Alison Gooding & D.J. Sparr

Here is your exclusive opportunity to be part of ALIAS’ next album!

Composed by Kenji Bunch, the as-yet untitled album will be released in 2012 on the Delos record label.

For a $250 tax-deductible donation, your name will be memorialized inside the CD jacket, and you will receive exclusive invites to ALIAS events and parties.

As part of the album, ALIAS Chamber Ensemble in 2012 will be putting out five premiere recordings: Boiling Point for amplified string quartet, bass and teakettle; Luminaria for harp and violin; Drift for clarinet, viola and piano; String Circle for viola quintet; and 26.2 for horn quartet.

ALIAS, Nashville’s most eclectic and critically acclaimed chamber music ensemble, is thrilled to announce that it has been nominated for its first-ever Grammy for Hilos, an album composed by Latin Grammy-winning composer Gabriela Lena Frank and performed by members of ALIAS and Frank.

Hilos is among five nominees in the Grammy category for Best Small Ensemble Performance, as announced Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 on the Grammy.com website.

“It’s phenomenal,” said ALIAS executive director Jim Robert on Wednesday, after learning of the group’s nomination.”It’s beyond our wildest dreams. These guys have worked so hard to do this. It’s ALIAS, (Artistic Director) Zeneba (Bowers) and the group that deserve the recognition. They have worked very, very hard for this. It is phenomenal that this is their first CD, and to have this nomination. I think they’re a winner right now.”

ALIAS wishes to thank composer and fellow performer Gabriela Lena Frank, engineer Gary Hedden, producer D. Wilson Ochoa, the fantastic musicians and dedicated Board of Directors of ALIAS, and Naxos Records.

Commissioned by ALIAS, The Schubert Club, and Dr. Jonathan Neufeld and Dr. Jennifer Lena, and supported by a grant from Vanderbilt University, Hilos (Spanish for “threads”) is an eight-movement quartet for piano, violin, cello and clarinet.

ALIAS’ recording of Hilos was released by Naxos Records in February 2011 on its American Classics imprint.

“ALIAS has been inspired by Gabriela for years and has already programmed four of her chamber works on our regular season concerts,” said Bowers, founder and artistic director of ALIAS.”Naturally, we were thrilled and honored to have this opportunity to commission a piece from her and to perform and record it alongside her.”

Frank frequently draws on her multicultural Latin heritage as inspiration for her music. In Hilos, each short movement evokes vivid pictures, such as “Canto del Altiplano” (Song of the Highlands), “Zumballyu” (Spinning Top), and “Juegos de los Niños” (Games of the Children).