With a relationship that extends beyond artistic collaboration and goes firmly into friendship, each Paul Hillier and Arvo Pärt recording is a reason to let out a praise-worthy “hallelujah,” even if such ebullient exclamations are anathema to Pärt’s Baltic brand of introspectively limned melodic lines.

Evan Ziporyn’s newest album on Cantaloupe pairs two concertos for unconventional solo instruments -- bass clarinet and tabla -- which is "akin to a mental yoga exercise, finding balance in extremes."

Exceedingly versatile and at times beguilingly gamine, flautist Claire Chase's newest album, Terrestre, has much to recommend it with works by Saariaho, Boulez and more. 

Spending an evening listening to So Percussion’s Cage 100 Bootleg Series is somewhat akin to sitting up all night in college, drinking red table wine, smoking Parliaments and discussing what it all means.

The power of the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music aside, it's composers like Jennifer Higdon, Andrea Clearfield and James Primosch that help to make Philadelphia the sixth borough of New York.

Under the leadership of George Manahan, the ACO has renewed its commitment to the next generation of young compositional voices. Find out how and get a download from Kati Agóc's album opener, Pearls.

In her early 30s, composer Anna Clyne has already carved out an enviable niche for herself as a genre-defying composer. Hear what she's all about on her new disc for Tzadik, and get a free download this week only of "Fits + Starts."

It's a big (and beautiful, perhaps scary but far from dark) year for Bang on a Can, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2012. True to form, the cabal's All-Stars have heralded the birthday in style with this rollicking two-disc set. Read on for more and to snag a free download, this week only, of Matt Damon.

In a release presciently appropriate to the current clashes in Russia, the Kronos Quartet lays down three dramatic works by Muscovite composer Vladimir Martynov.

Why should Eric Moe's Kick & Ride, Q2 Music's Album of the Week, come with a warning? Read on to find out, and to snag a download (this week only) from the title concerto.

Almost 10 years after its premiere, Jonathan Harvey's enchanting and haunting Bird Concerto with Pianosong finally gets a recording. Read on to find out why this is long overdue, and to snag a free sample from this 30-minute work this week only.

Best to carve out an uninterrupted 70 minutes to listen to the complete Fred Lerdahl string quartets sequentially. Read on for why with Q2 Music's Album of the Week, and to snag a free selection this week only from Lerdahl's String Quartet No. 3.

Take a winter's journey without leaving home thanks to the Meehan/Perkins Duo's new album of transporting percussion works. Get a free download this week only of Travel Diary Part I: "Leaving Home."

Composer Tarik O'Regan blends his Irish and Arabic backgrounds to take us on a wandering musical journey through a piece of Medieval literature about St. Patrick. Get a free download.

Make listening to the Music of Georges I. Gurdjieff one of your resolutions for 2012. Read on for more about this enlightened disc and to snag a free download this week only of Armenian Song.

With winter officially here, there's no better time than to slip into Ben Frost and Daníel Bjarnason's imagined score for Andrey Tarkovsky's haunting film Solaris. Read on for more information and to snag a free download, this week only, of "Reyja."

The bass gets its due with a meaty double-album from Bang on a Can All Star Robert Black. Read how he makes so much rep work and to grab a free download (this week only!) of George Perle's Monody II.

Kaija Saariaho is omnipresent in New York this season. Get a taste for three of her newest works on this beautiful and haunting new disc from Ondine, and grab a free download from Leino Songs.

Has David Lang abandoned the aura of enfant terrible? Perhaps, but this pairing of works written roughly 10 years apart shows that he's still the same ear-rocking composer. Grab a free download of the track wed.

Sinner or saint, dead or alive, there's much to love about this arresting debut from composer Gregory Spears. Read on for more and grab a free download for this week only of the track Postlude.