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To say that 2020 was a difficult year for the United States would be an understatement. Covid 19 took the lives of 385,000 people. Racism and police brutality took the lives of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, igniting nationwide and eventually worldwide protests. In California, the 4.2 million acres burned in 2020 were the most in a single year since records were kept, and more than the previous three years combined. Vicious election cycle rhetoric was boiling over, and conversations dominating cable news focused on what this country was, is, or should be. Unemployment skyrocketed. People were isolated, sick, scared and exhausted.

In thinking about ways one person could make a small difference, it occurred to me that in many ways amplifying voices of others, whether it's those of centuries past, or ones of today, is an essential part of being a Classical musician. I decided to commission new works for violin from American and US-based composers, asking each one to reflect in some way on the time we were all living through. Some, like Kinan Azmeh, Christina Courtin and Kojiro Umezaki have been dear friends for decades; others like Maya Miro Johnson, Ebun Oguntola and Anjna Swaminathan were new connections; all were musicians whose artistry I respect and admire.

I feel incredibly lucky to have had the composers gently guide me into their process, easing my initial worries with encouragement and allowing me to find my own way to bring their works to life. I'm definitely not a singer, nor can I play the guitar, but I'm glad I had the chance to try.

Over the course of the last 18 months I've come to think of this project as an anthology, a snapshot in time, documenting a tiny slice of the creative thought and output in this country today. I invite you to stop listening to pundits, extend your ears, open up your imagination, and trust the music to guide you into a challenging, complicated and thrilling sound world - This Is America!

Track Listing

Sales Points

• Features many composers, including Terry Riley, Rhiannon Giddens and several others

Press Quotes

A summative, even palliative, recollection of our experience of the pandemic... A broad collection of more than 20 works of an astonishing and inclusive variety

     —Luke Schultze, San Diego Union Tribune

A violinist who can do anything

     —David Patrick Stearns, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Understated technical virtuosity and expressive flair

     —Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

Most of all what emerges from this extraordinarily rich collection is a sense of well-deep humanity that binds more than it sunders, soothing and stirring in equal measure. A pulse reading of and for our times

     —Siobhan Long, The Irish Times

Intoxicating... Kaleidoscopic invention... Gandelsman is attuned to the precise nature of each artist, and tailors his sound to each one... Quietly impressive

     —Seth Colter Walls , The New York Times

EDITOR'S PICK: Potentially one of the important recordings of our time

     —Mark Seow, Gramophone

A manifesto on diversity, musical as well as social...a lexicon of contemporary styles...an incisive interpretive sensibility...Whether you focus on the purely musical qualities of these new works, or on the set's social and political underpinnings...

     —Allan Kozinn, Wall Street Journal

Uniformly superb release...timely and monumental...the most comprehensive and original musical reaction to the overlapping series of seismic events that shook America and the world.

     —Hrayr Attarian, All About Jazz

Crystallizing a new vision for American Classical Music... This Is America stirs feelings about our country that are almost hard to recognize: pride, hope, and the simple relief of consensus reality

     —Brian Howe, Pitchfork

A tender and stunning musical memorial... This is America does not dwell in loss so much as stare it right in the face: we are living in and through a state of mourning. But we are also relishing moments of creative growth and making time to reflect.

     —A. Kori Hill, I Care If You Listen

Epic ... Countless musicians have cut songs and albums in response to the treacherous past few years, but few have created a body of work as profound and engaging as violinist Johnny Gandelsman.

     —Tom Huizenga, NPR Music

Knitting the whole project together is Gandelsman's charismatic, big-hearted playing, giving warmth and humanity to the thorniest, most cryptic utterances... Gandelsman's versatility is a constant...

     —Graham Rickson, The Arts Desk

An embarrassment of riches...a staggering accomplishment on purely logistical grounds, but it impresses in musical and thematic ways too. A tremendous accomplishment that shows the significant difference a single empowered individual can make.

     —Textura

Remarkable musical, emotional, and sonic adventure in 21st century music. Gandelsman's performance in these recordings is superb.

     —Zane Turner, Music Web International

A brilliantly conceived release offering a commentary on the modern world. Mind-bendingly diverse and frequently provocative, but always engaging, rewarding and carried off with exceptional insight and panache by Gandelsman.

     —David Kettle, Strad Magazine

Truly, breathtaking ... The songs conjure the vividly, movingly illuminating experiences and emotions of the multitudinous origins, orientations, and traditions of this nation today. (SPIN'S 22 BEST ALBUMS OF 2022)

     —Steve Hochman, Spin

Both a wildly varied cross-section of American music and a manifesto about art's power to reflect on, and guide us through, the crises of our time. (BOSTON GLOBE'S FAVORITE CLASSICAL ALBUMS OF 2022)

     —David Weininger, THe Boston Globe