Lowell Liebermann

Lowell Liebermann (born February 22, 1961, in New York City) is an American composer, pianist and conductor.^[1]

Life and career

At the age of sixteen, Liebermann performed at Carnegie Hall, playing his Piano Sonata, op. 1. He studied at the Juilliard School of Music with David Diamond and Vincent Persichetti, earning bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. The English composer-pianist Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji also expressed interest in Liebermann's early work, having critiqued the young composer's Piano Sonata in a private exchange between the two; Liebermann's Concerto for Piano, op. 12 would be dedicated to Sorabji.^[2]

His most recorded works are his Sonata for Flute and Piano (1987), Gargoyles for piano (1989), and his Concerto for Flute and Orchestra (1992). Other notable works include a sonata for flute and guitar (1988), five cello sonatas (most recently 2019) the second piano concerto (1992), the opera The Picture of Dorian Gray (1996),^[3] a second symphony (2000), a trumpet concerto (2000), a violin concerto (2001), Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for piano and orchestra (2001), and the opera Miss Lonelyhearts (2006) which was commissioned as part of the festivities surrounding the centennial of the Juilliard School. He was also commissioned by the Dranoff International Two Piano Foundation to compose "Three Lullabies" for two pianos. Opus Two recorded an album of all of Liebermann's chamber music, Chamber Music of Lowell Liebermann with guest artists Andrés Díaz, Erika Eckert, and the Ying Quartet (Albany Records, TROY684 2004)

Liebermann has also written the music for the ballet Frankenstein, a co-production between The Royal Ballet and San Francisco Ballet (2016). A recording of the work's Premier was released in 2021 on the audiophile label Reference Recordings.^[4]

His music combines elements of traditional tonality and structure with more adventurous harmonies. Liebermann's music is often highly polytonal and Liebermann explores different bitonal possibilities in many of his pieces. His Concerto for Piccolo and Orchestra, Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, and Concerto for Flute, Harp and Orchestra have been recorded by James Galway. American clarinetist Jon Manasse premiered his Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra (2009) with The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Neal Gittleman.

Liebermann resides in New York City. He presently serves on the composition faculty at Mannes College The New School for Music and is the director of the Mannes American Composers Ensemble.^[5][6]

References

Sources

External links

• Lowell Liebermann website
• Lowell Liebermann's page at Theodore Presser Company
• Lowell Liebermann Interview, August 15, 1998
• Dayton Philharmonic's Classical Series Program Notes^{[permanent dead link]}

This page was last edited on 11 December 2023, at 22:57