Music / Video Production & Financing
I have been involved with financing and producing several musicians who could otherwise not get their material released. Numerous singles and albums have been released over the years, please feel free to enjoy them as follows:
Latest Release: September 2024: “Summer Garden” by Igor Balakirev
This is the new Autumn 2024 video single by Igor Balakirev, who I have worked with for many years. It is an original composition for soprano and chamber orchestra, and is based on the poem of the same name by Anna Akhmatova. It was filmed it the Summer Gardens in St. Petersburg in late August 2024. I financed and produced this, as well as for the upcoming album of the same name.
The Four Corners Quartet
This was a commissioned piece I requested from the then China-based composer Brent Parker, to celebrate 20 years of my firm’s operations back in 2012. This website explains the work and has links to the composition. The Four Corners were a reference to where the firm’s origins were and featured sections based on music from China, India, Italy and the United Kingdom. We had it played live at several anniversary events.
We had it played live at several anniversary events. Click on the image to access the website and the music.
Anne Pigalle “Black Dahlia”
Anne Pigalle is a French, London-based avant-garde chanteuse who originally came to prominence during the punk era, where she was a label stable-mate on Trevor Horn’s Zang Tuum Tumm (ZTT) label alongside bands like Frankie Goes To Hollywood. She hadn’t been able to release her album “Ecstase” – I lent a hand, and the full album was released to critical acclaim in 2018. “Black Dahlia” – a song about a murdered prostitute – was the lead single, which featured ex-Sex Pistol Glenn Matlock on bass.
Igor Balakirev
I have had a long standing relationship with Igor Balakirev for many years, after I saw a concert featuring his songs at the Mariinsky Theatre in St.Petersburg. I loved the material, yet nothing was available about him online. After two years, I bumped into him in a local jazz bar and asked him what had happened to his songs. The reply? “No-one is interested in recording them.” Again, I stepped in to finance his music and get it out there. Now we are on his seventh album. Igor studied at the St.Petersburg Conservatory; his Great-Grand Uncle was the Imperial Russian-era composer Mily Balakirev. Apart from his classical music background, Igor filled the role of Freddie Mercury in the Russian production of Queen’s “We Will Rock You” stage show.
These are the singles from the recordings we have worked on together. All the music is original compositions by Igor.
“Angel”
Based on text by Pushkin. Beware demonic femme fatales!
“Kavkaz”
Based on text by Lermontov. Both these songs are from the 2018 album “Confession: I Love You” and feature musicians and singers from the Mariinsky and Mikhailovsky Theatres.
“Autumn March”
“Winter”
Both these tracks are from the 2019 album “The Sleeping Princess”
“The Cherubic Hymn”
Igor had written an entire Russian Orthodox Liturgy which I found incredibly moving. It is now sometimes sung in churches across Russia. This is the video single from part of this beautiful choral work.
“Alfred Karindi: Forgotten Masterpieces”
Part One
Part Two
While in Tallinn, Estonia, I had come across some old sheet music by the Estonian composer Alfred Karindi. It was written for organ, yet I thought had the potential to be transcribed for quartet. I acquired other works, and together with Igor and the talented Aleksandra Chekmak, re-arranged the pieces. We had enough for two albums worth of material, helping to bring Karindi’s works into a classical setting. These two videos describe the process.
“The Seasons”
Igor wrote 12 instrumental pieces for each month of the year, and some additional pieces for Christmas, New Year and Saint’s Day. The whole 2023 album can be heard here.