FRISSON
Music for Woodwind Orchestra

Update: Saturday 7 June 2025

Frisson – the new forthcoming album of woodwind orchestra will be released on Friday 9 January 2026 on the Divine Art music label.

The masters have been delivered to the music label today. A pre-save release is due for the autumn when supporters of this album will receive their exclusive pre-release copies.

Further announcements about the album will be made here.

Shea Lolin with the Czech Philharmonic Wind Ensemble 16 March 2025, photo by Frame Production

Distant Lands

wind music by Keiron Anderson • Shea Lolin • Patrick Miles • Adam Roberts • Bill Whiston
Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava
Shea Lolin, conductor

4 April 2025

The Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, conducted by Shea Lolin, proudly announces the release of Distant Lands: a new album of première recordings dedicated to the vibrant world of wind music. This collection brings together five contemporary composers—Keiron Anderson, Shea Lolin, Patrick Miles, Adam Roberts, and Bill Whiston—for an exploration of sonic landscapes both familiar and uncharted.

Distant Lands showcases the limitless possibility of wind music in pieces for chamber ensemble, woodwind orchestra and symphonic wind orchestra. Each composer on the album has contributed a unique voice to this diverse and compelling programme.

Shea Lolin, known for his visionary approach to wind music and his commitment to championing contemporary composers, leads the project with both artistic sensitivity and dynamic energy. His previous collaborations with leading European orchestras have earned critical acclaim for their innovation and accessibility.

Distant Lands is invites listeners on a journey through evocative soundscapes and imaginative storytelling.

Recorded at Kino Vesmir in Ostrava on 2 February 2023 (Shea Lolin & Patrick Miles), 15 September 2023 (Bill Whiston) & 17 June 2024 (Keiron Anderson & Adam Roberts ).

Producer: Christopher Hussey
Recorded and Mixed by Jonas Christian Persson (Anderson, Lolin, Miles & Roberts). Bill Whiston tracks mixed by the composer.
General Manager of Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava: Jan Zemla

MIDNIGHT HOUR

Five Miniatures for Solo Piano

In 2022 I began writing a single piece for piano as part of an artistic collaboration. For reasons beyond my control, that collaboration could not be completed. I revisited the idea this year and completed five contemporary miniatures for solo piano, entitled Midnight Hour.

Fleeting visions, beginnings and endings give way to quietude and mystery, dreaming anew and rekindling inspiration. Questions are explored with a sense of possibility. Unusual harmonies and sequences take you on a journey of darkness to light.

Midnight Hour was released on all major streaming platforms on Friday 4 October 2024.

The sheet music has been carefully edited, engraved and printed and is available in the shop or by following the link below:

Midnight Hour (sheet music)

CHROMOSPHERE

Symphonic Colours of the Woodwind Orchestra

KEIRON ANDERSON * JUDITH BINGHAM OBE * CHARLOTTE HARDING * KAMRAN INCE * CHRISTOPHER HUSSEY

Czech Philharmonic Wind Ensemble
Shea Lolin, conductor

A large chamber ensemble of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons and saxophones in various sizes, the woodwind orchestra has a highly adaptable and magical tonal palette—it can be, in turn, boldly vibrant and delicately beautiful, thrillingly powerful and hauntingly tender, earnestly solemn and joyously comical.

The recorded repertoire reflects a spectrum of musical styles that exist in 21st-century concert music, ranging from the familiar and instantly singable to the more avant-garde, but always possessing an accessible and inviting musical narrative. Chromosphere is a landmark album, comprising exciting new and re-imagined pieces by leading composers in the genre and demonstrating the unique soundworld of the woodwind orchestra.

Available on Divine Art (DDX 21117).

Chromosphere

“An absolute delight this performance… Excellent playing, an imaginative range of new music for wind ensemble”

— Andrew McGregor, Record Review, BBC Radio 3

TRAILER

PHOTOS

TWISTED SKYSCAPE.

new music for woodwind orchestra
by British composers

PHILIP SPARKE * ADAM GORB * GARY CARPENTER * CHRISTOPHER HUSSEY

Czech Philharmonic Wind Ensemble
Shea Lolin, conductor

New Music

Twisted Skyscape is a unique classical music album - the first of its kind - devoted entirely to new music written for the woodwind orchestra. It has been recorded with the outstanding playing from the woodwind section of the Czech Philharmonic.

New Genre

The album is a premiere recording of a woodwind orchestra making it a completely new and unique concept. It has a highly adaptable and magical tonal palette - it can be, in turn, boldly vibrant and delicately beautiful, thrillingly powerful and hauntingly tender, earnestly solemn and joyously comical.

About

In March 2014, the principal woodwind players from one of the world's leading orchestras, the Czech Philharmonic, recorded an exciting and unique classical music album—the first of its kind—devoted entirely to new music written for the woodwind orchestra.

Featuring music especially written for the woodwind orchestra by living British composers, Twisted Skyscape showcases an unfamiliar, unusual and kaleidoscopic soundworld created by flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons and saxophones—an instrumental line-up that many music lovers will be encountering for the very first time!

The ambition of the album's conductor Shea Lolin and composer/producer Christopher Hussey is to introduce new audiences to the power of the medium, and being the first recording dedicated to contemporary woodwind music, it is a much-needed disc, giving a voice to both the genre and some fantastic pieces.

Its variety is captured here in an enjoyable and powerful selection of five accessible modern concert works, four of which have never been released before, by composers Philip Sparke (Overture for Woodwinds), Adam Gorb (Battle Symphony), Gary Carpenter (Pantomime) and Christopher Hussey (Twisted Skyscape, Dreamtide).

On 13 October 2023 Twisted Skyscape was re-released on Divine Art eight years after the first release.

Twisted Skyscape

“A fantastic way to delve into the colourful world of the woodwind orchestra, with music which is varied but always approachable.”

— CLASSICAL MUSIC MAGAZINE

TWISTED SKYSCAPE-THE FILM.

Watch the 30-minute documentary by Colin Izod (Big Heart Media), which tells the story of 'the making of the album'. It follows the rehearsal and recording sessions in Prague, and includes interviews with the conductor and featured composers.

“This CD will allow you to explore some fascinating British music... Highly recommended.”

— COLCHESTER GAZETTE

CLASSICAL MUSIC EXCLUSIVE

The Twisted Skyscape project and recording was featured in the October 2015 edition of Classical Music Magazine (UK). The edition was published on 1 October 2015 and included an exclusive two page article with pictures. Click on the image (right) to read the article.

“A fascinating recording with committed playing and eye-opening repertoire which is definitely worth exploring.”

— BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY

“Magnificently performed and recorded with the kind of detail and range which gives the sound a ‘demonstration’ quality. The ambition of a genuine ‘orchestra’ as is heard here creates worlds of subtlety and detailed layers of timbre the equal of many a conventional philharmonic.”

— MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

“This is a highly attractive new release featuring some remarkable works for wind ensemble. Given the terrific sounds that the Czech Philharmonic Wind Ensemble brings to this music we need to hear more from them.”

— THE CLASSICAL REVIEWER

“The woodwind soloists of the Czech Philharmonic make for a world-class woodwind ensemble. Their playing under Shea Lolin’s leadership is mostly flawless and quite musically compelling.... On every track, the potential of the woodwind ensemble as an artistic medium is clear.”

— ANDY PEASE'S WIND BAND BLOG

“Twisted Skyscape starting a new renaissance in woodwind repertoire – heralding the arrival of the woodwind orchestra.”

— WINDS MAGAZINE (BASBWE)

“Wonderful depth to the sound with lovely lower timbres – all the music is going to be appealing to amateur and professional wind ensembles.”

— ROBERT HUGILL

FRISSON Music for Woodwind Orchestra