“Responses to Ives” was conceived in 2003 by pianist Heather O’Donnell as a way to acknowledge the 50th anniversary of Charles Ives’s death (May 19, 2004). She approached composers spanning a generation, known to have strong affinities for Ives and asked them to write a “musical reflection” on the presence of Ives in their lives and work.  The set was premiered at the MaerzMusik Festival in Berlin in 2004 in the midst of a twelve hour extravaganza of Ives. In the months following  repeat performances took place in South Africa, China, the Czech Republic, Germany, and the U.S.  The CD includes the first recording of Ives’ London Bridge is Falling Down!  O’Donnell intersperses short, and often less known, works of Ives with the contemporary composers’ “responses”, all of which are first recordings. The “responses” could not be more varied from each other — from introspective to virtuostic to meditative to extended techniques.