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Fred Lerdahl
Composer

Composer Fred Lerdahl studied at Lawrence University, Princeton, and Tanglewood. He has taught at UC/Berkeley, Harvard, and Michigan, and since 1991 he has been at Columbia University, where he is Fritz Reiner Professor of Music. He has received numerous honors for his music, including the Koussevitzky Composition Prize, two composer awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. His chamber work Time after Time was a finalist for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize in music. Commissions have come from the Fromm Foundation, the Koussevitzky Foundation, the Spoleto Festival, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Library of Congress, and others. Among the organizations that have performed his works are the New York Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the American Composers Orchestra, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Eighth Blackbird, Speculum Musicae, Collage, Antares, the Juilliard Quartet, the Pro Arte Quartet, and the Venice Biennale. He has been in residence at the Marlboro Music Festival, IRCAM, the Wellesley Composers Conference, the American Academy in Rome, the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival, and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. Lerdahl is also prominent as a music theorist. He has written two books, A Generative Theory of Tonal Music (with linguist Ray Jackendoff) and Tonal Pitch Space, both of which model musical listening from the perspective of cognitive science.

Duo,for violin and piano (2005). 15 min. Commissioned by the McKim Foundation. To be premiered at the Library of Congress in May 2005.

Chasing Goldberg, for piano (2004). 3 min. Commissioned by the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival. Premiered by Gilbert Kalish in May, 2004.

Oboe Quartet,for oboe, violin, viola, and cello (2002). 13 min. Commissioned by the Winsor Music Consortium. Premiered by La Fenice in Schenectady, NY in 2003.

Imbrications,for chamber ensemble (2001). 3 min. Written in honor of Andrew Imbrie’s 80th birthday. Premiered in Berkeley, California in 2001.

Time after Time,for chamber ensemble (2000). 18 min. Commissioned by the Washington Square Series and Collage. Premiered in New York City in 2000.

Quiet Music,for orchestra (1994). 13 min. Commissioned by the Fromm Music Foundation for the American Composers Orchestra. Premiered in New York City in 1994. (Version for two pianos, 2001.)

Without Fanfare,for winds and percussion (1994). 4 min. Commissioned by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Premiered in Cincinnati in 1995.

Marches,for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano (1992). 16 min. Commissioned by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Premiered in New York City in 1992.

Waves,for small orchestra (1988). 16 min. Commissioned by the Orpheus, St. Paul, and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestras with the support of a National Endowment for the Arts consortium commission. Premiered by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in 1989.

Cross-Currents,for orchestra (1987). 11 min. Written with the support of a composer fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Premiered by the Seattle Symphony Orchestra in 1989.

Fantasy Etudes, for chamber ensemble (1985). 15 min. Commissioned by Musical Elements, the Arch Ensemble, the Contemporary Chamber Players, and Alea III with the support of a National Endowment for the Arts consortium commission. Premiered by Musical Elements in 1985.

Beyond the Realm of Bird,for soprano and small orchestra (1981-84). 12 min. The first song (of three) commissioned by the University of Chicago. Premiered at Tanglewood in 1985.

Chords,for orchestra (1974-83). 14 min. Commissioned by the Fromm Music Foundation and the Berkshire Music Center. The revised version premiered by the New York Philharmonic in 1983.

Second String Quartet(1982). 23 min. Commissioned by the Pro Arte Quartet and the National Endowment for the Arts. Premiered by the Pro Arte Quartet in 1982.

Episodes and Refrains,for wind quintet (1982). 12 min. Commissioned by the Emmanuel Wind Quintet and the Naumburg Foundation. Premiered by the Emmanuel Wind Quintet in 1982.

Waltzes,for violin, viola, cello, and bass (1981). 21 min. Commissioned by the Spoleto Festival USA. Premiered in Charleston in 1981.

First String Quartet(1978). 22 min. Commissioned by the Juilliard Quartet and the Joslyn Art Museum. Premiered by the Juilliard Quartet in Omaha in 1979. Taken on tour by the Juilliard Quartet.

Imitations,for flute, viola, and harp (1977; rev. 1992, 2001). 14 min. Commissioned by the Orpheus Trio. Premiered by the Orpheus Trio in 1978.

Eros,for mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble (1975). 23 min. Commissioned by the Koussevitzky Music Foundation and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Premiered by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in 1977.

Aftermath,a dramatic cantata for three singers and chamber ensemble (1973). 30 min. Premiered at a Harvard-Fromm concert in 1973.

Wake,for soprano and chamber ensemble (1968). 17 min. Premiered at the Marlboro Music Festival in 1968.

String Trio(1966). 14 min. Premiered at Tanglewood in 1966.

Piano Fantasy(1964). 7 min. Premiered by the composer at Lawrence University in 1964.

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