Aug. 8: Cellist Tamar Sagiv Releases Shades of Mourning on Sono Luminus – New Album Shaped by Personal Loss and the Experience of Grieving
Sono Luminus Releases Cellist Tamar Sagiv’s New Album
Shades of Mourning
Featuring Nine Original Works by Sagiv
Shaped by Personal Loss and the Experience of Grieving
Worldwide Release Date: August 8, 2025
Pre-Order Available Now
Press download and CDs available upon request.
www.tamarsagiv.com | www.sonoluminus.com
On August 8, 2025, acclaimed New York City-based cellist and composer Tamar Sagiv will release her debut album, Shades of Mourning, on the GRAMMY-winning label Sono Luminus. The album features nine original compositions by Sagiv that explore the multifaceted nature of grief and mourning through deeply personal musical landscapes. Violinist Leerone Hakami and violist Ella Bukszpan collaborate with Sagiv on four of the tracks.
Described by New York Weekly as "an innovative cellist [whose] versatility sets her apart from her peers," Sagiv was drawn to music's unique ability to convey the nuance of complex emotions and lived experiences.
"I am writing these words while the Middle East, my place of birth, is bleeding. Like me, my friends, family, and neighbors who live on the other side of fences built to divide us carry excruciating pain that grows deeper as the wars continue,” Sagiv writes. “My grandfather, born in Syria and shaped by hardship, believed in peace until his last day. Because of him, I believe in peace, and I hope this is one belief I will never have to grieve. These experiences of personal loss, collective grief, and enduring hope became the foundation for the music in this album."
Shades of Mourning began in the most intimate of circumstances. "This album began, unknowingly, at my grandmother's deathbed," Sagiv writes in her liner notes. "I didn't realize then that the piece I wrote while she was taking her last breaths would grow into an album, nor did I yet know I was a composer." That first piece became the album's opening track – a passacaglia that Sagiv describes as "a farewell to a woman who shaped my life in ways I'm still uncovering."
Each work on the album illuminates different aspects of the grieving process, from profound loss to unexpected moments of renewal.
Roots explores heritage and identity with what Sagiv calls "something wild, unexpected, unapologetic," capturing the visceral connection between blood and soil, between individual identity and generational history. Roots was premiered at Sagiv’s Carnegie Hall debut in May 2023, and performed alongside her mentor, acclaimed cellist Matt Haimovitz, at the Cello Biennale Festival in Amsterdam.
Intermezzo, composed during an artist residency in the Catskills, emerged from Sagiv's experience of being immersed in the beauty of nature soon after her grandmother’s death. The piece is dedicated to Purcell Palmer, the founder of the artist residency, who Sagiv became close to and who passed away months later. Sagiv writes, “I wish she knew how profoundly she and her home affected me, how much healing I found in the sanctuary she created.”
And Maybe You Never Used to Be, inspired by Philip Glass's minimalist works, explores grief in new dimensions, going beyond personal loss to look at the shattering of friendships, ideas, and deeply held values through a four-movement string trio. Sagiv writes, “And maybe you never used to be – my first chamber music work – opens the collection with a question: what happens when the things we thought were certain begin to shatter?”
My Clouds of Grief captures the inescapable heaviness that follows mourners through each day, when "colors drain from the world around you" and even laughter sounds distant and hollow. “I wanted the music to envelope listeners in this heaviness, to let them experience how it feels when grief becomes your constant companion, surrounding you in its seemingly infinite darkness,” writes Sagiv.
The End of Times creates delicate and lush colors and textures while grappling with existential questions about our final moments, whispered through veiled tones and gentle dissonances. Sagiv writes, “In this movement, I grapple with uncertainty. Will we find relief in our final moments, or will pain be our lasting legacy?”
Imaginary World envisions a refuge where no living creature suffers, and is Sagiv’s imagined response to ongoing wars and conflicts, where beings exist side by side despite disagreements and painful histories. She writes, “Inspired by Philip Glass’s Mishima Quartet, whose music offered me solace during dark times, I created this movement. May it bring you the same joy and comfort that this music brought me.”
The album concludes with Prelude and In My Blue, inspired by Chet Baker's Almost Blue and Bossa Nova rhythms. "I wanted to end this album not in sorrow, but with the same quiet hope that music has always given me," Sagiv explains. "The possibility that even after profound loss, we can still move forward. Together."
Tamar Sagiv is a cellist and composer whose musical language bridges classical tradition with contemporary expression. Her work explores themes of memory, identity, and emotional resonance, often drawing on personal experiences to create sound worlds that feel both intimate and universal.
Originally from Northern Israel, Sagiv began her musical training at the Kfar Blum Music Center with Uri Chen and continued at the Israeli Arts and Science Academy in Jerusalem with Prof. Hillel Zori. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree from the Buchmann Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University, and completed both her Master’s and Professional Diploma (PDPL) at the Mannes School of Music in New York City under Prof. Matt Haimovitz’s guidance.
As a performer, she has appeared as soloist with orchestras in Israel and Germany, and played at venues including Lincoln Center, Alice Tully Hall, National Bohemian Hall, and the New York Public Library. Her music has been broadcast on Israeli National Radio since she was 16.
Sagiv has participated in masterclasses with Steven Isserlis, Ralph Kirshbaum, Gary Hoffman, and Frans Helmerson, and attended festivals across Israel, Europe, and the U.S. Her achievements have been recognized by awards from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, the Ronen Foundation, and a Certificate of Honor from Maestro Zubin Mehta. In 2022, she performed the music of composer James Simon – who perished in Auschwitz – at Carnegie Hall.
Her debut album on Sono Luminus highlights her distinctive compositional voice and virtuosic playing, establishing her as a powerful new voice in contemporary classical music.
Shades of Mourning | Tamar Sagiv | Sono Luminus
Release Date: August 22, 2025 (Worldwide)
Recorded January 31-February 13, 2024 at Skillman Music in Brooklyn, NY
[1] Shades of Mourning (2022) [4:14]
[2] Roots (2022) [5:14]
[3] Intermezzo (2023) [2:47]
[4] And Maybe You Never Used to Be (2023) [3:11]
[5] My Clouds of Grief (2024) [6:41]
[6] The End of Times (2024) [2:31]
[7] Imaginary World (2024) [4:28]
[8] Prelude (2024) [2:13]
[9] In My Blue (2024) [3:47]
Total Time: [33:39]
Recording, Editing, Mixing Engineer: Wei Wang
Mastering Engineer: Daniel Shores
Executive Producer: Collin J. Rae
Producer: Tamar Sagiv
Composer: Tamar Sagiv
Musicians:
Tamar Sagiv - Cello
Leerone Hakami - Violin (Tracks 4, 5, 6, 7)
Ella Bukszpan - Viola (Tracks 4, 5, 6, 7)
Photo credits: Zan Wang, Apar Pokharel
Liner Notes: Tamar Sagiv
Layout: Joshua Frey
