That's OK with Crawford Gates, who is most familiar to LDS audiences through his compositions for "Promised Valley" and the annual "Mormon Miracle Pageant" in Palmyra, N.Y.

Though his style is, by admission, much different than most of the composers who worked on the project, he saw it as an interesting and valid concept. He chose a painting by his second cousin, Douglas Snow, of a scene at Lake Powell called "Winter Radiance." The result was a three-part composition interpreting the white and gray of the clouds, the blue lake and the brownness of the sandstone cliffs

Though his romantic style is often seen by younger musicians as "backward," he said, he doesn't apologize. "I am what I am." Mormoniana has a "21st century quality to much of it that I suppose that would be a surprise to some LDS people who might feel that much of that music is pretty far out."

Even so, he said, he was pleased that he and a couple of older colleagues were included. "I'm probably the most conservative of the ones there."

New York graphic designer David Fletcher, who is a trained composer, said he didn't ever expect any type of personal reward for agreeing to participate but hoped it might become a "ticket into a larger art sphere of some kind."

"I did think it would be kind of a high-profile thing for the church and maybe it will get into a more high-profile arena."

DeSpain is excited about the diversity and reach of the project that she believes has the potential to expand the vision of some in the LDS community who tend to wait for something to be "labeled as 'LDS approved.' "

She believes there's a perception within the faith "that there are a small percentage of approved LDS artists — but there are really so many more. I go to church with some amazing people who sing at the Met, who are world-class authors. They're all here just striving to do their art as best they can, yet I don't think (Latter-day Saints) know who these people are."

One of her new ventures includes a nonprofit organization — www.ephraimsharp.org — that is working on American folk hymns, some of which are tied to her LDS heritage, but go beyond what many think LDS music sounds like. "We're not interested in going to Deseret Book. We want to go beyond that world, but I'd like to bring the LDS community along in the journey. We're just trying to get good stuff out to the world."

As the LDS Church grows and appreciation for fine art increases, she's hoping people "will embrace all kinds of these great composers and just stretch a little bit."

For more information, see www.mormoniana.com or www.mormonartistsgroup.com.

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E-mail: carrie@desnews.com