Divine Art Records has announced “Phase Change,” a new album of orchestral works by composer Patrick Conlon and produced by Dr. Christina Giacona, in the first release of a new collaboration with the Fort Smith Symphony and conductor John Jeter to be recorded in March 2027.

Conlon and Giacona are internationally recognized composers, performers, producers and engineers whose credits include albums by Josh Groban, Celtic Woman, Karen Slack, Noah Bendix-Balgley, the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Oklahoma City Philharmonic.

The Fort Smith Symphony under Mr. Jeter’s leadership has a growing international reputation, with a focus on highlighting local Southwest American composers such as Florence Price and William Grant Still, and Indigenous American composer, Louis Ballard.

For the new album, the recording sessions will take place in March 2027 after the orchestra gives the world premiere performance of Conlon’s Symphony No. 2: “Remission” while Conlon serves as the orchestra’s composer-in-residence, and will be produced by Giacona.

In a statement, First Inversion Executive Director David Weuste said, “American orchestras featuring their own musicians as soloists is less of a rarity today, but to bring forward and spotlight the talents of its musicians as both composers, producers, and engineers demonstrates a level of dedication to the development of the orchestra and its audience that I find beyond laudable. I can’t wait to bring this combination of star artists to a wider international audience through the Divine Art label in order to showcase the incredible artistry that John Jeter and the Fort Smith Symphony are presenting and developing in the American Southwest.”

“Phase Change” will act as a retrospective compilation spanning Conlon’s 15-year tenure as a composer and performer with the Fort Smith Symphony which has included a number of composer residencies with the orchestra. The album’s centerpiece, Symphony No. 2, “Remission,” a five-movement symphony exploring the complex and often contradictory meanings of the word.