Simax classics

Two outstanding solo performers, Sandvik and Olsen frequently meet in a duo setting for flute and guitar. They have challenged contemporary composers to come up with developing and meaningful music for the combination, resulting in the beautiful musical dialogue on this release.

Gro Sandvik and Stein-Erik Olsen have for many years collaborated on chamber music projects all around the world, premiering numerous new works for flute and guitar. On this album they focus on 'the space between them', with two pieces written especially for them. Strong and characteristic works that unite the virtuoso element with an artistic sensitivity.

Koshkin and Denisov

Nikita Koshkin studied guitar and composition at the Moscow conservatory. His Oratorium Lacrimae (Oratorio of Grief) can be seen as a comment to the values of the present day. Edison Denisov was a leading Russian composer in the generation after Shostakovich, and not afraid to introduce avant-garde music in a country where experiments within the arts was taboo. Denisov"s list of works is long, and includes music to around 60 movies.

Liebermann and Zahler

Lowell Liebermann made his debut in Carnegie Hall only sixteen years old, with his own First Piano Sonata on the program. His list of works includes opera, orchestral, vocal and chamber music. His music is notable for its stylistic resourcefulness and polished craftsmanship. Noel Zahler, Head of the Carnegie Mellon University School of Music, Pittsburgh, has written a variety of vocal and instrumental compositions. The title track was commissioned for this recording, and the composer thrives with a "remarkable experience filled with the opportunity to explore a soundscape that can only be realized by the finest of performers".

A critically acclaimed duo

Gro Sandvik, solo flute of the Bergen Philharmonic for many years and Professor at the GriegAcademy, Bergen, studied with a number of outstanding performers, including Marcel Moyse and Bud Beyer. Sandvik have given concerts and master classes in the USA, as well as Belgium, Poland and UK. Stein-Erik Olsen, Professor at the Grieg Academy, studied with Alexandre Lagoya at Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. They have both recorded several albums to great critical acclaim.