Cassandra Ewer - Coming Home (2020)

Returning from her first music camp glowing with a luminous discovery, Cassandra knew what she most fervently wanted: to make music, in any way she could. It was more than a desire to sing—though sing she did, recruiting everyone she could to join her. This collection reflects the scope of what a life of music draws in, with precision and mastery in what we may take as the fundamental human art of sound, reflecting the profound education of living fully in a world of riches, not given but accepted as invitations to rejoice.

Music at heart is not just a job but a calling. So it has been for Cassandra from college in Utah and Oregon, through professional engagements with the Oregon Bach Festival, Phoenix Chorale, the Robert Shaw Festival, and the Austin-based vocal ensemble Conspirare, earning Grammy awards and nominations, world premieres and performances from Notre Dame Cathedral to Carnegie Hall. She has also taught and conducted everywhere she has been, responding to the need we all have for music, knowing how to make it happen.

This unique album displays a range of discovery and mastery, in marvelous performances ranging from the 12th century work of Hildegard von Bingen to Bach, Mozart and Schubert and more recent composers, from solo compositions and duets to masses, oratorios, and gospel. What we hear is music not as a luxury but the very heart of living. With her family in Phoenix, Cassandra continues that same glow, undiminished, making music.