Cold Dark Matter - Music for Cello & Guitar [Dusan Bogdanovic, Radames Gnattali, Stephen Goss and Jaime Mirtenbaum Zenamon]

This album is unique in that all of the pieces are originally composed for cello and guitar. Each piece takes the listener on a tour of the myriad textual and sonic possibilities that exist between these two instruments. Our recording seeks to illuminate underplayed pieces in an as-yet undeveloped genre. On both, we shed new light. The title, Cold Dark Matter, serves as a metaphor: Cornelia Parker's work depicts a garden shed and its contents held in suspended animation after an explosion. Familiar objects are seen in an unfamiliar circumstance, and from a new perspective, much like the combination of our two very familiar instruments.

The Patterson/Sutton Duo has been applauded for their bravura performances, consummate musicianship and illuminating mixed-media lectures. The Duo explores the landscape of music for violoncello and guitar, and seeks to broaden its horizons through recording, performing and working closely with a range of contemporary composers.

Described by the Chicago Sun Times as a superb cellist, Dr. Kimberly Patterson has earned recognition for her artistry as a solo and chamber musician. She has concertized extensively throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, giving chamber recitals in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall in London as well as Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center. Patterson gave the world premiere performance of Cayetano Soto's ballet for solo cello, Uneven, with the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and subsequently toured throughout the United States. She is the founding cellist of the Tesla Quartet, gold medal winners of the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition and a prizewinner of the London International Quartet Competition. Dr. Patterson's festival appearances include the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, Miyazaki Festival in Japan, Sarasota Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, Holland Music Sessions in the Netherlands and Strings Music Festival. She is also an avid proponent for educational outreach and has received numerous fellowships to bring music to many communities. Graduating with academic honors from the Cleveland Institute of Music, Dr. Patterson earned a Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she was the graduate assistant to the Takacs Quartet. She performs on a Joseph Rashid cello, generously loaned to her by the Rashid family.

Patrick Sutton began playing guitar at the age of 11 in Evergreen, Colorado. He completed his Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees in classical guitar performance at the Lamont School of Music, studying with Ricardo Iznaola, Masakazu Ito and Jonathan Leathwood. While at the Lamont School, he received several honors, including First Place in the 2009 Lamont Chamber Music Competition, three Recital of Distinction awards, and induction into the Pi Kappa Lambda national music honor society. Sutton has been a prizewinner at several solo and chamber music competitions, and has twice been the John D'Addario Performing Assistant at the Bowdoin International Music Festival in Brunswick, Maine, where he performed at its Gamper Festival of New Music. He has given numerous world and US premieres of pieces by important guitar composers, such as Stephen Goss, Gilbert Bibarian, Ricardo Iznaola and Richard Boukas. Currently on the music faculty of the Community College of Denver and Naropa University, Sutton is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Colorado at Boulder.