Violinist Jennifer Koh’s new album, “Alone Together”, to be released digitally by Cedille Records on August 27, is based on her online performance series of the same name, originally broadcasted live on Instagram from her home.
The series was created in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the financial hardship it placed on musicians in the arts community.
According to the label, The New York Times called the “Alone Together” series “a marvel for a time of crisis” and the lineup of composers “more inclusive than anything in mainstream classical music.”
The album features short new works that were “donated” by established composers and commissioned from emerging young composers.
Koh performs 39 world premiere recordings of works by established composers such as Du Yun, Vijay Iyer, Tania Léon, George Lewis, Missy Mazzoli, Ellen Reid, and Wang Lu and the emerging composers they recommended including Katherine Balch, Nina Shekhar, Lester St. Louis, Rajna Swaminathan, Darian Donovan Thomas, and Sugar Vendil.
In the album’s program notes, Koh says of the project:
“This music is not only a musical archive of the COVID-19 pandemic, but testament to the best parts of humanity.”
Throughout her career, Koh has championed equity and inclusivity in classical music, and premiered more than 100 works written especially for her. “Alone Together” was commissioned and produced by ARCO Collaborative with the support of commissioning partners National Young Arts Foundation and generous individual donors of ARCO Collaborative.