Gerald Levinson

Gerald Levinson (* 1951 in Connecticut ) is an American composer .

Levinson studied with George Crumb , George Rochberg and Richard Wernick at the University of Pennsylvania , with Ralph Shapey at the University of Chicago and with Olivier Messiaen at the Conservatoire de Paris . He then worked as an assistant and translator for Messiaen. Since 1977 he has been Professor of Music at Swarthmore College . 1979-80 and 1982-82 he studied Balinese music as the Henry Luce Foundation Scholar and Guggenheim Fellow in Bali .

In 1990 Levinson received the Academy Award for Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters . In 1997, his composition Five Fires , which was broadcast internationally by the BBC , was one of the semi-finalists in the London International Composition Competition. With the same work Levinson won the Prix ​​International Arthur Honegger de Composition Musicale in 1998 .

Levinson's 2nd Symphony , commissioned by the Koussevitzky Foundation , was premiered in 1995 by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle . He composed the orchestral work Avatar for Christoph Eschenbach's inaugural concert as director of the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2003 . Toward Light was created in 2006 for the inauguration of the Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ in the Kimmel Center for performing arts .

Works

• Bronze Music for wind orchestra
• Quintet for Piano and Strings, "O old scent ..."
• Light dances / stones sing , music for 18 players
• Suono Oscuro for large orchestra
• In Dark (Three poems of the night) for soprano and seven players, 1972
• Odyssey for flute solo, 1973
• Duo: Winds of Light for violin and piano, 1973
• Sky Music for 13 players, 1974-75
• Trio for clarinet, cello and piano, 1976
• Two Poems for large orchestra, 1976, 1977
• From Erebus and Black Night for English horn and orchestra, 1979
• Black Magic / White Magic in 12 Short Movements for soprano and seven players, 1981
• For the Morning of the World Suite for Chamber Orchestra, 1983
• Anahata: Symphony No. 1 , 1984-86
• Fanfare (for Boyd Barnard) for two trumpets, 1985
• Morning Star , Chorale for piano four hands, 1988
• Dreamlight for cello, piano and percussion, 1990
• Sea Changes , 1990-91
• Symphony No. 2 , 1992-94
• Five Fires for orchestra, 1995
• Consolation for voice and piano, 1997
• Time and the Bell… for solo piano and chamber ensemble, 1998
• Here of amazing most now , twelve instrumental miniatures in honor of George Crumb's 70th birthday, 1999
• Mountain Light for wind orchestra, 2000
• Ragamalika , four pieces for piano, 2001
• At the Still Point of the Turning World, There the Dance Is for chamber ensemble, 2002
• Avatar for orchestra, 2003
• Toward Light for organ and orchestra, 2006

swell

• Theodore Presse Company - Gerald Levinson
• Swarthmore Music Department - Faculty
• University of Chicago - Gerald Levinson