Cynthia Stillman Gerdes writes mostly chamber music for traditional instruments in a light contemporary style. From tangos to a conversation among backyard birds to a sonic snapshot of Idaho history, and caricatures of human behaviors, her compositions explore ways of expressing the everyday while trying to combine it all with depth and lightness, humor and insight.

In recent years Cynthia’s music has been performed by Portland’s new music performance group FearNoMusic; at the Composer’s Symposium, Performers’ Choice Concert at the Ernest Bloch Festival at Newport, Oregon; at Portland State University and in concerts sponsored by the Cascadia branch of the National Association of Composers USA, which includes the Crazy Jane Composers concerts. Two of her pieces were performed on a concert series in Paris.