David Liptak, composerUnder the direction of J. B. Smith and Simone Mancuso, students from the ASU School of Musics Percussion Area showcase masterworks from the ensemble repertoire, on December 4th, 2014. Alive (publ. ACA 2014) by David Liptak, for 6 percussionists will be performed at the Evelyn Smith Theatre at ASU.Alive
Alive is a composition for percussion sextet, and it is scored for three marimbas, two vibraphones, chimes, and xylophone. Composed in 2013, it was written for Michael Burritt and percussion students at the Eastman School of Music. This five-minute work displays a controlled energy; the music for marimbas and xylophone is animated through pulsation, and that of the vibraphones and chimes display a shimmering resonance. Never out of control, but always steady, the music pulses with life, keeping going, moving forward steadily, with certain purpose. David Liptak
was awarded the Elise L. Stoeger Prize in 1995, 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. He has also received the 2006 Lillian Fairchild Award. His 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.
Much of Mr. Liptaks music written very recently has explored the poetry and magical quality of stars and starlight, imagined and real.His 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, and recordings of his music are found on the Bridge, Albany, Centaur, Opus One, Crystal, Gasparo, and other labels.
A dedicated teacher of composition students for the past three decades, Mr. Liptak is Professor of Composition at the Eastman School of Music, where he has taught since 1986.