Lori Laitman is one of America’s leading vocal composers. These 49 songs were composed between 1997 and 2017 to texts by celebrated poets including Elizabeth Bishop, Paul Celan, Dana Gioia, David Mason, Sylvia Plath, and Joyce Sutphen, on topics that range from the profound emotional impact of the Holocaust, to humorous truths of everyday life, and the comedy and tenderness of childhood. The recording also includes two instrumental pieces for saxophone and piano. This stunning programme of world premiere recordings is performed by an all-star cast that includes the composer herself.

Contemporary art songs can be seen as something of a niche market, but Lori Laitman is one of America’s most popular, prolific and widely performed composers of vocal music. She has composed two operas, an oratorio, choral works and over 200 songs, setting the words of classical and contemporary poets, among them the lost voices of poets who perished in the Holocaust. Critics have considered her ‘one of the most talented and intriguing of living composers’ (Fanfare).