On Wednesday, March 1, a concert of David Liptak’s music will be performed at 7:30 p.m. in Hatch Recital Hall at the Eastman School of Music. Liptak has served as Professor of Composition at Eastman since 1986 and has mentored countless students during his tenure. He will be retiring from his position later this spring.
“David has illuminated our minds, hearts and ears for all these years, and his departure means a momentous change to the lives of faculty who have had the good fortune to count him as a colleague and friend,” says Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Chair of the Composition Department. “His current and former students know that David is the wisest of teachers and an exceptionally caring and empathic listener and mentor. To say that he will be sorely missed is an understatement.”
On being part of Eastman’s renowned composition faculty, Liptak shares that this job has been aspirational. “As far as I can tell, our composition department is one of the very top in the world. For me, having this job was perfectly suited to who I am as a professional.”
Liptak decided to retire in order to give himself more time to write new music. “I’ve basically had two careers: teaching – and involving myself in what it entails to be a faculty member at a school like Eastman – and composing. They’re connected in ways that are both useful and helpful to each other. However, having reached a ‘certain age,’ I find it difficult to focus on two things. If I’m going to compose in the future, I need more space to do so.” He adds that he will miss teaching and the collegial relationships with the Eastman faculty.
On March 1, five of Liptak’s compositions will be performed by an incredible lineup of musicians, including pianists Alison d’Amato, Yi-Wen Chang ‘95E ‘14E (DMA) and Daniel Pesca ‘05E ‘16E (DMA), acclaimed soprano Tony Arnold, guitarist Dieter Hennings ‘05E (MM) ‘15E (DMA) and violinist Pia Liptak ‘89E (MM) ‘92E (DMA). Pesca will open the program with Constellations (2010) for solo piano, followed by Hennings’ on The Sighs (2015) for solo guitar. Following a brief intermission, Arnold will lend her voice to Dove Songs (2013) in collaboration with d’Amato, and the evening will close with violinist Pia Liptak performing two pieces: Fantasy (2006) with Chang on piano, and Paradise (2020) with Hennings on guitar.
This performance is free and open to the public. Visit esm.rochester.edu/events for more information about this event and others taking place at Eastman.
For more on David Liptak and his music, visit dliptak.com.
Media only: Lauren Sageer, Assistant Director of Public Relations and Digital Content,
(585) 451-8492, lsageer@esm.rochester.edu
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About David Liptak:
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.
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.
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.
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. Additionally, more than 1,700 members of the Rochester community, from young children through senior citizens, are enrolled in the Eastman Community Music School.
About the University of Rochester:
The University of Rochester is one of the nation’s leading private research universities, one of only 62-member institutions in the Association of American Universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., the University gives undergraduates exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College, School of Arts and Sciences, and Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are complemented by the Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, School of Medicine and Dentistry, School of Nursing, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, and the Memorial Art Gallery.