Review by Robin B. James
Relaxing Classical Crossover Piano Instrumentals In her latest release, Still, the Steinway Artist Ann Sweeten is moving, melodic and visionary. The new classical crossover album by the composer, pianist and co-producer was recorded by Will Ackerman and Tom Eaton at Imaginary Road Studios in Vermont, and also features Charlie Bisharat (violin), Nancy Rumbel (English horn), Premik Russell-Tubbs (soprano saxophone, alto flute), Eugene Friesen (cello), Richard Sebring (French horn) of Boston Symphony Orchestra. It is available as a CD with poetry & photo booklet on the artist’s website.
This album continues Sweeten’s journey through a musical landscape at once personal and universal, drawing on the rich expressive language of classical idioms while embracing the harmonic openness of new age music. As is her style, Sweeten offers a poignant meditation on the cyclical rhythms of the natural world, rendered with a delicacy and sincerity that speak to both technical accomplishment and spiritual contemplation. The cycle of seasons, the eternal dance of the spheres, as expressed by Sweeten is sure to enchant listeners with its depth of expression.
The opening track, “Distant Clouds,” sets the tone with characteristic understatement: the piano speaks in gentle, wistful phrases, while Charlie Bisharat’s violin, sparingly employed, occasionally rises from within the texture to offer soaring commentary. Here, Sweeten displays her gift for expressive nuance—her phrases breathe with a natural rubato that reflects a deep inner listening, creating a sense of time suspended.
In “Whispers of Spring,” we find Eugene Friesen’s cello lending gravitas to Sweeten’s luminous keyboard writing. The work unfolds with an organic lyricism, eschewing overt display for a compositional logic rooted in feeling rather than formality. Spring’s gradual unfurling is captured not through programmatic gestures but through harmonic shifts and delicate interplay—hallmarks of Sweeten’s mature style.
The title track, “Still,” stands as a quiet centerpiece—introspective, restrained, and deeply felt. The ensemble, here particularly the strings, serve not merely as accompaniment but as equal participants in a shared expression of memory and longing. Highlighting her marked individuality, her delicate gracefulness and captivating moods, this unique contemporary instrumental artist is one of impressive technical difficulty, emotional depth, and musical richness portraying the cycle of Life.
Her experimentation with form and technique conveys on the canvas of sound a passionate belief in spiritual freedom, individual creativity and a melodic euphoria – bold, passionate and uplifting. She blends elements of classical music with new directions in rhythm and harmony delivering a sense of subjectivity, imagination, and appreciation of nature. There is a quality of inwardness that recalls the more spiritual strains of late Romantic chamber writing, yet Sweeten’s voice as a composer remains unmistakably her own.
Ann Sweeten is the consummate concert pianist, a highly-trained composer whose cinematic storytelling compositions, like so many others, are lacking adequate opportunities to be performed in our post-COVID concert venues. It is our loss.
Listen on your platform of choice: https://lnk.to/AnnSweeten_Still
About Ann Sweeten:
After three decades of enamoring audiences on the Concert stage and on the Airwaves, Ann Sweeten’s signature style is recognized worldwide. Her style is decidedly unique, embracing not only the classical realm, but aspects of jazz, film scoring, new age and popular music. Sweeten is one of the most played modern instrumentalists in North America, one of the most decorated pianists of the last 30 years with albums consistently ranking in the Bestselling New Releases on Amazon New Age and in the Top 5 ZMR Radio Charts. She is a Steinway Artist, a featured C.A.R.E. Artist with Healing HealthCare Systems. A Breast Cancer survivor twice over and currently battling leukemia, Ms. Sweeten is a passionate individual and artist, a staunch environmentalist, animal activist and vegetarian. Connect with her at AnnSweeten.com
