David Chesky, Isabella Maria Lorca, Orchestra of the 21st Century - Songs of New York (2026)

The American publisher The Audiophile Society has a new title. This time, it's music written by the label's founder, David Chesky. Composed for mezzo-soprano, string orchestra, and percussion, "Songs of New York" is said to be "the culmination of Chesky's artistic language," a synthesis of baroque virtuosity, jazz expression, and contemporary orchestral color.

"David Chesky's "Songs of New York," a challenge for contemporary coloratura singers, is a true showcase of skill, reflecting Chesky's deep devotion to baroque music. Beginning with his "Venetian Concertos"—four chamber concertos blending baroque tradition with contemporary musical language—Chesky has continually explored the dialogue between past and present. "Songs of New York" combines the virtuosity and coloratura of baroque vocal composition with the harmony, rhythm, and energy of jazz."

Songs of New York is the follow-up to Chesky's album Poems of Paradise, which was "a meditation for mezzo-soprano and orchestra on the beauty and rhythms of Brazil," according to the publisher. While that recording captured the warmth of the tropics, this new cycle "turns to the pulse of Manhattan and the poetry of city life."

This music is a reflection of the city I've lived in and loved, says Chesky. "I've walked every inch of Central Park, biked almost every street from Lower Manhattan to the Bronx, and kayaked along the Hudson River. This piece, like my 1990 album New York Chorinhos for solo piano, is a tribute to the city that inspires and sustains me.

Track No. 1, "New York," opens the album with "a tribute to the city's constant movement," with "contrapuntal pizzicato bass lines." Track 2, Fifth Avenue, "slows down the tempo, reflecting the sophistication and charm of one of the world's most iconic streets." Track 3, Central Park, is Chesky's "contemplative ode to the city's green heart," leading into Track 4, New York Nights, which "captures the energy of the city's nightlife with powerful 3/4 ostinatos on strings." And continues
The journey continues with Track 5, The Villages of New York, a portrait of the many cultural enclaves that define the city—Little Italy, Chinatown, Koreatown, Brighton Beach, and beyond. Drawing on the rhythms of Italian tarantella and traditional influences and transforming them through the lens of modern harmony, Chesky incorporates elements of scat jazz vocals, celebrating New York as a living "United Nations," a place where people from every corner of the globe come and become New Yorkers. Track 6, "New York at 4 A.M.," reflects the loneliness of walking the nearly empty streets after a late night at a jazz club—a personal moment inspired by Chesky's long career as a jazz pianist—when the city reveals a completely different side, waiting for sunrise.

Track 7, "Sunday in New York," is a light, playful composition capturing the joy of morning walks on the West Side, bike rides along Central Park's six-mile loop, passing crowds, and afternoons in Greenwich Village. Here again, Chesky makes extensive use of jazz scatting, with the vocalist almost imitating a great jazz saxophonist improvising in the park, the vocal lines floating above the orchestra.

The album closes with track 8, "New York My Love," a rousing finale—a vibrant waltz celebrating the energy and spirit of New York, featuring a Latin-inspired orchestral break based on parallel harmonies.

Tracklist
01 New York
02 Fifth Avenue
03 Central Park
04 New York Nights
05 Villages of New York
06 New York at 4AM
07 Sunday in New York
08 New York my Love