Alexander Liebermann (born 1989) is a German-French composer of classical music based in New York City. He is best known for transcribing birdsongs into musical notation and sharing them on

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

. He incorporates bird calls into his classical music compositions, which have been performed around the world.

Early life and education

Liebermann was educated at the

Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

in Berlin before earning a master's degree at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

in New York City. While a student at Juilliard, Liebermann wrote ''Rondeaux'', a two-part composition inspired by French medieval poets

Alain Chartier Alain Chartier (1430) was a French poet and political writer. Life Alain Chartier was born in Bayeux to a family marked by considerable ability. His eldest brother Guillaume became bishop of Paris; and Thomas Chartier became notary to the kin ...

and Charles d'Orléans. He remained in New York after graduating Juilliard to obtain a doctorate in

music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...

and composition from the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

, where his thesis on Czech pianist and composer

Erwin Schulhoff Erwin Schulhoff (; 8 June 189418 August 1942) was an Austro-Czech composer and pianist. He was one of the figures in the generation of European musicians whose successful careers were prematurely terminated by the rise of the Nazi regime in Germ ...

was awarded the Saul Braverman Award in Music Theory.

Career

While quarantining in Berlin during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Liebermann began listening attentively to recordings of birdsongs online, transcribing them onto sheet music, and composing music that incorporates the bird calls. He describes birdsongs as "unpredictable, haunting... spine-tingling calls" that are themselves a form of music. His interest in integrating birdsongs into classical compositions began during a visit to Costa Rica in February 2020. Since beginning his musical study of birds, Lieberman has translated calls from many bird species into modern staff notation for

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...

, including the uirapuru, the

common loon The common loon or great northern diver (''Gavia immer'') is a large member of the loon, or diver, family (biology), family of birds. Reproduction, Breeding adults have a plumage that includes a broad black head and neck with a greenish, purpli ...

, the

thrush nightingale The thrush nightingale (''Luscinia luscinia''), also known as the sprosser, is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscic ...

, the

white bellbird The white bellbird (''Procnias albus'') is a species of bird in the family Cotingidae. It is the world’s loudest bird, producing vocalizations of up to 125.4 decibels. The specific name (zoology), specific epithet is often spelled ''alba'', b ...

, the

Chinese hwamei The Chinese hwamei or melodious laughingthrush (''Garrulax canorus'') is a passerine bird of eastern Asia in the laughingthrush family Leiothrichidae. The name "hwamei" comes from its Chinese name , which means "painted eyebrow", referring to th ...

, the

uguisu The Japanese bush warbler (''Horornis diphone''), known in Japanese as (), is an Asian passerine bird more often heard than seen. Its distinctive breeding song can be heard throughout much of Japan from the start of spring. Description The J ...

, the common peafowl, the

oropendola Oropendolas are a genus of passerine birds, ''Psarocolius'', in the New World blackbird family Icteridae. They were formerly split among two or three different genera and are found in Central and South America. All the oropendolas are large bird ...

, the

cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae ( ) family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes ( ). The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals, and anis. The coucals and anis are somet ...

, and the Javan pied starling, among others. In 2018, Liebermann was commissioned to compose a climate-themed melodrama for the

Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the ...

. The work, titled ''Erwachen'', turns on the experience of a young girl in the future as she reflects on her ancestors' failure to confront the threat of

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. In 2022, he published his debut book, ''Birdsong: A Musical Field Guide''. When not composing his own music, Liebermann teaches at the Juilliard School.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Liebermann, Alexander Living people 1989 births Place of birth missing (living people) German contemporary classical composers French male classical composers