Matt Haimovitz / Christopher O'Riley SHUFFLE.PLAY.LISTEN

Shuffle.Play.Listen unites ground-breaking, Grammy-nominated cellist Matt Haimovitz with pianist Christopher O'Riley, host of NPR and PBS’s popular weekly radio and television series, From the Top, in a collaboration that blurs the boundaries between classical and pop music.

Two performers, each a superstar in his own right, come together to plumb the virtuosic and lyrical possibilities of their instruments in an expansive 2-CD set from Oxingale Records.

Disc 1 features Igor Stravinsky’s neo-classical Suite Italienne, Leos Janacek’s Fairy Tale, Bohuslav Martinu’s Variations on a Slovak Folksong and Astor Piazzolla’s Grand Tango, all interwoven with an arresting new arrangement of Bernard Herrmann’s Vertigo film score, celebrating the composer’s 100th birthday this year.

Disc 2 kicks off with Empty Room from the 2011 Grammy winning Album of the Year by Arcade Fire, and follows up with tracks by Blond Redhead, the Cocteau Twins, Radiohead, and more Arcade Fire, as well as supergroup A Perfect Circle’s hit song 3 Libras and a jaw dropping rendition of John McLaughlin’s Dance of Maya. All the arrangements for cello and piano were made with O’Riley’s signature passion and finesse, and realized with Haimovitz’s uncompromising artistic depth. The pair display their considerable improvisational skills in several tunes, including their 9-minute un-cut interpretation of McLaughlin’s A Lotus on Irish Streams.

Inside the package, New York Times best-selling author Dan Levitin (This is your Brain on Music), interviews Haimovitz and O’Riley on the making of Shuffle.Play.Listen.

One of the most anticipated collaborations of the 2011-2012 season, Haimovitz and O’Riley will tour extensively in major concert series and university residencies throughout throughout the US. In addition, each continues to tour exhaustively as a solo artist in recital and as concerto soloist.

Shuffle.Play.Listen embraces a new kind of listening public who mix Wagner with Lady Gaga on their iPods, exploring new sounds and moving comfortably between genres. While Classical lovers will be drawn to CD1, more adventurous listeners will thrill to CD2, and both will want to shuffle, play and listen! (Oxingale Records)