Christina Petrowska-Quilico - Frank Horvat: More Rivers (2025)

Water, as a concept, has a mystical quality: It is ever-changing, able to take on almost any form from trickle to deluge, and while at times intimidating and destructive, it is a prerequisite for the sustenance of life. The adventurous and virtuosic Canadian pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico, who championed Ann Southam’s seminal water-inspired work Rivers, decided it was time for a continuation and commissioned a sequel from composer Frank Horvat: a suite of seven solo piano pieces titled MORE RIVERS.

The idea was to bring Canadian minimalist music to Canadian audiences, but Petrowska Quilico and Horvat may well have exceeded their goal. With glimpses of impressionism, of Prokofievian harmonies and Pärtian spirit, textures reminiscent of Messiaen, and of course the pianist’s impeccable interpretation, MORE RIVERS is wonderfully timeless and universal.