Friday, May 20, 2016

Music Review ~ The Modern Romantic: New Relaxing Classical Piano Music by Laura Sullivan

The Modern Romantic: New Relaxing Classical Piano Music
by Laura Sullivan
May 20, 2016
Sentient Spirit Records

Relaxing new modern classical piano music, composed and performed by Grammy Winning and Billboard Top Ten recording artist, Laura Sullivan.
Piano (Laura Sullivan) combined with cello (Wojtek Slawinski), violin (Gabriele Schiavi) and other ambient sounds are perfect instrumental music for soothing and calming activities like yoga, spa and meditation and ideal for studying, dinner, background music, romantic moments, and any time when peace and tranquility are desired.


Books and relaxing music go hand in hand for me - there is nothing more relaxing to me than to curl up with a good book and having soothing music in the background.  I was beyond excited when I learned that Laura Sullivan was releasing her new CD, The Modern Romantic: New Relaxing Classical Piano Music.  Her music is hauntingly beautiful and it always brings a sense of peace to any environment I have it playing in.

After listening to her latest release, The Modern Romantic: New Relaxing Classical Piano Music, I have to say that Laura Sullivan has outdone herself once again.  Every exquisite song on this album is a creative masterpiece that transports the listener to a relaxing state of mind.  It is the perfect choice for background music while you work, read, or just to listen to on a crazy commute.  It is difficult for me to like every song an artist has on one album, but I can honestly say that I loved each and every piece included by this talented artist.  If you enjoy relaxing, soothing, and beautiful piano music, with a small mix of other instruments, then this is one collection that you will not want to miss out on.

5 stars


Purchase on Amazon

There are 10 tracks on this album and you can sample the songs HERE:

#1   Winds of Magic
#2   Moonlight Romance
#3   Timeless
#4   Come Home
#5   The Most Beautiful Girl in the World
#6   Finding You, Finding Me
#7   The Princess Dance
#8   A Tender Obsession
#9   Fairytale Waltz
#10 I Will Remember


Laura Sullivan’s Bio
Laura Sullivan is a GRAMMY® winning composer and recording artist. Her original music has been included in the score of two Emmy winning documentaries, as well as in many popular television programs and advertisements for Fortune 500 companies. 

Her recordings consistently receive more than 4 million spins a month on Pandora alone, among many other stations around the world, resulting in broad international airplay. Her albums have charted in the top 2 on The Zone reporter, the internationally recognized New Age and ambient radio chart

Her music publications are represented by Performing Rights organization BMI which holds more than 500 of her original compositions in her prolific Composer/Songwriter catalog.

Laura is the composer, arranger and visionary for the epic crowdsourcing video, 900 Voices, produced by herself and her Grammy® winning husband, Eric Sullivan. 900 Voices involves the singing participation of 938 people around the world singing in 27 languages, all in 1 song

Laura's 2015 collaborations include music created on forthcoming albums with Native American 17 year old virtuoso Gareth Laffely, as well as Grammy® nominated New Age artist Paul Avgerinos, among others. 

Laura's 2014 collaborations include a project with internationally renowned best selling author Dr. Wayne Dyer titled Angel BlessingsThe entire proceeds of this album goes toward the benefit of Hospice organizations. The album is produced by award winning artist Cindy Paulos and includes distinguished visionary and best selling author Colin Andrews, Grammy® Award-nominated Artists Miss Amy and Judy Pancoast, Grammy® Governor & VP San Francisco Chapter Nona Brown, Independent Music Award winning Producer and award winning Illustrator Krista Wallhagen, Multi-Grammy® Award-winning Producer Kevin Mackie, Producer of Grammy® Award-nominated Album Alex Otey, Guinness World Record holder Rupam Sarmah, World-renowned Film Composer Ricky Kej, Award Winning Americana Singer/Song-writer Grant Maloy Smith, Award-Winning Concert Pianist Leonardo Le San, Award-Winning Producer and Engineer Oscar Autie, and others.

Laura performed on the recording produced by Guinness World Record Holder Rupam Sarmah for his 2014 release of Omkara. This recording, Omkara - The Sound Of Divine Love, takes the science of music to the chakras – the seats of our energies – to inspire healing and balancing through beautifully arranged tones and elevated vibrations. 

Laura's other 2014 collaborations include the album Love Is by award winning artist D. Edward and The Gathering II produced by Grammy Winning and Platinum artist, Will Ackerman. Other artists included on this album are Lawrence Blatt, Louis Colaiannia, Masako, Shambhu, Heidi Breyer, Stanton Lanier, Ann Sweeten, Vicente Avella, Isadar, Lynn Yew Evers and others. 

Laura's Grammy® winning release, Love's River, includes Laura's piano music and the talents of the great flugelhorn and trumpet player Jeff Oster (winner of Echoes, NAR Lifestyle, and Independent Music Awards, and ZMR record of the year 2011), Grammy® Award winning artist Nancy Rumbel (of Tingstad and Rumbel), virtuoso cello player and Grammy® Award winning artist Eugene Friesen(member of the Paul Winter Consort), acclaimed oboe and English horn player Jill Haley, and four pieces produced by Grammy® Award winning and platinum artist and founder of legendary Windham Hill RecordsWill Ackerman, who also performs on the selection title Blessed from the album.

Distinguished engineers on the project include Tom Eaton of Imaginary Road Studios and Michael Starita, Director at ULUV MUSIC and Founder and CEO at Bay Area Music Collective.

Laura Sullivan's release Love's River won a GRAMMY® for BEST NEW AGE ALBUM in the 56th GRAMMY® awards which aired on CBS on January 26, 2014.

Love's River was named one of the top five productions to pass through the hands of Will Ackerman since 2009 by Reviews New Age.

Laura enjoys a publishing deal with one of the largest private production companies for music in film and television, where she composes underscore for shows seen on CBS, NBC, Fox and Sony.

Laura's music is licensed for use in TV and film including So You Think You Can DanceOn the Case With Paula ZahnThe Dr. Oz ShowMTV's Catfish: The TV Show, 48 Hours, Under Dog toWonder Dog, The History Channel, commercials for Hyundai and Everyday Paleo among many others. Her music is featured in the Emmy Award Winning documentary "Walk into the Wild: Spirit of Itasca" and the Emmy Award Winning documentary "The Greatest Silent Sport", which was also awarded at the Fargo Film Festival. She composed original music for the film "Valentines Day Special" (starring Jon Polito).

Laura performed the music for the track "Sleepwalking on a Tightrope" written by Roy Finch for the movie "Wake." She was the composer for the feature film "Emotions" directed by Gio Vitelle which premiered at the New York Independent Film and Video Festival. She also composed and produced original music for the short film Nine and A Half Minutes Left directed by Gunther Thallinger. Her music appears in the score to Quartett by Christina Kruse and Guy Lesser, which poetically brings to life the characteristics of Nana de Bary's Liaison de Perfum. This project was recognized by inclusion in ASOFF, Paris's first Fashion Film Festival. 

Her music can be found on Amazon.com, iTunes, Rhapsody, Pandora, and charts in frequent rotation on Music Choice,  and many other retail stores on and offline. Her discography receives airplay on radio stations around the world. Her albums have charted in the top 2 on The Zone reporter, the internationally recognized New Age and ambient radio chart

Her release, Mystical America, was named #1 New Age Album of 2004 by, Wind and Wire.

Laura is a member of the piano artist collective Whisperings Solo Piano Radio founded by composer, pianist and radio programmer, David Nevue. This artist community promotes through its radio station and concert tours with artists including David Nevue, Scott D. Davis, Suzanne Ciani, David Lanz, Wayne Gratz, and Robin Spielberg.

Ms. Sullivan was chosen as a featured artist on a TV Pilot, Music Across America, produced by legendary Jazz artist, Stanley Clarke.

Her releases Mystical America and Pianoscapes for the Trails of North America were produced by acclaimed artist Chris Camozzi, (appearing with artists Jeff Lorber, Michael Bolton, Maria Carey, Barbara Streisand and many others).

Some of the other wonderful artists who have performed with Laura on her albums are Diane Grubbe (flute)Mary Pitchford (violin)Noel Jewkes (saxophone), and Anthony Blea (violin).

Laura's debut album, Piano Solos, includes several selections of music she performed written by film composer, Roy Finch.

Laura is the author of the ground breaking piano teaching technique, Born Virtuosos: The Innovative Piano Course, as well as the book and CD by the same title. This method uses playful techniques to train young children to play like virtuosos, and learn to read music quickly.

Growing up on a farm in Northern California near the foothills of Mt. Lassen, Laura’s mother was children’s book author Carol Purdy, who is best known for her books Least of All, Mrs. Merriwether’s Musical Cat, and Iva Dunnit and the Big Wind. Carol was also Laura’s first piano teacher and started teaching her to play when Laura was four years old.

Laura holds a Bachelor's Degree in Music with an emphasis in Piano Performance. She is a former student of Dr. Robert E. Bowman and the recipient of the Emily A. Hauss Music Award and the Jane Bowman Jewett Music Award. Laura also holds a Master’s Degree in Psychologythrough the School of Education from the University of San Francisco. She has further graduate training from the New School in New York City. She has appeared as a guest presenter in music courses at CSU San Francisco and the Academy of Art College. 

Laura is also the author of several musicals for children which were produced by her group called “Star Company Children’s Theater.”

She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, Grammy® Winning Producer, Film Director, and Technology VP, Eric Sullivan, and their young daughter. She is a member of the National Association of Recording Industry Professionals and a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (The Grammys®).

Connect with Ms. Sullivan…….

Website * Facebook * Twitter * 

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