Hickey: Cursive Piano and Chamber Works Sean Hickey

• 1 Cursive 11:00
• 2 Ampersand 09:15
• 3 Dolmen 05:16
• 4 Ostinato Grosso - I. 04:33
• 5 Ostinato Grosso - II. 06:30
• 6 Ostinato Grosso - III. 08:07
• 7 Pied-a-Terre 07:30
• 8 Reckoning 02:17
• 9 Hill Music: A Breton Ramble 06:04
• 10 Birds of Barclay Street 02:53
• Total Runtime 01:03:25

Info for Hickey: Cursive Piano and Chamber Works

Such glowing critical commentary is entirely typical of the overwhelmingly positive response to Delos’ previous release of Sean Hickey’s concertos for cello and clarinet (DE 3448). Further, It puts into a nutshell Sean’s approach to composition, which builds in original and accessible ways upon the rich and incredibly varied stylistic cornucopia of twentieth-century music. His two prior CD releases (one on Naxos) made the Billboard Top 100 Classical Chart upon release. An even greater array of stylistic inspiration is heard in these (mostly) piano compositions – many of which have been championed by today’s leading pianists.

The eight works for solo piano heard here are winningly performed by distinguished keyboard artist Philip Edward Fisher; highlights include the title piece, Cursive, as well as Dolmen and Hill Music: a Breton Ramble. Fisher collaborates further with violinist Julia Sakharova in Ampersand: a striking chamber piece. Contrast comes with Pied-a-terre, a work of particular melodic warmth featuring Brandon Patrick George (flute), Anne Lanzilotti (viola), and Meredith Clark (harp).

“…behind this scaffolding is a very personal artistic response to the huge breadth of music that was created in the 20th century when every tradition was challenged. In its reconciliation of these seeming polarities, it is very much music of our own time.” (New Music Box)

„Hickey is for real and the music offers much to the symphonic enthusiast. Give this one your ears!“ (Gapplegate)

„A stunning audiophile recording.“ (Gramophone)

Philip Edward Fisher, piano
Julia Sakharova, violin
Brandon Patrick George, flute
Anne Lanzilotti, viola
Meredith Clark, harp

Recorded at Miller Chapel, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ.
Recorded, edited and mastered by John C. Baker
Executive producer: Ben Bierman

Sean Hickey
born in Detroit, Michigan in 1970, Sean Hickey’s earliest music education began at age 12 with an electric guitar, a Peavey amp, and a stack of Van Halen records, the early ones of course. He studied jazz guitar at Oakland University, later graduating with a degree in composition and theory from Wayne State University. His primary instructors were James Hartway, James Lentini and Leslie Bassett.

Since moving to New York, Sean has pursued further studies with Justin Dello Joio and Gloria Coates. His works include symphonies, concertos for clarinet and cello, two string trios, a string quartet, a flute sonata, a woodwind quintet and trio, several pieces for solo instruments, church as well as orchestral music. He has also composed a film score, and composed the music for a children’s play, the latter of which received over 80 performances. Sean is also active as an arranger, contributing arrangements for various artists and ensembles in the pop and jazz music spheres.

2003 was a busy year with performances of his piano music at New York’s Weill Hall in addition to the first concert dedicated entirely to his chamber and solo music, at CAMI Hall. In 2004, Hickey was awarded a grant from the New York Department of Cultural Affairs as well as a Composer Assistance Grant from the American Music Center to mount concerts of his work. He has fulfilled commissions for Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the St. Petersburg Symphony, New York’s One World Symphony and North/South Consonance, the Adesso Choral Society in Connecticut, the Spain-based piano/accordion duo An-Tifon, 60x60, and the Gringolts-Weiss-Fiterstein Trio. His disc of chamber and orchestral works for Naxos American Classics, Left at the Fork in the Road, released in November 2005, broke the Billboard Top 100 Classical Chart. It is available wherever records and downloads are sold.

His principal instruments are guitar and piano. Other commissions include works for cellist Dmitry Kouzov, pianist Xiayin Wang, clarinetist David Gould, violinist Ilya Gringolts, flutist Stefan Hoskuldsson, mandolinist Avi Avital, and for the ensembles Ars Futura and Pearls Before Swine. His works have been featured at the Cabrillo and Bridgehampton Chamber Music festivals. He is a recipient of eight consecutive ASCAP awards and was named a semi-finalist in the Auros 2001-2002 Composition Competition, also winning second prize in the 1990 State Awards in the former Yugoslavia. The past two years have seen performances in New York, San Francisco, Detroit, Washington, Russia, Spain, Portugal, England, Ireland, Indonesia and Brazil. He is an ASCAP member and is currently composer-in-residence with the Metro Chamber Orchestra in New York. His works are published by Cantabile Publishing and Wolfhead Music. Several of his recording and concert reviews may be found in the pages of the New Music Connoisseur, 21st Century Music, Modern Dance and numerous other publications. He is also a principal contributor to the Omnibus Guide to Classical Music on CD, has contributed liner notes to dozens of classical recordings and is a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

His travel and adventure pieces have appeared in Transitions Abroad, the Burlington Free Press, Trailworks, Trailsource, Orlando Weekly, ITN, Babylon Travel and elsewhere. Otra Dia, a travelogue of the writer’s travels in Peru, was published by Cantabile Press. He also lectures extensively on career options and marketing strategy for composers.

Booklet for Hickey: Cursive Piano and Chamber Works