“Impressive”

“Highly engaging”

“Laver’s playing is masterful, fully realizing the potential of both scores and instruments.”

“The point is always overtly about collaboration: between a composer and an organist, at three different organs, and expanding into a circle of other musicians whose work is just as much to the fore as the organist’s.”

“A fascinating study in contemporary creativity”

“Hendricks Chapel Choir…to the very end we are pleased by the textual and textural choices.”

“Syracuse University and the Setnor School of Music should be exceedingly proud of this recording, which attests not only to the tangible excellence of its artists but also to the intangible beauty of its community. Get this album and enjoy it.”

—Jonathan B. Hall, The American Organist

“Natalie Draper only turned to composing for organ in the last five years but, with encouragement from Anne Laver, she asserts herself well with the instrument and a distinctive voice emerges through the pieces on this album. Her post-minimalist style is captivating for being on the one hand experimental and, on the other, engaging and perhaps even grounded in the energy of folk music. The title track Interlaced ably demonstrates Draper’s ability to blur the boundaries between the sounds of different instruments and the sounds within an organ itself. The enchanting four Pattern dances rely on effects possible with old mechanical action organs. The titles, including Tiptoe and Spin, reveal that these were pieces written with choreographed dance in mind. To conclude, Draper weaves an entreating tapestry of sound to set Yeat’s poem Cloths of heaven for choir, organ and soloists.”

—Rupert Gough, Choir & Organ, ****

“Each piece is instantly communicative and fresh-sounding.

I don’t recall having enjoyed a new-music album so much in a long time.”

“If you think you don’t like organ music, Draper’s pieces may surprise you.”

“Laver is assisted by such major performers as violinist William Knuth and Heather Buchman (trombone)…three fine solo singers and the Syracuse University Chapel Choir do all that one could possibly want.”

—Ralph P. Locke, Arts Fuse

“Interlaced captivates instantly”

“Composer Natalie Draper and organist Anne Laver could easily pass as siblings, and certainly the performances presented on the release exemplify the kind of closeness sisters share…Draper’s gifted Laver with terrific material to perform, and the organist in turn has delivered sterling renderings…[with] a small coterie of guests….the organ here becomes an enthusiastic creative partner.”

“packed with a constellation of timbral colours”

“Cloths of Heaven, featuring soprano Vance and the Hendricks Chapel Choir brings the set to a blossoming close.”

—Ron Schepper, Textura