Chelsea Music Festival Announces New Album By The Lee Trio: MIDSUMMER NIGHT MAGIC

Chelsea Music Festival Records has announced the release of a new album by The Lee Trio titled Midsummer Night Magic, available on August 2, 2024. 

The Lee Trio is an award-winning piano trio whose "gripping immediacy and musical freshness" and "rich palette of tone colours" [The Strad] has inspired and moved audiences worldwide, establishing itself as one of the premier chamber ensembles on the international stage.

"The fourth album released by Chelsea Music Festival Records, Midsummer Night Magic brings us joy & solace through the stories it tells. Uljas Pulkkis paints pictures of Finnish Midsummer childhood legends. Edmund Finnis's timeless landscape invites us to listen deeply. And our love for Robert Schumann's music lays a foundation for how we tell our own stories as musicians, mothers, and human beings-with vulnerability, empathy and swelling hope. We are so glad to share these stories with you." -The Lee Trio (www.theleetrio.com)

Finnish composer Uljas Pulkkis was studying mathematics and musicology at Helsinki University in 1994 when he started taking private composition lessons with Tapani Länsiö and Harri Vuori. He went on to further his composition studies at the Sibelius Academy with Tapani Länsiö, Paavo Heininen and Tapio Nevanlinna, and win first prize in composition at the Queen Elisabeth Competition. His catalog includes symphonic works, operas, and chamber music which "has clearly struck a nerve: it is a blend of so many influences that no one feels it is completely alien. At the same time, however, this blend is whipped up so that the music outright sparkles with freshness" (Osmo Tapio Räihälä). Pulkkis wrote "Fern Flowers" in 2019 for The Lee Trio in celebration of Silbelius' 150th anniversary and Midsommer.

British composer Edmund Finnis' music has been hailed as "magical" (The New York Times), "iridescent, compelling" (The Guardian), "exquisite" (Sara Mohr-Pietsch, BBC Radio 3) and "ethereally beautiful" (Herald Scotland). His multifaceted works, regularly performed and broadcast both at home in the UK and internationally, ranges from intimate music for soloists and duets to immersive electronic pieces, music for film, ensemble music, and works for large orchestra. Five Trios was commissioned by Britten Sinfonia in 2019 and comprises of five short trios made of "flowing iterative patterns, delicate pulsations, closely interwoven colors, lines tracing arcs, unfolding and revolving at different speeds, sustained resonances that hover and dissipate in the air like mist, and undulating piano figures that the bowed strings glide through and above." (Edmund Finnis)

The Lee Trio is thrilled to feature the work of Queens-based painter Aliza Morell as the artwork for both the full album and the singles leading up to its release. An artist incredibly adept with her use of color, Morell has stated "by juxtaposing carefully mixed colors to create optical vibrations and harmonies, it can take on almost musical properties." The glowing light, touch, and movement in the paintings that bring a sense of magic to the natural world provide a beautiful complement to the album.

ABOUT THE CHELSEA MUSIC FESTIVAL RECORDS LABEL

Chelsea Music Festival Records (est. 2019) furthers the mission of the Chelsea Music Festival to collaborate in pursuit of new perspectives in artistic expression- and give emerging voices, particularly those of women and people of color, a stage. Together with the core Chelsea Music Festival team, the label is working to build a community to support a new generation of musicians, composers, and artists.

Each year, the label focuses on one or two full album releases- featuring both studio and live recordings of classical and jazz from the Chelsea Music Festival community. For more info about the albums released on Chelsea Music Festival Records, please visit www.chelseamusicfestival.org/chelsea-music-festival-records

ABOUT THE CHELSEA MUSIC FESTIVAL

Chelsea Music Festival celebrates great music by convening world-leading musicians & artists in the performing, culinary, and visual arts for an international audience. The Festival invites artists, composers, and performers to collaborate in pursuit of new perspectives in artistic expression. Inspired by its Chelsea roots, the Festival reflects the creativity of one of New York City's most dynamic neighborhoods. Programs span musical genres ranging from classical to contemporary to jazz with a special emphasis on Festival commissions by composers whose works are not in the traditional western canon. In addition, the Festival hosts an online library of recordings so music enthusiasts, artists, and students alike can explore unique interpretations of classical, jazz, and contemporary works via high-quality videos of world-class performances.

Since 2010, the Festival has established itself as a critically-acclaimed, accessible and interactive gateway to chamber music in non-traditional concert spaces such as art galleries, public squares, schools, and churches. Programming includes concerts, lectures, exhibitions, family events, and free outreach performances. In 2020, the Festival inaugurated its Online Encores and Online Originals YouTube series; Online Encores presents highlights from Festival archives while Online Originals presents new performances and recordings. We are proud to give emerging voices, particularly those of women and people of color, a stage and are working to build an audience and intimate community to support a new generation of musicians, composers, and artists.

The Chelsea Music Festival Artistic Directors are Melinda Lee Masur and Ken-David Masur.