Ottawa Chamberfest runs July 23 to August 2 — and we're proud to be hosting five free concerts in the store as part of the official Record Centre Series. This year's programming spans everything from Baroque opera and Bach cello suites to contemporary minimalism and Ukrainian folk music. We went through our website stock and found 10 records that speak directly to what's happening on those stages.

Philip Glass / Robert Wilson — Einstein On The Beach (4LP Box Set, Netherlands 2020 Reissue, Music On Vinyl, NM/NM) — $140

Philip Glass is woven through this year's Chamberfest program, and Einstein on the Beach is the monument. Four LPs of hypnotic, cyclical minimalism — the 1976 opera that changed what music theatre could be, reissued on Music On Vinyl in NM/NM condition. If you've been curious about Glass and want to go deep, this is where to start and where to end up.

Caroline Shaw / Attacca Quartet — Orange (US 2020, Orange Vinyl, NM/NM) — $45

Caroline Shaw is the youngest composer ever to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, and this string quartet album is one of the most beautiful chamber music recordings of the last decade. Orange sits at the exact crossroads of contemporary classical and accessible emotional directness that Chamberfest consistently champions. On orange vinyl — one of the more quietly stunning physical objects in the store.

Arvo Pärt — Tabula Rasa (2012 Sealed) — $32

Pärt's Tabula Rasa — still the most accessible and moving introduction to tintinnabuli, the composer's distinctive system of interweaving melody and harmony — appears in this year's Chamberfest programming. This sealed 2012 pressing is the ideal way to own it. Gidon Kremer and Tatiana Grindenko on the violins, Keith Jarrett conducting the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. A genuinely perfect record.

Bach / Janos Starker — Suite for Unaccompanied Cello, Complete (2020 Analogue Productions) — $275

The cello suites are the backbone of any serious chamber music conversation, and this Analogue Productions pressing of Janos Starker's definitive recording is among the finest vinyl editions ever made. With cello central to this year's programming — including Raphael Weinroth-Browne and multiple ensemble works — this is the record to have on the shelf. Premium pressing, premium performance.

Moondog — Moondog (1969 UK, NM-/VG) — $170

A blind composer and street musician who spent decades on New York's Sixth Avenue in a Viking helmet, writing music that combined Baroque counterpoint, American jazz, and invented rhythmic systems into something entirely his own. This 1969 UK original is one of the rarest pieces in the store's classical/contemporary section. NM-/VG condition.

Beethoven — Violin Sonatas / Gidon Kremer & Martha Argerich (180g, South Korea Remaster, NM/NM) — $125

Beethoven's violin sonatas are in the Chamberfest program, and this 2LP 180g gatefold remaster — Gidon Kremer and Martha Argerich, two of the 20th century's greatest instrumentalists, at the height of their collaboration — is the benchmark recording. NM/NM condition. The kind of record that makes the choice of what to put on after a live concert completely obvious.

Angela Hewitt — Robert Schumann: Piano Sonatas No. 1 & 2 (1983, NM/NM) — $35

Angela Hewitt is one of Canada's most celebrated pianists, and this early 1983 recording of the Schumann sonatas is a document of her playing at its most searching and energetic. Schumann's piano music features in this year's Chamberfest programming, and this domestic pressing in NM/NM condition is a beautiful way to hold that connection.

All of these are in stock as of this posting. Five free Chamberfest concerts happen right here in the store July 24–August 1 — come for the music, take something home to listen to.

→ Full Chamberfest 2026 schedule at chamberfest.com