Neoclassical Suite, XXI

Neoclassical Suite is a column that will present 7 recent, distinctive tracks of the neoclassical-modern classical-contemporary -and beyond!- music field.

The Players

AJ Plays Piano

(modern classical, solo piano)

AJ has been playing piano for more than half of his life. Originally he was from Minnesota. But, after going through a deep depression, he ended up journeying to a new home in Texas to be with family. This brought him to find a little bistro on the square. This became a second home, with the people in this place becoming a second family.

When he arrived in Texas, he strove to become a professional musician. Currently a senior at Tarleton State University, many of his friends that he has made in this new place struggle with many forms of mental illness. He knows what it was like to go through that and has shifted his goal. To use his musical skills to bring more awareness to the issues that many people face everyday. His senior project, the culmination of his collegiate career, is to release an album that will help people. Be it through the music or what the music is able to do in the community. Hopefully, with his new album “Dissociative”, he will be able to achieve this goal.

Remy Barjolin

(instrumental, cinematic)

Remy Barjolin was born on November 19, 1989, at Montreuil in Seine Saint Denis (93). This passion is for the music of the toujours, but also for the composer of those productions.

Matt Koranda

(neoclassical)

Matt Koranda is a passionated pianist, composer and improvisation artist. He grew up with classical music like of Beethoven, Mozart or Chopin. Later his own style of piano improvisation music became his life time means of expression. After many years as keyboarder and pianist in different live band projects, he reclaimed the pure grand piano sounds with its strong and almost unlimited expressiveness.

Matt Koranda loves to let his soul fly over the black and white keys without preconceived sheet music, just directed by his emotions. His approach is to reach a state of deep trance and he said sometimes his fingers start to play themselves without conscious control. He starts tapping new sources of emotional reflection, energy and healing.

In 2016 he started to record these magic moments with that original and improvisational art of music. Later he enriched his piano music with orchestral instruments to let you immerse in an even deeper colorful world of various emotions. In 2020 his debut album “Desperation” is published worldwide.

Wide Waters

(neoclassical, cinematic, ambient)

Cinematic ambient soundscapes that echo with nature, leading a journey of self-exploration colliding and intertwining with technology. Intense, at times ethereal, with adaptive emotional content immersing the listener in an emotive journey to discovering ourselves.

The band is Justin Krass – Piano, Sam Stauff – Guitar, Phil Anthony – Bass and John Venezia – Drums. And, is an evolution stemming from Justin and Sam making music with Wess Meets West and steering away from post-rock towards ambient, subdued new-wave classical music, exploring textures in a minimalistic soundscape incorporating moments of rock and opera.

YuMe

(neoclassical)

YuMe is a Dutch composer writing meditative songs in the pentatonic vein. Sometimes his piano playing is being backed by subtle far-off self made soundscapes and field recordings, almost unhearable but giving the listener even more imaginary views of a world beyond (after all, yume means dream in Japanese). Naturally, YuMe is being influenced by other minimal composers as well as his visits to Japan, but a genuine hermit follows his own path, playing and recording.

Lars Jakob Rudjord

(neoclassical, contemporary music)

Lars Jakob Rudjord is a Norwegian pianist and composer, based on the windswept Lista peninsula on the Southwest coast of Norway. As one of very few Norwegian artists on the globally growing Modern Classical scene pioneered by acts like Nils Frahm, Olafur Arnalds and Max Richter, Rudjord mixes his acoustic, classical-inspired piano melodies with synths, strings, beats and electronics, inviting the audience into his very own sound world.

He has released two studio albums and a number of singles and EPs on Fyrlyd Records to stunning reviews. The most recent album was recorded and produced by Grammy-awarded producer Joel Hamilton in Brooklyn, NY, and was awarded «Best new release 2016» by The Vinyl Anachronist (US).

Lars Jakob Rudjord’s live shows are evocative journeys into his very own musical world. He usually performs solo, surrounded by his dearest friends: an acoustic piano, a Fender Rhodes, synthesizers and other vintage keyboards. Occasionally, he also brings a string player or two.

Besides his solo career, he is also a frequent performer with some of the foremost Norwegian musicians in various genres, like Ingvild Koksvik, Karl Seglem and Moddi.

Jeisen

(instrumental, improvisation, meditation)

Jeisen released his debut solo piano EP on February 14th 2020.

https://fanlink.to/jeisen-born

The album is available on Spotify, iTunes/Apple Music, Amazon, YouTube Music, Google Play, and Deezer. For fans of Ludovico Einaudi, Nils Frahm, Yiruma, George Winston, Megan Wofford.

Study / relaxing / date night in / waking up slowly / wind down type music. This entire EP was fully improvised.