Violinist Hasse Borup and Pianist Andrew Staupe are embarking on an ambitious project to record the complete works for the two instruments by legendary, American composer Leon Kirchner. This project is in collaboration with the Parma Recording Label with a scheduled release in Fall 2027.

The three major works for this instrumentation by Kirchner – Duo for Violin and Piano, Duo No. 2 and Sonata Concertante – have never previously been released as an album.

The mid-twentieth century American Avant-Garde group of composers (such as Leon Kirchner, Elliott Carter, Gunther Schuller and others) have been relatively overlooked in terms of recorded collections and representation in live performances. This is in comparison with American composers in the early twentieth century (such as Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber and others) who regularly appear on major recordings and concert programs. There are some broader stylistic and accessibility reasons for this dynamic, but the main reason continues to be the lack of comprehensive and visible recordings of this crucial part of the American cultural canon. This project aims to play a part in changing this, and does have the potential to create awareness, new knowledge to the discipline of classical music nationally and internationally

Kirchner’s music, which eschews the rigorous twelve-tone method practiced by Schoenberg, is imbued with searing intensity that bespeaks a spirit that relentlessly and mercilessly revealed his own complex and at times anguished personality. Its expressive power resulted in awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1962), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1963), and the Center for Advanced Study of Behavioral Sciences (1974). Kirchner twice received the New York Critics Circle annual award (for the First- and Second-String Quartets), a Naumburg Award for his First Piano Concerto, and the Pulitzer Prize for his Third String Quartet (1967).

Performances and other events related to this project will be posted as they become available.

Stay tuned!