* 2021 stock * Eve Beglarian, percussion, electronics; Pauline Oliveros, accordion, voice; Linda Montano, voice; Nurit Tilles, piano; Linda Montano, piano; Marilyn Lerner, piano; Lori Freedman, clarinet; Steven Osgood, Conductor; Lori Ann Phillips, soprano; Elaine Valby, soprano; Robin Lorentz, violin; Jill Ferber, flute; Claudia Anderson, flute; John Piirainen, piano; Elizabeth Eshleman, soprano; Malin Serner, voice; Lisa Frisari, bowed crotales

This disc is the third volume in CRI's series of music by fine composers who "just happen to be gay." The first volume, "Gay American Composers," released in 1996, was never conceived to be all an all-male affair. But when we began discussing the project with prospective artists, there were very few woman interested in or available to be a part of the project. We feared that if only one or two women had been included, they would have seemed like red herrings if not tokens. Nevertheless, we announced our intention then to release a full disc of lesbian composers. Now two years later — and after far more rejections than we received from men — the project has become a reality.  Again with this new collection, we present representative works from each composer and we let the listener decide if there is a gay or lesbian sensibility that unites them. The artists range in age from their 30s to the 70s and have backgrounds in mainstream composition and teaching, as well as in performance art and ritual, film scoring and Broadway. And again we allow each of them to make their own statements on the topic of sexuality and music.  Like all first-rate American artists, these lesbian composers share a boldness of vision and a determination to bring it to reality. We hope that this introduction to their work will draw you further into the ever new and changing world of American classical music.