Rodney Sharman
Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa, piano
Known and UnKnown

Out: 22 March, 2024 on Redshift Records (TK539 — CD/DL)
Genres: modern composition, solo piano

RODNEY SHARMAN | RACHEL KIYO IWAASA

REDSHIFT RECORDS — WEB | BANDCAMP

Vancouver-based Rodney Sharman (b. 1958) has been a primary force within the Canadian contemporary music landscape since the 1980’s. None other than Louis Andriessen—one of his former teachers—characterized him as “the most distinguished Canadian composer of his generation,” andhis work has also been widely commissioned, performed, and choreographed to. Sharman’s past collaborators include the likes of the Hilliard Ensemble, Colin Tilney, Anthony de Mare, MusikFabrik, Quatuor Bozzini, het Nieuw Ensemble, the Ives Ensemble, numerous orchestras—both Canadian and International, and lauded film director Atom Egoyan, with whom he made chamber operas Elsewhereless (1998, which has received 35 subsequent stagings) andShow Room (2022.) Suffice to say that Vancouver pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa‘s forthcoming album of Sharman’s music, Known and Unknown—his very first portrait disc—is long overdue.

Although there are unifying themes within Sharman’s considerable opus, his catalogue also encompasses a surprising stylistic breadth. Attracted to fine gradations of unconventional colour, he also has penchant for the dramatic. He also invests great care into melodies, but often favours opaque harmonic and textural approaches that sometimes obscure this feature. Known and Unknown is a career-spanning collection that presents works dating back to the 1978 miniature Lentoand as recent as elegant 2021 titular composition—commissioned by Iwaasa herself to memorialize her recently departed mother, Inger. In the words of the pianist: “Based on the aria Ich habe Genug from Inger’s favorite Bach cantata, Known and Unknown explores the piano timbre’s intrinsic diminuendo to meditate on presence, absence, and endings.”

COVERAGE:
Year-End — Julian Cowley, Modern Composition — 2024 Rewind, The Wire
Year-End — 2024 Charts — Experimental & Neo-Classical, CJSW
List — Upcoming Releases, Tinnitist
List — Steve Smith, For The Record: March 1, 2024, Night After Night
List — Steve Smith, For The Record: March 22, 2024, Night After Night
List — Darryl Sterdan, Next Week in Music | March 18-24 • The Long List: 400 Releases On The Way, Tinnitist
Chart/ List — Kevin Press, Friday Five — March 22, 2024, The Moderns
News/Roundup — Zenith Wolfe, Highlights | 2024-2025 Season Announcements Continue, Universities Legally Challenge Quebec, La Scena Musicale
Interview — Rhonda Rizzo, No Dead Guys
Interview — Fanny Po Sim Head, Known and Unknown
Interview with Composer Rodney Sharman and Pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa, Interlude
Interview — Emilea Semancik, Five Minutes With: Vancouver New Classical Composer Rodney Sharman, Vancouver Guardian
Review — Julian Cowley, Musicworks
Review — Grego Applegate Edwards, GappleGate Classical-Modern Music Review
Review — Ben Harper, Boring Like A Drill
Review — Dionys, Inactuelles
Review — Will Chernoff, Rhythm Changes
Review — Frédéric Cardin, PAN M 360
Review — Raul Da Gama, The WholeNote
Review — David Reed, Belleville Intelligencer
Review — Nitestylez.de
Review — Tom Haugen, Take Effect Reviews
Review/ Round-up — Nick Ostrum, Solo Canada, Free Jazz Blog
Round-up — Frank P. Eckert, Motherboard: Mai 2024, Groove.de
Playlist — Stir Player, Stir
Podcast — Redshift Radio, Episode 17
Podcast — The Moderns, Episode 307
Podcast — Icarus Radio #620
Podcast — Icarus Radio #618
Podcast/Roundup — Different Noises #29
Radio/ Chart — Top 5 Classical Albums, CFBX (October 17, 2024)
Radio/ Chart — Top 10 Experimental/ Contemporary Classical CJSW (#1) (August 21, 2024)
Radio/ Chart — Weekly Top 30, CJSW (#1) (August 14, 2024)
Radio / Chart — Top 10 Experimental/ Contemporary Classical, CJSW (#1) (August 14, 2024)
Radio / Chart — Top 10 Experimental/ Contemporary Classical, CJSW (May 16, 2024)
Radio / Chart — Top 10 Experimental/ Contemporary Classical, CJSW (May 9, 2024)
Radio — Musica esoterica, KWUR (July 5, 2025)
Radio — In Concert, CBC (March 30, 2025)
Radio — Maple-Infused Breakfast, Big E Radio (January 18, 2025)
Radio — Melody In Mayhem, Asheville FM (September 13, 2024)
Radio — Outside the Lines, CJSW (August 26, 2024)
Radio — Music For A While, CKCU (August 19, 2024)
Radio — Musica Esoterica, KWUR (August 3, 2024)
Radio — Night Bird, CFMU (June 25, 2024)
Radio — Vocal Cords, CJSW (June 24, 2024)
Radio — The Jazz Disturbance (June 20, 2024)
Radio — The Floating Head of Zsa Zsa, WRUV (June 18, 2024)
Radio/Interview — Saskatchewan Weekend With Shauna Powers, CBC Radio (June 9, 2024)
Radio/ Feature — Friday Special Blend, CKCU (June 7, 2024)
Radio — Vocal Cords, CJSW (May 6, 2024)
Radio — Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark, Asheville FM (May 5, 2024)
Radio — Vocal Cords, CJSW (April 22, 2024)
Radio — Humanoid Radio, CFRU (April 16, 2024)
Radio — Tercera vía, RTVE 3 (April 13, 2024)
Radio — Situation Fluxus, Taint Radio (April 11, 2024)
Radio — Electric Sense, CIUT (April 4, 2024)
Radio — Humanoid Radio, CFRU (April 2, 2024)
Radio — Other Aspects, WAYO (March 24, 2024)
Radio — Saturday Afternoon at the Opera, CBC (March 16, 2024)
Radio — Other Aspects, WAYO (March 10, 2024)