Recordings

Pianist Amy Briggs (Dissanayake) makes her recorded debut with stunning performances of twenty-two of Rakowski's Etudes, many receiving their premiere recordings. This disc is for fans of virtuoso pianism and new music that is simultaneously subtle, richly complex and teeming with ideas, yet lucid in structure and distinctive in profile.

"Superbly crafted, difficult to play, but fun to listen to, the etudes are laced with a dry wit. Brilliant pianist Amy Briggs (Dissanayake) dispatches them with a kind of elegant ferocity that takes your breath away. A splendid introduction to a composer with a fresh, distinctive voice." —John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune

David Rakowski's piano Etudes have found their greatest champion in Amy Briggs. This is the American pianist's third volume devoted to these fascinating works. Both earlier volumes received critical acclaim for their virtuosity and grasp of Rakowski's wide-ranging and at times, loony musical world.  A favorite of pianists and new music connoisseurs alike.

David Rakowski’s 100 piano études were composed over a period of 22 years. Hayes Biggs writes that "Rakowski's mastery, imagination, craft and humor shine forth in virtually every bar. Amy Briggs plays the études with dazzling pianistic prowess and unusual expressive understanding."

“The performances on this program are models of clarity and strength from beginning to end, but it is a special delight to hear Briggs, Rakowski's most devoted champion, tackling the challenges he tailor-made for her in this sweet and spectacular concerto.” —Daniel Stephen Johnson

“The variety of idiom, texture, devices, and mood in these 22 miniatures is wide, yet almost all are engaging, clever, and evocative. Pianist Amy Briggs plays with finesse; sonics are detailed but sumptuous, with lots of ambience and bloom. “ —Mark Lehman, The Absolute Sound

Amy Briggs, Helena Bugallo, Ingrid Karlen, Amy Williams: piano / Rex Lawson: pianola / Ensemble Modern / conductor: Kasper de Roo / WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln / conductor: Stefan Asbury.

Traces and Magneticfireflies is a new and highly acclaimed CD of five previously unrecorded works by Augusta Read Thomas. Traces for solo piano, played by Amy Briggs, is a world premiere recording from 2007.

“Amy Briggs Dissanayake offers elegant, precisely shaded accounts of Ms. Thomas's attractive Piano Études, presented in three contrasting, interrelated pairs.” —Steve Smith, New York Times