Mary Jane Leach (b. 1949) was a youngster on the Manhattan scene in the early days of minimalism, and her early works - usually scored for multiples of the same instrument - have a relentless, minimalist intensity. In the late '80s, though, she began composing prolifically for female voices, and her choral music has brought out a lovely new side of her work. Some of her pieces are based on earlier music, such as passages from Monteverdi or Bruckner, often slowed down to let the bittersweet harmonies unfold at a leisurely pace. Some of the pieces use effective echoes back and forth between spatially separated singers. And all of the pieces have a beautiful depth to them that transcends the category "new music." - Kyle Gann

Celestial Fires, XI 107 - some of her early instrumental works plus the first of her pieces for female chorus

Ariadne's Lament, New World 80525-2 - her ambitious, more recent magnum opus

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