Lowell Liebermann
Mr. Liebermann's new work was commissioned for the 2006-2007 season as part of Concertante's One Plus Five Project, and was performed on Friday, September 8 Baltimore,on Saturday September 9, 2006 at the Whitaker Center (Harrisburg, PA) and on Sunday, September 10, 2006 at Merkin Hall (New York City).
Lowell Liebermann is one of today's most frequently
performed and commissioned composers with recordings of his works
on labels such as BMG, Koch, Arabesque, Albany and New World
Records attesting to the enthusiasm shared by performers and
audiences.
Liebermann has served served as composer in residence for the
Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Sapporo's Pacific Music Festival,
the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and in 2001 was awarded the
first American Composers' Invitational Award by the 11th Van
Cliburn Competition for his Three
Impromptus. His works are championed by leading
international orchestras and performers including the New York
Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, L'Orchestre
Symphonique de Montréal, the Tokyo NHK Symphony, L'Orchestre
National de France, and the symphonies of Dallas, Baltimore,
Seattle, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Minnesota; James Galway,
Charles Dutoit, Stephen Hough, Kurt Masur, Joshua Bell, Steven
Isserlis, Andrew Litton, Susan Graham, David Zinman, Wolfgang
Sawallisch, Stuart Bedford, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet.
Upcoming premieres include Piano Concerto No.3 for pianist
Jeffrey Biegel with a consortium of over twenty orchestras
world-wide beginning with the Milwaukee Symphony; The Juilliard
School.s commission of Liebermann.s second opera, Miss
Lonelyhearts, based on the Nathanael West novel with libretto
by J.D. McClatchy.
Liebermann received his Bachelor, Masters, and Doctor of Music
Degrees from The Juilliard School. Among his many awards is a
Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy and Institute of
Arts and Letters.
Notes to Chamber Concerto No. 2 Op. 98
Lowell Liebermann’s Chamber Concerto No. 2, Op. 98, was commissioned by Concertante for violinist Xiao-Dong Wang. Scored for violin solo accompanied by a string quintet, the work is in one compact movement whose material evolves from the opening accompanimental figure and the solo violin’s almost improvisatory-sounding cantilena.
The mood of the piece is predominantly dark and foreboding, and includes a somber march whose cumulative canonic entrances build to the work’s final climax. The news of the sudden death of a close friend during the final month of composition contributed to the somber tone of the piece.