Christos Hatzis is becoming widely known as a leading figure in contemporary classical music. His music is inspired by proto-Christian spirituality, his own Byzantine musical heritage, world cultures and various non-classical-music genres including jazz, pop and world musics. He has created several works inspired by the music of the Inuit, Canada's arctic inhabitants, and these works, particularly the award-winning radio documentary Footprints in New Snow, have promoted Inuit culture around the globe. His strongest inspiration is his own religious faith, and a number of his religious works have been hailed as contemporary masterpieces by critics and audiences alike.The starting point for Hatzis' Arctic Dreams 1 (2002) is another of his works, Voices of the Land, the third part of his Footprints In New Snow (1996), a radio documentary/composition about the Inuit and their culture which the composer created in 1995 with CBC Radio producer Keith Horner. In the documentary, the foreground is occupied by the voice of Winston White, an Inuit Elder and broadcaster from Nunavut who speaks about the north and its inhabitants. In Arctic Dreams 1, this place is taken by the flute and vibraphone. Watch a performance of Christos Hatzis' Arctic Dreams 1 played by flutist Nicole Camacho and vibraphonist Clara Warnaar . . . one of this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS.

. . . also check out Christos Hatzis in an Interview with "Your Greek News"  . . . our COMPOSER PORTRAIT for the week.

Frances White's Winter Aconites was composed in 1993; the part for tape being made at the Winham Laboratory of Princeton University. According to the composer, "Winter Aconites is the first of my "little bulb" pieces for instruments and tape. The instrument parts in these works are largely sustained tones; the tape parts are soft, chiming sounds with irregular attacks that create a space within which the instrumentalists perform. The winter aconite is a species of flowering bulb (Eranthis hyemalis). Its small, yellow, buttercup-like flowers are among the very first to appear each year; in the northeast it can bloom as early as February, while there is still snow on the ground. Like so many of the little early bulbs, winter aconites will naturalize -- they will propagate themselves and form large colonies. My piece, Winter Aconites, was commissioned by The ASCAP Foundation and the Bang On A Can Festival in memory of John Cage. Shortly after I began work on it (and before it had a title), I had a dream in which I brought a pot of winter aconite flowers to Cage. He was delighted -- he loved flowers and plants -- and later during my visit, we made sandwiches with some of the blooms (I have no idea whether the blooms of winter aconites are actually edible or not). Like the flowers in my dream, this piece is a gift for John Cage." Listen to a performance of Frances White's Winter Aconites  . . . it's one of our PYTHEAS EARFULS for the week.

Tony Caramia is Professor of Piano at the Eastman School of Music, where he is Director of Piano Pedagogy Studies and Coordinator of the Class Piano Program. He is a Contributing Editor for Clavier Companion Magazine and on the Editorial Committee of American Music Teacher. He has conducted numerous workshops in jazz piano for teachers at MTNA National and State Conventions; the International Association for Jazz Educators (IAJE) Teacher Training Institutes; the National Piano Teachers Institute, and the International Workshops. In addition, Caramia has lectured and performed at the European Piano Teachers Association International Conference in London, the Australian Piano Pedagogy Conference in Adelaide, and the Institute of Registered Music Teachers National Conference in New Zealand. He was a featured performer at the prestigious Rochester International Jazz Festival; the 2007, 2009, and 2011 National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, and the 50th Anniversary of the New School for Music Study, in Princeton, NJ. He has been a guest on Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz on NPR, and has served as a judge for the American Jazz Piano Competition, sponsored by the American Pianists Association, the Crescendo Music Awards, and the Young Texas Artists Competition. Watch a performance of his Night Train Express (1985) played by "PianoNic" . . . it's this week's second FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS. And also check out our extensive list of Jazz & Blues for the Beginning Pianist, as well as Contemporary Piano Repertoire for Young Performers, and Contemporary Violin Repertoire for Young Performers.