For the complete liner notes that accompany this cd, click here.

  "Either en masse or in antiphonal clusters, Ms. Leach's slow-paced and soothing music seemed intent on filling this high-ceilinged space with different densities of sound."
Bernard Holland, New York Times

  "[Her pieces] have an underlying sense of magic and mystery. Unlike some of her more intellectual contemporaries, Leach is not merely messing around with the properties of sound; she's exploring (and connecting with) the aesthetic and even spiritual power of sound."
Bill Tilland, Option

". . . serene and ethereal-sounding music that seems to float . . . the overall sound is reminiscent of Ligeti works like "Lux Aeterna" and the music of Arvo Paert, with echoes of Renaissance polychoral composers like Tallis and Gabrieli."
Chorus!

  MARY JANE LEACH is a composer/performer who has been based in New York since the mid-1970's. She lived in Cologne, Germany in 1989/90 as Composer in Residence at Sankt Peter Köln. Her compositions have been performed in North America, Europe, Australia, South America, and Japan. Her works explore the physicality of sound, working very carefully with the timbres of instruments, creating combination, difference, and interference tones. Space is also an important concern: how sound changes when it is moved around a room.

  Celestial Fires features the New York Treble Singers, Virginia Davidson-conductor, performing four 8-part pieces for a capella women's voices; Shannon Peet performing Feu de Joie for 7 bassoons; and Barbara Held and Ms. Leach performing Trio for Duo for alto flute and voice. Celestial Fires was funded in part by Thomas Buckner.

 "Prettiest of all -- Bruckstück took the cream of Bruckner's Eighth Symphony, its haunting harmonic resolutions, and repeated them with swells of emotion."
Kyle Gann, Village Voice

 "Leach has created a sonic world of tonal beauty, a visionary quest for inner peace."
Fabrizio Gilardino, Vice Versa