Living in Light: Music of Heather Gilligan
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The first commercial recording of Heather Gilligan's music presents her chamber works featuring the voice.

Heather Gilligan's music has been described as honest, direct, and compassionate while exploring emotions from humor to anguish. Her music has been performed to critical acclaim at the New York Choral Festival, the Washington D.C. International Music Festival, and by the American Modern Ensemble, Lorelei Ensemble, and Arneis String Quartet, among many others. She is on the faculty at Keene State College and a member of the Boston Composers Coalition. She received her DMA in Composition from Boston University and her MM from the Longy School of Music. She also holds a BS in Chemistry from Lehigh University. This recording contains six song cycles -- each set for soprano -- but the instrumentation is varied. Living in Light is scored for soprano and cello; Garden Songs for soprano, trumpet, and piano; Mixed Metaphors for soprano and piano; Winged Reflections for soprano, saxophone, and piano; Battlegrounds for soprano and string quartet; and Finer Points for soprano and percussion.
Contents:
Heather Gilligan, composer
Living in Light
Margot Rood, soprano; Patrick Owen, cello

Heather Gilligan, composer
Garden Songs
Margot Rood, soprano; Seelan Manickam, trumpet; Damien Francoeur-Krzyzek, piano

Heather Gilligan, composer
Mixed Metaphors
Margot Rood, soprano; Damien Francoeur-Krzyzek, piano

Heather Gilligan, composer
Winged Reflections
Margot Rood, soprano; Kenneth Radnofsky, saxophone; Damien Francoeur-Krzyzek, piano

Heather Gilligan, composer
Battlegrounds
Margot Rood, soprano; Apple Hill String Quartet

Heather Gilligan, composer
Finer Points
Margot Rood, soprano; Caleb Herron, percussion
Review:
"Heather Gilligan's Living in Light, a collection of six relatively short song cycles by the New Hampshire-based composer, is a new album that capably demonstrates that the art song is not only alive and well but thriving in the early decades of the 21st century. The title song cycle, a setting of four Sara Teasdale poems for voice and cello, gives a good sense of Gilligan's style as far as it's represented on this album: emotionally direct; filled with sweeping, lyrical gestures; and unafraid to venture into the occasionally unexpected sound world.…Throughout the disc (Margot) Rood sings with bright, clear tone; marvelously clear diction; impeccable intonation; and a total embrace of Gilligan's idiomatic vocal style. Pianist Francouer-Krzyzek and trumpeter Seelan Manickam acquit themselves excellently in their repsective appearances, playing with rhythmic energy and lots of color. In sum, this is a composer — and an impressive roster of performers — worth watching closely." (The Arts Fuse - Jonathan Blumhofer)