Heather Gilligan's music has been described as honest, direct, and compassionate while exploring emotions from humor to anguish. Her music has been performed to critical acclaim at the New York Choral Festival, the Washington D.C. International Music Festival, and by the American Modern Ensemble, Lorelei Ensemble, and Arneis String Quartet, among many others. She is on the faculty at Keene State College and a member of the Boston Composers Coalition. She received her DMA in Composition from Boston University and her MM from the Longy School of Music. She also holds a BS in Chemistry from Lehigh University. This recording contains six song cycles - each set for soprano - but the instrumentation is varied. Living in Light is scored for soprano and cello; Garden Songs for soprano, trumpet, and piano; Mixed Metaphors for soprano and piano; Winged Reflections for soprano, saxophone, and piano; Battlegrounds for soprano and string quartet; and Finer Points for soprano and percussion.