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Lowell Liebermann

About this Artist

Lowell Liebermann is one of America’s most frequently performed and recorded living composers. He has written over 130 works in all genres, several of which have gone on to become standard repertoire for their instruments, such as his Sonata for Flute and Piano and Gargoyles for piano, each of which have been recorded over 20 times on CD.

Liebermann has composed across all genres of classical music. His works range from solo piano and organ pieces through songs and choral works to  symphonies and concertos, operas and ballets. His chamber music includes five string quartets, and a large number of pieces for mixed ensembles of various sizes.

Much of that variety comes because the pieces are largely custom, “bespoke” creations, written for specific performers. Prominent among the artists that Liebermann has worked with regularly is Sir James Galway. The famed Irish flutist enjoyed Liebermann’s Flute Sonata (1983), and he subsequently commissioned a flute concerto (1992), a double concerto for flute and harp (1995), and this trio for flute, cello, and piano (2002).

He has been commissioned by a wide array of ensembles and instrumentalists, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Emerson Quartet, and flutist James Galway. His full-length ballet Frankenstein was co-commissioned by London’s Royal Ballet and the San Francisco Ballet and has been released on Blu-Ray and DVD. Liebermann has written two full-length operas, both enthusiastically received at their premieres: The Picture of Dorian Gray, the first American opera commissioned and premiered by l’Opéra de Monte-Carlo, and Miss Lonelyhearts, after the novel by Nathanael West, commissioned by the Juilliard School to celebrate its 100th anniversary.

Liebermann served as Composer-in-Residence for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for four years, a role he also pursued with the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan; the Saratoga Performing Arts Center; and many other organizations. He joined the composition faculty of Mannes School of Music of the New School in 2012, where he founded the Mannes American Composers Ensemble, devoted to performing works of living American composers. He was appointed head of Mannes’ Composition Department the following year.