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What is your favorite thing about running an indie record label?
Artistically, it's a great pleasure to work so closely in partnership with Avie's artists, collaborating every step of the way to produce their recordings. From a business perspective, we've chosen to remain lean and mean and can react relatively quickly to changing market conditions. The digital market is a great case in point.
Does your label specialize in a genre or certain region of the world?
Avie is a classical label, and within that genre the range of the Avie catalog is vast, from 9th-century Greek Orthodox chants to world premiere recordings.
From the beginning Avie has set out to be an international label with world-wide distribution, both physical and digital. IODA definitely facilitates the latter and it's fascinating to see where throughout the world our music is being purchased.
Can you give us a brief overview of Avie and the history of the label?
Avie Records operates a unique business model based on artist ownership. This model is as robust today as when the label launched in 2002, and allows artists a creative freedom not found at any other label. The label has been hailed as "adventurous" (New York Times), "enterprising (Gramophone)," and "admirable" (The Sunday Times - London). According to leading online classical e-trailer ArkivMusic.com, Avie "has blazed trails in classical music as an artist-driven company allowing for the ultimate in creative control. In a relatively short time, Avie has put together an impressive catalog."
Avie Records released its first recordings in April 2002, a group of eight that featured such artists as Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert, Lara St. John and The Dufay Collective. Nine years later the catalogue has grown to over 200 titles, with a roster featuring such artists as Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Julian Bream, Semyon Bychkov, Andreas Haefliger, Monica Huggett, Jon Lord, Antonio Meneses, Menahem Pressler, Vasily Petrenko and Simon Trp?eski.
Over the years, Gramophone Awards have gone to viol quartet Phantasm for their recording of Gibbons' Consorts, Julian Bream for his absorbing DVD My Life in Music, Trevor Pinnock for his Brandenburg Concertos with the specially formed European Brandenburg Ensemble, and Adrian Chandler and his ensemble La Serenissima, for Vivaldi: The French Connection. Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Monica Huggett, and The Dufay Collective have received Grammy® Nominations. The label has collected scores of other international citations, most recently France's Diapason d'or de l'année for Simon Trp?eski's Rachmaninov Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3, with Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
Avie actively signs and nurtures young, emerging talent and has helped to put several artists on the musical map, including Avery Fisher Career Grant winner violinist Augustin Hadelich, Luiza Borac who won a BBC Music Magazine Award for her survey of Enescu's Piano Works, and Vivaldi specialist Adrian Chandler who was the 2010 Gramophone Award winner in the Baroque Instrumental category.
Quality is fundamental to Avie's output, from the music to the performances and production values, through to the end product. With only a few exceptions, Avie's recordings are sold at a traditional full price, reflecting the value of the purchase.
Are there any new releases we can look forward to?
Lots! This autumn we're particularly excited about a release from the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford - Treasures of Christ Church. This Oxford University college has one of the most venerable music libraries in Europe, with original scores dating back to the 16th century. All of the music on Treasures of Christ Church is associated with the institution in some way, from original, 500-year-old manuscripts by the likes of Taverner, Byrd and Gibbons to world-premieres by John Rutter and Howard Goodall. We had the privilege of visiting the library and gaining access to some of the pristinely preserved manuscript scores, a truly awesome experience.
Do you have a favorite local radio station or radio program?
I don't think we could limit ourselves to just one. Avie has offices in the UK and the US, so when in the UK we listen to Classic FM and BBC Radio 3. In the US we are avid NPR listeners as well as WQXR in New York. And when we're in IODA territory, we tune in to KDFC.
What is your favorite place online to discover music? Offline?
A favorite online destination is the website TheRestIsNoise.com for Alex Ross' musically omnivorous and highly intelligent insights. I love following his not-always-obvious recommendations. Similarly, Alex's columns in The New Yorker and his books The Rest Is Noise and Listen to This.
Is there any art or music you've discovered recently that you'd like to tell us about?
Prokofiev Piano Sonatas were a great discovery for me this year. Pianist Alexandra Silocea made her recording debut on Avie this year with the first five sonatas, and the trail-blazing sound world that Prokofiev created on the keyboard was a revelation that I was not familiar with before. The Symphonies of Hans Gal would also have to top the list. Avie is releasing the world-premiere recordings of his four symphonies, which are being championed by two conductors, Thomas Zehetmair and Kenneth Woods. It's astonishing that these beautiful, expertly crafted orchestral works have not seen the light of day before now - they definitely deserve repeated listening.
What was your favorite digital music event in the last 2 years?
We're excited about the trend towards high-quality, 24-bit downloads. Classical aficionados are discerning listeners and have not adapted to MP3 downloads as readily as fans of other genres. Being able to download uncompressed, pristine copies of studio masters is opening up the digital space to classical consumers.