Last month, Harmonia Mundi issued three albums by recent American Pianists Association award winners, and each is distinctive in its repertoire and range of performance styles.

The disc by Michael Sheppard, one of the Indianapolis-based contest's 2003 Classical Fellowship Award winners, is quintessentially American, and showcases his gifts as an improviser and composer.

As for the 2006 Fellows, Spencer Myer's sampler of the theme-and-variations form brings out his interpretive skills, while Stephen Beus highlights harmonic color by featuring Alexander Scriabin of Russia and American Charles T. Griffes.

Sheppard's charisma at the keys comes across especially well in his transcriptions of tunes by two American songsmiths, and in a short, delightful piano rag. The Baltimore-based musician crafted two waltz fantasies based on Richard Rodgers' musical "Carousel" and on "My Favorite Things" from "The Sound of Music." In both, Sheppard incorporated wild riffs, elaborate ornamentation, and playful slowing or accelerating of melodies. His light, elusive take on William Bolcom's "Graceful Ghost" Rag is enchanting.

Sheppard's two most substantial cuts are Earl Wild's "Fantasy on Gershwin's Porgy and Bess" and John Corigliano's "Etude Fantasy." In the Wild, Sheppard instantly establishes the piece's bluesy style and broad range of sounds and emotions, but switches back and forth from personal, quiet musings to big, arresting sounds. The "Etude Fantasy" showcases the player's appreciation of structural relationships among the five studies incorporated into the piece.

Myer's "Preludes and Variations" opens with his alternately simple, deliberate and intense premiere recording of Variations on "L'Homme Arme," the late University of Southern California professor Ellis B. Kohs' setting of a French Renaissance tune. Ferrucio Busoni's "Ten Variations on a Prelude of Chopin," probably the most familiar work on the album, showcases Myer's technique and expressive powers. The album also contains Aaron Copland's "Piano Variations" and the second book of Claude Debussy's "Preludes."

Two of the three largest works on Beus' album are the Griffes Sonata (1917) and Sonata No. 6 from Scriabin's series of 10. The pianist brings clarity and passionate focus to the Griffes. Some describe Scriabin's Sixth Sonata as ominous, but Beus' gentle approach brings out its ethereal qualities.