While its original printed edition consists of 18 songs with texts and music by American poets and composers, as a whole it includes numerous uncollected works.
Inspired by this and the book Poets for Life: Seventy-Six Poets Respond to AIDS, Parker contacted several prominent composers, including Lee Hoiby, Ricky Ian Gordon, and Libby Larsen, to create art songs inspired by the experiences of those living, coping with, and dying from the disease.
[4] The AIDS Quilt Songbook premiered on 4 July 1992 in New York City at the Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall.
Parker debuted the cycle with three other baritones: Kurt Ollman, William Sharp, and Sanford Sylvan accompanied by Alkan Marks, Fred Hersch, John Musto, Ned Rorem, David Breitman, Donald St. Pierre, Steven Blier, Richard Thomas, William Huckaby, and Ricky Ian Gordon, with David Krakaer on clarinet.
The Estate Project also seeks to preserve artwork in all disciplines concerning the AIDS Crisis for future generations.