Editor’s Pick: Lowell Liebermann with the National Chamber Ensemble
Lowell Liebermann will appear with the National Chamber Ensemble on Saturday, where he will perform several of his own works.
In 1998, Lowell Liebermann won the inaugural Contemporary Classical Composer of the year trophy at the Gay & Lesbian American Music Awards, or GLAMAs.
Liebermann beat out other illustrious nominees, including Jennifer Higdon and Roger Bourland, to pick up the award (honoring his flute concerto as featured on the recording James Galway Plays Liebermann).
All told, Liebermann is one of only five classical composers to ever win a GLAMA, since the short-lived awards program became a relic of its late-1990s time period, folding after the 1999 ceremony.
Interestingly, 1998 was also the year Liebermann earned his first and thus far only Grammy nomination, in recognition of his second piano concerto. (It’s hard for anyone to win in a category also featuring contemporary classical juggernaut John Adams, who scooped up his second of five career Grammys that year.)
On Saturday, March 18, the New York-based composer, who is also an acclaimed pianist, will be the guest of honor at a concert by the National Chamber Ensemble. Liebermann will perform several of his own works, including his Sonata for Violin and Piano as well as the area premiere of his Trio for Violin, French Horn, and Piano, the latter alongside Brahms’ same-named masterpiece using the same combination of instruments.
In addition to Liebermann at the piano, other featured soloists include the ensemble’s Artistic Director Leo Sushansky on violin and Evan Geiger on French horn.
The program also features visual artist Yasmine C. Iskander, whose abstract, compelling images will visually match the music as it is performed. The young artist will also be on hand for questions about her paintings.
“This is a rare opportunity to experience incredible, gorgeous music straight from the master,” says Sushansky. “This will be an evening that will both thrill with the power of the music and the beauty of visual art.”
The concert will also mark the ensemble’s first concert in the plush and elegant 200-seat auditorium of Marymount University’s Ballston Center, which opened in the fall of 2017.
Saturday, March 18, at 7:30 p.m. Auditorium of the Ballston Center of Marymount University, 1000 N. Glebe Rd., Arlington. Tickets are $19 to $38. Visit www.nationalchamberensemble.org or call 703-685-7590.
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