The music of Arlene Sierra (b. 1970) has begun to make waves on both sides of the Atlantic. With recent commissions by the New York Philharmonic, the Royal Opera House and the New York City Opera, the British-based young American composer has found devoted advocates among many leading performers of our time. UK performances of her work have includes a Showcase concert at the Crush Room, Royal Opera House in 2007 and she will have a work performed at the 2001 Cheltenham Music Festival.

The American Academy of Arts and Letters wrote of Sierra recently: “Intriguing, passionate, mysterious, her recent work, Cicada Shell, confidently announces the arrival of a significant composer.”

This recording marks the first CD devoted to Sierra's music.

Contents:
- Cicada Shell
International Contemporary Ensemble / Jayce Ogren

- Birds and Insects, Book 1
Vassily Primakov (piano)

- Surrounded Ground
Charles Neidich (clarinet), Stephen Gosling (piano), Daedalus Quartet

- Two Neruda Odes
Susan Narucki (soprano), Raman Ramakrishnan (cello), Stephen Gosling (piano)

- Colmena
International Contemporary Ensemble / Jayce Ogren

- Ballistae
International Contemporary Ensemble / Jayce Ogren