“In my frequent work with composers, I had noticed quite a few drawing upon the music of their native countries – the tunes, native instruments, characteristic rhythms. Thinking about what the many cultures of the world mean to people today, I chose for this album to program the Bartók Sonata together with pieces I had recently commissioned from my friends: Aida Shirazi, from Iran, and Stewart Goodyear, from Canada. I also selected two works, one each by Manfred Stahnke and Franco Donatoni, that I’ve recently been playing regularly. While these don’t draw from the composers’ own ethnic cultures, they explore ideas inspired by folk music and unformalized language.”

– Miranda Cuckson