A Fresh Musical Scale on Jennifer Castellano's New Solo Piano Album

Composer and pianist Jennifer Castellano doesn't stick to the conventional major and minor key systems of classical music. The rhythm-driven, folk-influenced solo piano compositions on her new album Images, due out June 20th, are based on her own musical scale..

The central work on the disc, Images, is a collection of seven pieces that were inspired by the composer's pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Each piece is influenced by either a specific historic place, moment or feeling during her visit to Israel. Also featured on this recording are three piano pieces that were commissioned by the New Jersey Teachers Association in 2012. Written for piano students, they vary in technical difficulty: Peaceful Pause (elementary level), Avian Adventures (intermediate level) and Modern Dance (advanced level).

"I perform and create music because I must reveal something that cannot be expressed through the spoken word," Jennifer says. "My compositions and performances reveal my own personal perceptions and experiences living in contemporary society and finding my place in it."

The Composer, who is both visually and hearing impaired, currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Adult Musicians with Hearing Loss and is Media/Public Relations Coordinator for New York Women Composers. Jennifer strives to show others that good musicianship does not come from how well one can perceive the world around them but how well one can think with the mind, listen with the body and speak from the soul.

Jennifer received her Bachelor of Arts in Music in classical piano from Manhattanville College and a Master of Music in composition from State University of New York at Purchase. She has studied piano with Donna DeAngelis, Catherine Coppola and Flora Kuan and composition with Mary Ann Joyce-Walter, Huang Ruo, and Joel Thome.

Jennifer was commissioned to write music for the North/South Consonance Chamber Orchestra conducted by Max Lifchitz and was selected by the New Jersey Music Teachers Association as the 2012 Commissioned Composer. Recorded performances of her works have been featured on the weekly radio program Classical Discoveries hosted and produced by Marvin Rosen on New Jersey's WPRB 103.3 FM and Monday Evening Concert, hosted by Tom Quick on Ontario-based CKWR 98.5 FM. She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in New York, New Jersey and Washington D.C. and was a featured soloist in the 2008 Summer Concert Series in Cape Cod at the First Congregational Church in Wellfleet, Massachusetts Her first solo album, Spectrum, was released in 2011.

The new album, Images, will be available for purchase on CD Baby, Amazon and iTunes starting June 20th. To learn more about Jennifer and her music, visit http://www.CastellanoMusic.net.

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