Conceived by soprano Samantha Crawford and pianist Lana Bode with the aim of telling often unheard stories about womanhood primarily through women’s own words and music, dream.risk.sing brings together songs about adolescence, bodies, love, work and legacy, while a palpable thread running throughout reminds listeners of the constraints on freedom that still exist in women’s lives.

Bringing forward this subject matter – far from the staple of traditional song recitals – has involved Crawford and Bode in commissioning new music and reviving other, often unfamiliar repertoire, and the album includes a new song-cycle by Charlotte Bray, new arrangements of two songs from Judith Weir’s groundbreaking cycle woman.life.song, recent works by Helen Grime, Libby Larsen and others, as well as earlier twentieth-century contributions from Rebecca Clarke and Florence Price.