A very different project from Maria Schneider, with the CD due for UK release this week,  involves a commission from chamber orchestras in both Schneider’s home state of Minnesota and in Australia. Winter Morning Walks sets poems by Ted Kooser to be sung by dedicatee Dawn Upshaw. Very reminiscent of Samuel Barber, and of Upshaw’s debut recording of his Knoxville, recorded in 1988. For Upshaw, it feels like full circle then; and for Maria Schneider, music – from what I’ve heard – with a softer centre than her writing for her own orchestra. Try it. This link has SOUND CLIPS