OUT NOW | Violinist Zachary Carrettin and Pianist Mina Gajić's New Album "Confluence"

Released on the Sono Luminus label, violinist Zachary Carrettin and pianist Mina Gajić chose two works that are personal to them for their new album, "Confluence."

Ray Granlund's tangos were initially written for Carrettin, who is also Music Director of the Boulder Bach Festival. Carrettin notes that duos are "tango nuevo-inspired" and have far-reaching classical influences, from Poulenc and Shostakovich to J.S. Bach. The tangos also push the range of the form, incorporating unusual time signatures and hinting at other dance forms.

The other work on the disc is Marko Tajčević's Seven Balkan Dances. The set is "rich with the tonalities and rhythms of the folk music I grew up hearing and singing in what was then Yugoslavia," pianist Mina Gajić told The Violin Channel. "These works conjure a time and place, and they are magical in the harmonic palette."

"When I hear Mina play the fourth Balkan dance I’m transported to a serene place where time seems to have slowed down," Carrettin adds.

"And when I play 'Sollozo Perpetuo' I’m struck again and again that Ray has written an entire piece from a single, beautifully-crafted melodic line with powerful harmonic underpinnings; it is a mellifluent stream of consciousness.

"We hope listeners, too will connect with this wonderful music composed by Tajcevic and Granlund," he said.

The album is available for purchase here.

You can also listen to Carrettin and Gajić, among others, performing one of Granlund's tangos below: