ready or not
about the album
Ready or Not (Azica Records, 2022) celebrates music written by women from the renaissance to the present day. In selecting the pieces for this album, we looked both within and beyond the classical tradition and string orchestra medium for diverse voices and compelling stories. These selections represent just the tip of the iceberg: women’s creative visions have always been here, whether the world was ready or not.
Musicians
Violin | Josie Davis, Sophie Davis, Maya French, Kiyoshi Hayashi, Grant Houston, Emma Powell, Maura Shawn Scanlin, Ryan Shannon
Viola | Brianna Howard, Lysander Jaffe, Elizabeth Moore
Cello | Stephanie Chen, Eunghee Cho, Drake Driscoll, Matthew Smith, Kamyron Williams
Bass | Nate Martin
Mezzo-soprano | Sophie Michaux
Production
Recorded October 2020-January 2021 at the Shalin Liu Performance Center (Rockport Music)
Engineering | Kyle Pyke, Christopher Moretti, and Tom Caulfield
Mixing and Mastering | Kyle Pyke and Jesse Lewis of Immersive Music Project Production | Kyle Pyke and Palaver Strings, with input from Liz Knowles, Akenya Seymour, and Sophie Michaux
Graphic Design | Fiona Hilton
Album artwork | Alyssa Grenning
Photography | Christina Wnek Chicago (Akenya Seymour)
Videographer | Alex Garcia / Three Story Media Maine Videographer | Yoon S. Byun / Strewn Wonder Video editor | Yoon S. Byun / Strewn Wonder
“This set blows the tent flaps wide open to embrace new contemporary classical fans.”
— Midwest Record
“As the recording so convincingly illustrates, the ensemble's as locked in delivering an Irish jig as giving voice to the eloquent lamentations of Fear the Lamb.”
— Textura
“[A] masterpiece, well-served by Palaver’s seventeen players. Moving from Bacewicz to a tiny 16th century madrigal by Maddalena Casulana is a big leap, and Jesse MacDonald’s transcription works wonderfully, as does Barbara Strozzi’s “Lagrime mie” from a century later, sympathetically arranged by Adam Jacob Simon and sweetly sung by soprano Sophie Michaux.”
— ArtsDesk
“In Lagrime mie by Barbara Strozzi (1619-77), the mezzo-soprano Sophie Michaux expresses the lament’s fierce power. A lovely, jazzy elegy, Fear the Lamb, by Chicago composer Akenya Seymour, remembers the short life of the American civil rights icon Emmet Till. With Irish-inspired folk fiddling to close, the disc ends on a high.”