Contemporary music is noted for its diversity. While enjoying complete freedom to cultivate highly personal styles of expression, composers have remained most hopeful about sharing their musical creations with a broad-based public.

This album showcases recent works recorded for the first time by five living composers. These compositions were introduced to New York City audiences through the exciting and unique North/South Consonance concert series.

The featured composers span three generations. Aurelio de la Vega, Harold Schiffman and Mary Jeanne van Appledorn have reached the wondrous age of 80. José Lezcano and de la Vega hail from Cuba but have lived in the United States since the 1960s. Allan Crossman, spent many years working in Montreal. All now reside in different parts of this vast country.

Appalachian melodies inform Schiffman's neo-classical designs. Lezcano's rhythmic and melodic choices reveal his strong interest in Caribbean and South American folk music. Crossman portrays weightlessness by abandoning musical gravity while employing non-metered rhythms and unusual timbric effects. Van Appledorn's down-to-earth formal patterns are effective and intelligible. De la Vega's misty evocation of Cuban melodic turns and dance rhythms is delicate, poignant and meaningful.

Great care was taken to preserve the integrity of the concert hall ambiance when this album was recorded and mastered. Indeed, the listener will find that the natural resonance of the concert hall and the music's wide dynamic range were captured successfully. Please use a moderate volume setting when playing this disc.