanova holds degrees from the “Hanns Eisler” Academy in Berlin, Germany (BM) and The Juilliard School (MM, DMA) where she studied with Joseph Kalichstein, Seymour Lipkin, Jerome Lowenthal, and George Sava. Following teaching positions at Juilliard and Smith College, Stepanova is currently an associate professor of piano at the University of Georgia. Her UGA students have been invited to the Aspen, Bowdoin, Chautauqua, Piano Texas, and Salzburg Mozarteum summer programs, have been admitted to elite graduate programs, and consistently win competitions and awards.

This album contains no booklet.