LOWELL LIEBERMANN Biography

Award-winning American composer Lowell Liebermann is one of the most frequently performed and recorded composers of our time. Heralded by The New York Times as “a composer who wields a virtuoso technique with self-assurance and conviction”, his music continues to defy boundaries while taking its place in the standard repertoire of today’s great soloists, ensembles, and orchestras worldwide.

“A composer unafraid of grand gestures and openhearted lyricism” (Time Magazine), Mr. Liebermann’s over one hundred fifty works have seen premieres by major orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Dallas Symphony, and National Symphony; ballet companies, including the Royal Ballet and San Francisco Ballet; chamber ensembles, including the Emerson, Dover, Orion, Shanghai, and Ying Quartets; and internationally acclaimed soloists, including Sir James Galway, Yuja Wang, Sir Stephen Hough, Garrick Ohlsson, and more. Mr. Liebermann has also written two highly acclaimed full-length operas, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Miss Lonelyhearts.

“Lowell Liebermann is an epicure among American composers, savoring glittery chords, gossamer lines, and velvety textures that more self-consciously intellectual colleagues might be scared to put on paper,” said Alex Ross (The New Yorker). His “music combines rich, unabashed emotions… Shot through with expressive melody… crafted with passion and art.” (The Atlantic)

Mr. Liebermann is the recipient of many awards and distinctions, including the Concert Artist Guild’s Virtuoso Award for lifetime achievement, the inaugural Virgil Thomson Award presented by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Grand Prize from the inaugural American Composers Invitational awarded by the Van Cliburn Competition, and the Barto International Composition Prize.

The 2026–27 Season is highlighted by two major new commissions for flute. In 2026, Mr. Liebermann will see the premiere of his Sonata for Solo Flute, commissioned by the Library of Congress in celebration of Sir James Galway. The world premiere performance will be given by principal flutist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Lorna McGhee. In October 2027, flutist Joshua Batty will give the premiere of Mr. Liebermann’s Sonata No. 2 for Flute and Piano as part of international tour and recording project. 2026 will also bring the European Premiere of his Chamber Concerto No. 3 in Vienna, Austria.

Recent commissions have brought the premieres of his Piano Sonata No. 4 and Moment Musical at Carnegie Hall, “Five Etudes on Songs of Richard Strauss”, “The Second Coming” for Soprano and Orchestra, Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra, and the World, European, and UK premieres of his Concerto No. 2 for Flute and Orchestra, with flutist Stéfan Ragnar Höskuldsson and the Chicago and Iceland Symphony Orchestras and flutist Gareth Davies and the London Symphony Orchestra. The Chicago Tribune’s review of the World Premiere of the Concert No. 2 for Flute and Orchestra stated, “Premiered by Sir James Galway in 1992, Liebermann’s first flute concerto was a professional turning point in his career for this dean-to-be of American neo-romanticism, and it remains one of his most frequently recorded works…Liebermann’s Second is a fine follow-up to that modern classic.”

Mr. Liebermann’s works have been recorded over one hundred and sixty times, and his Sonata for Flute and Piano and Gargoyles—among his most performed works—each appear on more than twenty-five recordings. His Frankenstein, Ballet in Three Acts has been released on DVD and Blu-ray by The Royal Ballet.

Mr. Liebermann is also active as a pianist, having made his debut at Carnegie Recital Hall at the age of sixteen, performing his own Piano Sonata, Op. 1. Since 2021, he has released three recordings of solo piano music by Liszt, Kabeláč, Schubert, Busoni, Kirchner, and David Hackbridge Johnson on the Steinway & Sons and Blue Griffin labels.

As a conductor, he led the premiere recordings of his Flute Concertos with Sir James Galway and the London Mozart Players, and his Piano Concertos with Stephen Hough and the BBC Scottish Symphony. Mr. Liebermann has taught composition at the Mannes School of Music in New York City since 2012, where he was founding conductor of the Mannes American Composers Ensemble, a group dedicated to performing the works of living American composers.

Website: https://www.lowellliebermann.com/

# # # # #

Updated June 2026. Please discard any earlier versions