Background Information
Lowell Liebermann was born in New York City in 1961. He began piano studies at the age of eight. He made his performing debut at age 16 at Carnegie Recital Hall, playing his own Piano Sonata, Op.1. He holds bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees from the Juilliard School of Music. Among his many awards is a Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
Liebermann is an acclaimed pianist and a busy composer, with works in many genres. A Grammy award nominee, Liebermann started composing songs during his late teens, soon after he first read Oscar Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray – the inspiration and basis for his first opera.
Called by The New York Times “as much of a traditionalist as an innovator,” Mr. Liebermann’s music is known for its technical command and audience appeal. “Music that interests me is music that can be appreciated on many levels, but all the levels have to be audible. An artist works within certain limitations – it might be a canvas or a sonata form or an unnamed form. Something extraordinary has to be conveyed on an emotional level for me to be interested.” Multiple recordings of many of his works attest to the enthusiasm shared by performers and listeners for his music.
In 1996, the opera The Picture of Dorian Gray was premiered by L’Opera de Monte Carlo to great acclaim. The commission was the first by an American composer in the company’s history. A second operatic work is Miss Lonelyhearts, commissioned by the Juilliard School for its 100th Anniversary.
No longer being described as a Neo-Romantic, his second symphony, which starts mildly, reveals moments of total atonal chaos, yet some of the critics in the anti-tonal camp didn't even notice. It is the work of a composer unafraid of grand gestures and openhearted lyricism.
Orchestral works, chamber music and works for voice and piano, compositions for various instruments, his operas - all have been performed by the greatest orchestras and artists of our times.
In 2001, The Dranoff International Two Piano Foundation approached Mr. Liebermann to compose the commissioned work for its 8th International Two Piano Competition - “Three Lullabies”, op. 76.
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