Arlen Hlusko’s album komorebi is out now!
September 25, 2026
Acclaimed cellist Arlen Hlusko’s album komorebi is out today, available on all major streaming and download services! Recorded at Tippet Rise in 2025, the album highlights the richness and power of community and storytelling. It is also the first album produced and released by Tippet Rise, the art center’s new label.
The Japanese word komorebi (木漏れ日) signifies the interplay of sunshine filtering through the trees—light weaving its way through every tiny gap in the darkness, and dancing along the forest floor. Inspired by this search for light in the dark and the commitment to hope amidst devastation, komorebi features Bach’s deeply moving Suite No. 5 as its foundation, juxtaposed with compositions by a myriad of new American voices, whose influences draw from music of all kinds, including Bluegrass, Indian Raags, Indigenous roots, Argentinian tango, and more.
Three of the tracks are accompanied by full-length music videos filmed at Tippet Rise, including the previously released Sandhiprakash (The Joining of Light) by Reena Esmail and Àkweks Katye (The Eagle Flies) by Dawn Avery. Komorebi also features two works, Lotus Petals Unfolding and Hyacinth Garnishes, by Paul V. Cortez, an inmate at Sing Sing, a maximum-security prison in New York. A participant of Carnegie Hall’s Musical Connections program, Cortez’s 12-movement Cello Suite Bouquet was inspired by Bach’s Cello Suites and by his lessons with Arlen, who serves as a teaching artist for the program. A full-length music video of Lotus Petals Unfolding was also released today.
“As I was dreaming up this album, I found my brainstorming going in many different directions. In this world we’re currently living in, I wanted to highlight a diverse array of American voices that I love, and that have very much shaped the music I enjoy listening to and playing. The program is also a reflection on Bach’s 5th Suite – one of the first pieces I ever fell in love with – and how his music continues to shape the music created today; the surprising and beautiful juxtapositions of new and old.
I also see this album, my first self-directed album, as a self-portrait of who I am as an artist. This music and these composers have shaped who I am and what I value as a musician – the sound worlds that feel most like home, the relationships that have inspired and sustained me through the ups and downs of life.” – Arlen Hlusko
A huge thank you to Soundmirror and Wild Vision Films for helping us bring this project to life, and of course to Arlen, for the enthusiasm and beauty she brought to the creation of this album. We hope everyone will listen, watch, and enjoy!
