It’s still September and it’s still Classical Music month! The third interview in our series (read the first one or the second one) focuses Sono Luminus (label and studio) and its CEO: Collin J. Rae.
Could you introduce Sono Luminus to our readers? When was it founded? What was the impetus?
For the past two years I’ve been the CEO of the label and studio known as Sono Luminus. Our goal is to bring the world some of the most important and dynamically recorded music in the industry. In 1995, Sandy Lerner and Len Bosack (founders of Cisco Systems) drew upon their expertise in digital technologies as well as their love of music, and applied their experiences to realize a life-long dream: to develop and create a new paradigm for recorded sound, dedicated to the realization of true Performance Fidelity.
How much of your catalog focuses on new music?
We try to balance new music, early music and “classical music” as much as possible. It is true that much of our passion does follow the path of new music by current artist and composers. This is a direction that will, of course, continue into the future!
Collin J. Rae, CEO of Sono Luminus label and studio.
What are the qualities your look for in artists (composers, performers, conductors) you decide to feature?
It’s very very simple actually, I look for TRUTH, BEAUTY, RELEVANCE, and sublime listenability.
Del Sol String Quartet recording at Sono Luminus Studios.
What is your biggest challenge as a classical label in the early 21st century and how do you approach it?
Sales. That is the biggest challenge from many—if not all of us—in the industry, whether those sales come from physical products, downloads, streaming or licensing. All of these revenue streams are crucial to our survival as a label and studio.
What’s next for the label? What are you excited about (a release, a new technology, etc.)?
Some real new music highlights for the rest of 2016 would be pianist Bruce Levingston’s Dreaming Awake: The Music of Philip Glass which features and unbelievable spoken word performance by actor Ethan Hawke. Italian Neo-Classical Artist Bruno Bavota’s Out of the Blue, and an amazing collection of American music performed by Pianist Lara Downe’s on her new album America Again. 2017 will see new albums from LAPQ (featuring works by Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Ellen Reid, Chris Cerrone, Andrew McItosh and Daniel Bjarnason), ACME will release its first album with Sono Luminus in March, new albums by Nordic Affect and Melia Watras as well as a new Jasper Quartet recording unlike anything they’ve done in the past!
For more information, visit: http://www.sonoluminus.com.