Selected Reviews
Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music
“A new voice on our horizon is felt and heard with Debra Kaye and her beautiful 2018 Turning in Time. Click HERE for a full review.
– Turning in Time. Grego Applegate Edwards. Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music. February 2021.
Van Wyck Gazette
“…savvily bringing the music not only to life, but transcendence….“
– And So It Begins, CD. Michael Jurkovic. Van Wyck Gazette. October 2014.
Kathodik
“…A valuable discovery, given the quality and originality of music…that promises Kaye a bright future.” Click HERE for a full review.
– And So It Begins, CD. Filippo Focosi. Kathodik. December 30, 2014.
SoundWordSight
“…Debra Kaye has mastery of her craft – she writes bold, lovely, well-structured, lively and emotionally satisfying pieces.”
– My American Shtetl. Mark Greenfest. SoundWordSight. April, 2007.
Sonograma
“…(Kaye’s) music reaches the audience; is clever, melodic, rhythmic and visceral. And So It Begins is a beautiful exhibition of the art of the music flow. … Elegance and subtlety…is present in each of the pieces that make up a raw sound, sensitive and expansive, expressing a wide range of moods. Debra Kaye language is deep; produces deep melodies that enhance the sensory quality of her compositions.” Click HERE for a full review.
– And So It Begins, CD. Nuria Serra. Sonograma. January 29, 2015.
Babysue
“…unique sound and feel…perfectly executed tracks. This music is focused, inspirational, and precise. This is an album that will surely stand the test of time.”
Click HERE for a full review.
– And So It Begins, CD. babysue.com. October 2014.
Gramophone Magazine
“…The album draws its title from Kaye’s Turning in Time, an expressive amalgam of Baroque and modern elements…seamlessly woven together. The narrative somehow leads (spoiler alert) to the pinnacle of solo violin repertoire, the Chaconne from Bach’s Partita No 2. In this premiere recording, Augustyn plays with vibrant intensity, caressing the phrases and bringing bold focus to the eclectic unfolding of creativity.” Click HERE for a full review.
– Turning in Time. David Rosenberg. Gramophone Magazine. July 2021
World Music Report
“…Miss Augustyn closes her disc with a work of utter beauty and wonder by the young composer Debra Kaye. It is an unusual meditation that juxtaposes musical history going back to Bach and reaching out into the present while imagining the future. Miss Augustyn’s performance – a second world premiere – captures the chiseled beauty of a work that is also defiantly provocative as it attempts to throw overboard melodic, structural and harmonic hooks that have become blunted through overuse. In doing just so the violinist manages to infuse the work with an instinctive radicalism that perfectly aligns with what is implicit in this exquisite composition.” Click HERE for a full review.
– Turning in Time. Raul da Gama. World Music Report. August 24, 2021.
New Music Connoisseur
“…sensitivity and raw power…“
– Slants of Light. Barry Cohen. Spring 2003.
New York Times
“…a fantasy-filled hour that combines classical ballet with songs ranging from blues and gospel to lively show tunes.” Click HERE for a full review.
|- The Ugly Duckling. New York Times. Laurel Graeber. March, 10, 2006.
SoundWordSight
“..Kaye’s works are marvelous, sensitive pieces that rival anything Stravinsky ever did.”
– Incidental Ducklings. Mark Greenfest. SoundWordSight. 2003
New York Concert Review
Turning in Time, the final track and title work for the CD, was written expressly for Ms. Augustyn, who requested from composer Debra Kaye that it make reference to Bach’s Chaconne from the Partita No. 2 in D minor, and it is a tour de force. It is (in the composer’s words), “21st century music periodically interspersed with Bach-like phrases, motifs returning in new variations, juxtaposing past and present, reflecting on things that have changed and what remains the same, in a conversation between the ‘then’ and the ‘now’.” Ms. Augustyn conveys all of this, and the highly expressive ending phrase from the Bach Chaconne itself leaves one with chills after so much dissonance. Click HERE for a full review.
–Turning in Time. Rorianne Schrade. New York Concert Review. February 2021.
New Music Buff
“…Augustyn’s readings of the unfamiliar Carter Four Lauds and, the most recent work on the disc, Debra Kaye’s Turning in Time (2018) are, for this listener, worth the price of the disc by themselves.” Click HERE for a full review.
– Turning in Time. Allan J. Cronin. October 16, 2021.
SoundWordSight
“…While We Were Sleeping is an intensely passionate piano impromptu – the night of hurricane Sandy – fiery arpeggios alternating with nocturnal passages building on the romantic lyricism of Chopin, Liszt, Scriabin and other influences with modern elements. An outstanding piece.“
– While We Were Sleeping. Mark Greenfest. SoundWordSight. 2012.
Ruch Muzyczny
“…I find Kaye’s piece particularly convincing…” Click HERE for a full review.
– Turning in Time. Ruch Muzyczny. October 2021.
classical.net
“…Kaye’s musical voice is worth hearing and I can recommend her CD.”
Click HERE for a full review.
– And So It Begins, CD. R. James Tobin. 2016.
New York Concert Review
“Kaye brings large emotions into small forms.” Click HERE for a full review.
– Visions. Rorianne Schrade. New York Concert Review. August 4, 2011
The Audience Speaks…
“An original musician… really gorgeous music…so many different styles and emotions. As I listened to each piece, I thought it was my favorite.“
– Jean Sterrett. Playwright.
“I very much enjoyed your solo cello piece Dialogue with the Ghost. I think one of the hardest things to do is to write an engaging piece for one instrument with enough color and complexity to hold the listener’s attention. You succeeded brilliantly.“
– Dialogue with the Ghost. John Eaton, Composer.
“I find Ms. Kaye’s new music to be consistently compelling, always with an emotional center, wide ranging in scope and style, colorful, witty, and profound. To my ear, she’s a composer with something to say. It’s music with heart and hope, things very much needed in our world.“
– Richard Brooks, Composer/Founding President Capstone Records