Ensemble Altera led by Christopher Lowrey presents their third release on Alpha, an album celebrating the female voice and the Christmas season. The program is a kaleidoscopic selection made up of sacred music (settings of the Magnificat and Ave Maria) and carols composed by women with works by Hildegard von Bingen, Imogen Holst, Germaine Tailleferre, Cecilia McDowall, Joanna Marsh, Barbara …

Rachel Barton Pine’s 25th album on the Cedille label unites her with pianist Orion Weiss and the Pacifica Quartet for French music of the turn-of-the-century and early mid-20th century. As a violinist who adores playing chamber music, but isn’t a member of a string quartet, Pine holds special fondness for the centerpiece work on this program: Ernest Chausson’s Concert for …