NEWS RELEASE

POSTCARDS RECORDS RELEASES LARA DOWNES' INVITATION TO THE DANCE

Postcards Records is pleased to announce the release of classical pianist Lara Downes' debut CD, Invitation to the Dance, a collection of solo classical pieces by 19th and 20th century Masters such as Liszt, Weber, Ravel, Chopin and Barber. All the pieces on the CD relate to popular dances of their time; it is a fascinating recap of where we've been on the dance floor over the last 200 years.

Invitation to the Dance is the first classical release on the Postcards label since the Arkadia Entertainment Group acquired it in 1999. Under the leadership of Arkadia founder Bob Karcy, the acclaimed electro-acoustic avant-garde jazz label expanded its horizons to include classical and world music. Lara.Downes is the first artist to premiere a recording and the first classical artist as well. "Not many people have what Lara has," says Karcy. "She's an incredible virtuoso, she's funny, sophisticated, intelligent and she looks great too. She could be the next big thing in the classical world."

Lara Downes has been hailed as one of the most promising young pianist today, and her choice of repertoire runs from the traditional to the avant-garde. Her recent projects include a Copeland Centennial recital, a newly discovered piano concerto by Clara Schumann, and a four-part recital series entitled This American Century. "I have been intrigued by the interdependence between music and dance" Lara says, "Dance, after all, is music in motion, the physical embodiment of sound." It seems only natural then that she would want to take on a project that tied together the two things she loves most.

Franz Liszt arranged virtuostic piano versions of popular songs from popular operas, and the Polonaise from Eugene Onegin is a prime example of these transcriptions. "You have the sense in the way that Liszt wrote these adaptations that these were the "top 40" hits of the day," says Lara. "When he played them, they were big show stoppers because everybody knew the tune he was quoting. They were so over the top, incredibly virtuostic."

Weber's piece, Invitation to the Dance "is gracefully written for the piano. I wanted to play it for years, so I learned it and started performing it all the time. It used to be a popular concert piece from the 20's to the 50's.

It's been kind of out of style in the last 30 years but I really like it." With the arrival of the new century, the Invitation is once again extended to us, as we can see the natural beauty of Weber's composition, unclouded by the atonal musings of the last 50 years.

The Danzas Argentinas "are a mini version of Ginastera's piano sonata. They use all the indigenous argentine rhythms really nicely" says Lara. "Ginastera and Chavez were friends with Copland, and in their different American ways, they were working on incorporating folk music into concert music, much like Dvorak and Bartok did in Europe. Ginastera was a real force in shaping the direction of music in South America." The three dances range from the lyric to dissonant, and are rhythmic in nature.

"Spooky!" is how Lara describes Ravel's La Valse. "I love playing this piece because you can really make an orchestra out of the piano." Originally scored for orchestra, the piano version assumes the different timbres and voices of the orchestra. "The challenge is to approximate the orchestra. The sound is so thick, so you have to work to bring out the different voices. It's one of my favorite pieces to play, it always brings to mind the movie The Red Shoes, which is about a dancer who is trapped in a fatal dance that becomes increasingly wild until she dances herself to death."

Chopin's Bolero Op. 19 is somewhat of an anomaly in that "it keeps turning into a polonaise, because that rhythm was so deep in him. It's the only thing I know by Chopin that he tried to do in such a different genre" laughs Lara. "It starts out pretty true to the bolero rhythm, but pretty soon, the polonaise creeps back in. It's sort of a departure for him, and it's one of his pieces that's played the least because it's such an oddity!"

To close out Lara's debut, the Souvenirs Op. 28 "are a sweet tribute" to times gone by. Barber wrote the 6 small pieces during the Cold War, envisioning them taking place at the Plaza Hotel in 1914, the last possible moment before the 20th Century turned ugly. Perhaps as a reaction to the horrors of the previous 40 years and a desire to look back to the Good Old Days, the Souvenirs are a reminder of our innocence lost, and the hope we have of finding it once again.

The eldest of three musical daughters of a civil rights attorney mother and a Jamaican biochemist father, Ms. Downes began her piano studies at age five at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. At seven, she composed an opera based on the children's book Charlotte's Web, which was performed in San Francisco. Home schooled through high school, Lara completed her advanced studies under Hans Graf at the Vienna Hochschule and with Rudolph Buchbinder at the Music Academy in Basel. She has received highest Honors in the Claude Kahn, Palma d'Oro and Artists International Competitions.

Since making noteworthy debuts at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Vienna Konzerthaus and Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, Lara has been on a full time concert schedule in the US and Europe. Lara is currently completing her second recording, "American Ballads", a retrospective of American composers. Lara will be performing the premiere of renowned jazz composer Benny Golson's solo classical piano piece "On Gossamer Wings" at Lincoln Center in March 2001, and will be performing on NPR's nationally broadcast "Performance Today".

Lara Downes' busy solo and chamber career is strongly impacted by her commitment to expanding and developing new audiences for the arts. She dedicates time during her concert tours to elementary school workshops, and has developed a wide network of community outreach through the University of California at Davis. She is the co-founder and artistic director of Arts Exchange, a project dedicated to building creative partnerships between the visual and performing arts. Says Lara, "I'd like to redefine the concert experience, to give it new relevance in our 21st century world." Her website can be found at www.laradownes.com.

A full-service label started in 1997 by Bob Karcy, Arkadia Jazz has earned four Grammy nominations (the most of any independent label in the jazz category) and wide acclaim as "The Artists Choice"."Arkadia is a new label whose recordings to date have been meticulous, high-quality productions with focus and purpose" Thomas Conrad, Stereophile. The label has released CD's by Billy Taylor, David Liebman and Joanne Brackeen (both Grammy nominees on Arkadia Jazz), T.K. Blue, Mary Pearson, Benny Golson (also nominated for a Grammy), Kenny Drew Jr. and David Lahm, among others. The twice Grammy nominated "Thank You" series includes tributes to Coltrane, Gerry Mulligan, Duke Ellington and Joe Henderson. In June of 1999, Arkadia acquired the esteemed Postcards label, and is expanding its catalog into the world and classical music areas. Postcards new releases are classical pianist Lara Downes and bassist Joris Teepe with Don Braden and Chris Potter.