Program Details...

David Liptak: Suite for Strings (2025) - Premiere

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Suite for Strings consists of three movements that have characteristics hearkening back to the contrapuntal music of Bach. The “Prelude” has the brisk and light movement of dancers, and it serves as a brief partner to the “Fugue” that follows. This second movement has a fabric that weaves music sounding something like tonality covered over by the distance of time and obscured by other musical ideas. The “Gigue” which concludes the suite is a whirling, spinning dance. Suite for Strings is dedicated to my wife Pia, who is known as a concert violinist and co-founder, with Kathleen Suher, of Cordancia Chamber Orchestra.

(D.L.)

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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, and recordings of his music are found on the Bridge, Albany, New Focus, Centaur, Innova, and other labels. Among his recognitions are commissions from the Fromm Foundation, Koussevitsky Music Foundation, and Barlow Endowment. He continues to write music that tries to unearth clarity, lightness, and compelling narrative. David Liptak is retired from a teaching career that spanned 47 years. The final 37 were as a member of the composition faculty of the Eastman School of Music, where he now holds the title Professor Emeritus of Composition.