In 2008, PARMA Recordings acquired Capstone Records, the highly-respected New York-based classical label founded by composer Richard Brooks in 1986, with the intent of shepherding the company and its music into the digital era. These albums, originally released on Capstone and now presented by PARMA's Ravello or Navona Records imprints, are part of a series of re-releases from the catalog called THE CAPSTONE COLLECTION. For more music in this series, please visit www.navonarecords.com or www.ravellorecords.com. On FROM A FAR-OFF WORLD (2006), saxophonist and bass clarinetist Demetrius Spaneas performs compositions for woodwinds and electronics. Along with two interludes for alto saxophone composed by Spaneas, the album includes Shaun Naidoo’s Walking in the Dirt for bass clarinet and Blood on the Pattern for alto saxophone, along with Jane Brockman’s Tagore Songs for soprano saxophone. While both Naidoo and Brockman include electronics in their pieces, Sean Heim’s Blood Memory for bass clarinet differs with its juxtaposition of woodwinds with the use of an electric shruti box, a harmonium-like instrument traditionally used in Indian classical music to create a droning effect. Music Web International hailed Spaneas as a “champion of contemporary music for classical and jazz woodwinds,” highlighting his “great interest in music from the Balkans and Far East.” The site praised Spaneas’ performances throughout, particularly focusing on his “impressive bass clarinet playing showing his complete mastery of a very difficult and challenging instrument.” Composer, saxophonist, and educator Demetrius Spaneas has been a featured soloist and composer at major concert venues and international festivals in the U.S., Eastern Europe, and Asia. He was formerly Composer-In-Residence for both the New York City Con Edison and the Bay Area Chamber Symphony Orchestra in San Francisco, California. A Fulbright Scholar Specialist in American Studies – Music, Spaneas received his first Fulbright grant to teach jazz studies, composition, and music business in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in summer 2013. He’s also received grants from the State Department and the Fulbright/Hayes Act to present his music and lectures on composition and performance throughout the former Soviet Union, along with presenting numerous talks and concerts for the U.S. State Department in Moscow and St. Petersburg as part of the American Centers program. Spaneas’ work as a composer, musician, and musical ambassador have earned him awards from ASCAP, Meet the Composer, the American Music Center, U.S. State Department, and Russian Senate. He currently maintains a teaching studio and directs the Suffolk University Jazz Ensemble, both in Boston, Massachusetts.
