Joanne Polk continues her championing of under-performed female composers on her newest Steinway & Son release. She brings a wealth of exceptional musical insight and flawless piano technique to these beautiful, finely crafted miniatures by Cécile Chaminade.

Joanne Polk illuminates Chaminade's lyrical brilliance  with sensitivity, artistry and grace

On November 6, 2026 Steinway & Sons releases Awakening - Piano Music of Cécile Chaminade, Vol. 3 (STNS 30243) from pianist Joanne Polk. This is a wonderful follow up to Polk's previous volumes of music by Chaminade, The Flatterer (STNS 30037) and Nostalgia (STNS 30239) .

As Dr. Jeffrey Langford writes in his liner notes for the album:
The recent resurrection of works by women who lived in the 19th and early 20th centuries has brought a treasure trove of new listening opportunities. Thanks largely to the efforts and dedication of pianist Joanne Polk, this beautiful, well-crafted music by Cécile Chaminade has finally come to light and is appearing on recitals by the most respected pianists of today.

Nearly all the pieces heard on this recording are miniatures, many of which fall into the genre known as “character pieces.” These are works usually with descriptive titles, such as “Mélancolie,” “Légende,” “Méditation,” and “Chanson Bretonne,” the mood of which is hopefully hinted at in the title of each piece.

Their formal structure is based on either a simple three-part (ABA) structure (as in Mélancolie) or on the alternation of two contrasting ideas (as in the especially beautiful “Méditation”). This recording also features six pieces collected under the title “Romances sans Paroles,” (songs without words) that are clearly modeled after the more famous “Lieder ohne Worten” by Felix Mendelssohn. Seven more character pieces are grouped under the title “Pièces Humoristiques,” which includes the title work for this album, “Reveil” (awakening).

Audiences and pianists alike are ripe for new repertoire, and the dissemination of the music of Cécile Chaminade (and others of her generation), thanks to recordings like this one, goes a long way to correcting decades of oversight and neglect of so much attractive music.

— Dr. Jeffrey Langford, Professor Emeritus of Music History, Manhattan School of Music

“Joanne Polk proves herself to be as idiomatic an interpreter as could be imagined: subtle, nuanced, technically adroit...”
MusicWeb International 
 

“Polk’s clarion projection of melodies and inherent sense of drama vivify… She plays with total conviction and mastery” 
Gramophone

“It is so good to hear world-class pianists like Polk choose a recital of Chaminade music and play it with all of the seriousness one would expect if the program were music by European male composers of the time. That does not mean the requisite panache is missing.”
American Record Guide

ALBUM CREDITS

Awakening - Piano Music of Cécile Chaminade, Vol. 3 / Joanne Polk • STNS 30243

Release Date: 11/6/2026

Recorded December 1, 2025 at Steinway Hall, New York City.

Producer: Kazumi Umeda

Engineer: Joshua Frey 
Mixing and Mastering: Daniel Shores

Editor: Kazumi Umeda

Executive Producers: Eric Feidner, Jon Feidner

Product Coordinator: Renée Oakford

Art Direction: Jackie Fugere

Design: Cover to Cover Design, Anilda Carrasquillo
Cover Painting: Stephen John Smith

Photo of Joanne Polk: Jeffrey Langford Photography
Piano: Steinway Model D #607799 (New York)

Piano Technician: John Veitch

About the Artist

Pianist Joanne Polk was catapulted into the public eye with her recordings of the complete piano works of American composer Amy Beach (1867-1944) on the Arabesque Recordings label.  Ms. Polk celebrated the centennial of Beach’s Piano Concerto by giving the work its London premiere with the English Chamber Orchestra at the Barbican Center under the baton of Paul Goodwin. A few days later, Ms. Polk performed the Piano Concerto with the Women’s Philharmonic in San Francisco with conductor Apo Hsu in a performance described as “brilliant” by critic Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle. He went on to describe Ms. Polk’s performance as, “an enormously vital, imaginative reading.  Her playing was expansive in the opening movement, brittle and keen in the delightful scherzo.  She brought a light touch to the foreshortened slow movement and fearless technical penache to the showy conclusion.” 

Prior to recording the complete piano music of Amy Beach, Ms. Polk recorded Completely Clara: Lieder by Clara Wieck Schumann, her debut CD for Arabesque Recordings, featuring Metropolitan Opera soprano Korliss Uecker. This CD was selected as a “Best of the Year” recording by The Seattle Times and was featured on Performance Today on New York Public Radio. Ms. Polk’s CD for Albany Records, Callisto, features the solo piano music of Judith Lang Zaimont. Her CD titled Songs of Amy Beach, recorded with baritone Patrick Mason for Bridge Records, was nominated for a Grammy Award. Ms. Polk’s two-CD set of solo piano music by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Songs for Pianoforte, was released on the Newport Classic label. Ms. Polk’s solo piano CD, titled Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn, was released on the Bridge Records label.

In 2014, Ms. Polk’s CD titled The Flatterer, solo piano music of French Romantic composer Cécile Chaminade, was released on the Steinway & Sons label. The CD was a “Pick of the Week” on New York’s classical radio station WQXR and debuted at #1 on the Classical Billboard Chart. In 2017, Joanne Polk’s CD, Gershwin & Wild, was released on Steinway & Sons. It features Earl Wild’s transcriptions of Gershwin songs, as well as Wild’s Piano Sonata. American Record Guide called Ms. Polk’s playing on this CD, “plush and dreamily attractive…”

In 2014, Joanne Polk was named one of Musical America’s Top 30 Professionals of the Year in an article titled, “Profiles in Courage.” Ms. Polk’s profile focused on her work promoting the music of women composers.

Ms. Polk received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music Degrees from The Juilliard School, and her Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from Manhattan School of Music. She has given master classes at many summer festivals and universities across the country and internationally, and in 2018 completed a five-city, three-week concert and master class tour of Taiwan and China.

In 2019, two of Ms. Polk’s CDs, Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn and The Flatterer: Solo Piano Music by Cécile Chaminade, were included on New York City’s classical radio station WQXR’s Essential Piano Recordings.

In February 2020, Ms. Polk’s CD, Louise Farrenc Etudes and Variations for Solo Piano, was released on the Steinway & Sons label. In December 2020, Ms. Polk’s Farrenc CD was on The New York Times “Best Classical Music of 2020” list:

“The music of Louise Farrenc, professor of piano at the Paris Conservatory for three decades after 1842, has been taped before, but never quite so well as in Joanne Polk’s sample of her solo piano music…” — New York Times [Best Classical Music of 2020]

Ms. Polk’s 2023 recording titled The Silence Between the Notes: Louise Farrenc Solo Piano Music Volume 2, was released on September 1, 2023, on the Steinway & Sons label.

In December 2023 and January 2024, Ms. Polk traveled to China on an 8-city concert and master class tour. In July 2024, Ms. Polk performed recitals and gave masterclasses at the University of Guadalajara in Mexico.

In September 2024, Ms. Polk’s second volume of solo piano music by Cécile Chaminade, titled Nostalgia, was released on the Steinway & Sons label. American Record Guide January/February 2025 review of Nostalgia:

“Polk has championed female composers all through her admirable discography. She has brought a wealth of great and enjoyable music to our attention, most of which has lived in relative obscurity since it was written. It would all be for naught if not for the exceptional musical insight and flawless piano technique she brings to these works… It is so good to hear world-class pianists like Polk choose a recital of Chaminade music and play it with all of the seriousness one would expect if the program were music by European male composers of the time.”

Upcoming performances and masterclasses in 2026 include solo and chamber music concerts featuring the music of Amy Beach, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of America and the first successful American female composer. Included in these concerts and masterclasses will be the Lancaster International Piano Festival, Weisberg Hall in Hunter, New York, Ressona in New York City as well as the University of Washington in Seattle. In 2027, Ms. Polk will be touring with the music of Amy Beach (1867-1944) and Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944), in celebration of the 160th and 170th anniversary years, respectively, of the births of these groundbreaking composers.

Ms. Polk is a member of the piano faculty of Manhattan School of Music and is an exclusive Steinway artist.

To find out more about Ms. Polk, please visit her website at www.joannepolkpianist.com.

About Steinway & Sons label

The STEINWAY & SONS music label produces exceptional albums of solo piano music across all genres. The label — a division of STEINWAY & SONS, maker of the world’s finest pianos — is a perfect vessel for producing the finest quality recordings by some of the most talented pianists in the world.