"Oleksa Lozowchuk is a name to watch. His music endeavours to bring Heaven to earth, and simultaneously to transmute the earthly into the divine. In Bright Sadness he opens a window that looks both from earth out into eternity, and inwards to the human soul." Ivan Moody, Composer & Reviewer for Gramophone & International Record Review "...a lovely suite, totally unconcerned with anything but its own expressiveness...a disarming charmer, well performed and well recorded." American Record Guide, May/June 2004 "...Indispensable***" La Scena Musicale, avril 2004 "...sympathetic, skilled writing that fuses ancient and contemporary musical idioms in a way that is innovative and exciting. This is a very talented composer." Maestro James Meena, Conductor of the Carolina Opera "...a fascinating piece, full of colour and imagination, and extremely well-played and recorded..." Simon Streatfeild, Conductor "After hearing Bright Sadness, I was very impressed by the inspired, pure and unadulterated way that Oleksa Lozowchuk thinks about the essentials of composition and by the way he articulates his spiritual and musical vision. His sense of assurance and authority belies his age. Bright Sadness is a very well thought out, performed and produced compact disc, a necessary listening for any musician or music lover who needs to be convinced that music can make a profound difference in our world today." Christos Hatzis, Composer "...tout à fait originale...une fusion de musique et de spiritualité particulièrement réussie...incontestablement inspiré et même assez touchant par instants..." Richard Boisvert, Le Soleil *************** Bright Sadness is a new chamber work written for solo cello and accompaniment(contrabass, string quartet, mixed voices and tenor sopilka), loosely based on sacred and folkloric motifs of both Carpathian and Eastern Orthodox traditions. Combining raw elements of the past with a unique Western instrument, the cello, the work weaves both traditions together, reflecting and reconciling two distinct emotions within human experience - joy and sadness. The cello leads us on this journey through a suite of spring songs, laments and dances. The result is a unique musical encounter~ Bright Sadness. This debut recording of composer Oleksa Lozowchuk's Bright Sadness, features Blair Lofgren, principal cellist of the Quebec Symphony Orchestra.