The Faculty Artist Series presents composer David Liptak, Professor of Composition and Chair of the Composition Department, on Monday, October 7th at 7:30 p.m. in Hatch Recital Hall at the Eastman School of Music. Guest pianist Eunmi Ko will be performing Professor Liptak’s Constellations (2010) and Star Light (2009), along with selections from George Crumb’s Makrokosmos I (1972) and II (1973), in an album release concert for the Innova CD Constellations, which will be released on September 27th.
Much of David Liptak’s music written very recently has explored the poetry and magical quality of stars and starlight, imagined and real. A dedicated teacher of composition students for over four decades, David Liptak is Professor of Composition at the Eastman School of Music, where he has taught since 1986.
David Liptak’s music has been described as “luminous and arresting,” “richly atmospheric,” and having “transparent textures, incisive rhythms, shimmering lightness.” His compositions have been performed throughout the United States and abroad by the San Francisco Symphony, the Montreal Symphony, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Group for Contemporary Music, EARPLAY, the Ying, Cassatt, and JACK String Quartets, the Dinosaur Annex Ensemble, the New York New Music Ensemble, the 20th-Century Consort, baritone William Sharp, soprano Tony Arnold, and by many other soloists and ensembles.
In 1995 David Liptak was awarded the Elise L. Stoeger Prize, given by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in recognition of distinguished achievement in the field of chamber music composition. He has received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, both in 2002, and he is the 2006 recipient of the Lillian Fairchild Award from the University of Rochester. Commissions for new music have included those supported by the Fromm Foundation, the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, Meet the Composer, the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, the California Music Center, and the Hanson Institute for American Music. Recordings of David Liptak’s music can be found on Bridge, Innova, Albany, Centaur, New Focus and other recording labels. He is President of the American Composers Alliance, and his music is published by several publishers, including Keiser Classical, Alfred Music – Donald Hunsberger Wind Ensemble Library, and American Composers Edition.
Hailed as “kaleidoscopic“ (San Francisco Classical Voice) and “excellent” (Gramophone) pianist Eunmi Ko recently appeared in the Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Herbst Theatre, Hertz Hall, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Festival de Musica Contemporanea (Madrid), Festival Cervantino Internacional, CLUSTER (Italy), San Francisco International Piano Festival, Chautauqua Music Festival, Women in Music Festival (Rochester, NY), Music Center of Christchurch (New Zealand), Siam Ratchada Auditorium (Bangkok, Thailand), Seoul Arts Center, Kumho Art Hall (Seoul, Korea), among others. Praised for original interpretations, abundances of piano technique, and interesting programming, she performs a wide range of piano repertoire from premieres of new works by living composers to the traditional and rarely played piano works. Ko frequently communicates with young pianists through recitals and master classes at conservatories and universities. She was the guest artist at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Musica de Madrid, Universidad X el Sabio, EAFIT University (Colombia), Thessaloniki State Conservatory (Greece), Hong Kong Baptist University, The Education University of Hong Kong, Soochow University (Taiwan), Fu Jen Catholic University (Taiwan), University of Maryland, University of Tennessee, University of Florida, University of Richmond, Lynn University, among others.
Ko holds a BM degree from Seoul National University and graduate degrees (MM and DMA) from the Eastman School of Music. Her primary teachers include Ick Choo Moon and Rebecca Penneys. Currently, she teaches at the University of South Florida as Assistant Professor of Piano. She serves as co-advisor of the New-Music Consortium at USF and co-director of international new music festival Dot The Line (Korea).
The Faculty Artist Series is generously supported by Patricia Ward-Baker.
Tickets for Eastman’s Faculty Artist Series are $10 for the general public and free to current Season Subscribers and UR ID holders. Tickets can be purchased at the Eastman Theatre Box Office, 433 Eastman Main Street, 9:30AM – 2:30PM., Monday-Friday; by phone (585) 274-3000; or online at www.EastmanTheatre.org
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About Eastman School of Music:
The Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854-1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first professional school of the University of Rochester. Mr. Eastman’s dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training. The current dean is Jamal Rossi, appointed in 2014.
More than 900 students are enrolled in the Collegiate Division of the Eastman School of Music—about 500 undergraduates and 400 graduate students. They come from almost every state, and approximately 23 percent are from other countries. They are taught by a faculty comprised of more than 130 highly regarded performers, composers, conductors, scholars, and educators. They are Pulitzer Prize winners, Grammy winners, Emmy winners, Guggenheim Fellows, ASCAP Award recipients, published authors, recording artists, and acclaimed musicians who have performed in the world’s greatest concert halls. Each year, Eastman’s students, faculty members, and guest artists present more than 900 concerts to the Rochester community.