Amanda Harberg

Amanda Harberg (born 1973) is an American composer and pianist of classical music whose work has been performed internationally. She is currently on the composition faculty at the Berklee College of Music, and has been on the faculty at the Juilliard School as well as the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. Her work has been performed by leading orchestras worldwide like the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Juilliard School, and New England Conservatory.

Notable students include Tito Muñoz. She is notable for orchestral work like her Piccolo Concerto, Clarinet Concerto, and Tuba Sonata, as well as wind band work. She earned a BM and Masters in Music from the Juilliard School as the only undergraduate in her class, studying with Stephen Albert, David Diamond, and Robert Beaser, graduating with the Peter Mennin prize and as the only female student. Her music has been performed in venues like Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Disney Hall, Verizon Hall, and the Symphony Center and has been awarded two New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowships, a New York State Council on the Arts fellowship, a MacDowell Colony summer residency, New York Youth Symphony First Music Award, and nine National Flute Association Newly Published Music awards.

Harberg has worked on the faculty for Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts and the Juilliard School's Advancement Program. She is currently on the composition faculty for the Berklee College of Music. She has had residencies at schools like Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music, DePaul University, Arizona State University, Lawrence University, University of Nevada, Coastal Carolina University, and Ohio University. She is published by Schott Music.

Compositions

Orchestra Elegy (2007) for viola and string orchestra Viola Concerto (2012) for viola and orchestra Of Earth and Air (2013) orchestra Elegy (2013) for orchestra Prayer (2014) for orchestra Solis (2015) for orchestra On Rousseau (2016) for orchestra; commissioned by the Bay Atlantic Symphony Piccolo Concerto (2021) for piccolo and orchestra; performed by Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra with soloist Erica Peel Clarinet Concerto (2022) for clarinet and orchestra; also version for wind band

Chamber music On the Edge (1997) for two cellos Poem and Transformation (2000) for flute and piano Tenement Rhapsody (2005) for two pianos or clarinet ensemble (2011) Elegy (2017) for viola and piano Philadelphia Suite (2007) for viola and piano Birding in the Palisades (2009) for flute and piano Prayer (2011) for flute or viola and piano Venus Unhinged (2011) for two amplified sopranos, flute, oboe, clarinet in Bb, bassoon, soprano saxophone, baritone saxophone, horn, trumpet in C, trombone, percussion, synthesizer, two violins, viola, cello, bass Feathers and Wax (2014) for flute and piano; Winner of the 2016 National Flute Association Newly Published Music award Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (2015) for clarinet in Bb and piano Sadie’s Birthday Adventures (2016) for narrator, clarinet (bass Bb), bass trombone, double bass, percussion, and piano Court Dances (2017) for flute and piano Suite for Wind Quintet (2017) for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon Sonata for Piccolo and Piano (2018) for piccolo and piano Mementos (2020) for flute and guitar Fever Dreams (2020) for three piccolos and piano Luca’s Garden (2021) for clarinet in Bb, violin, cello, and piano Bassoon Sonata (2021) for bassoon and piano Crossroads (2022) for flute, clarinet in A or English horn, and piano Aria (2022) for flute, clarinet in A, and piano Tuba Sonata (2023) for tuba and piano This! (2023) for solo flute and flute ensemble Oh, Snap! (2024) for clarinet in Bb and piano

Choral music Apparitions (2008) for SATB a cappella chorus This! (2022) for flute and SATB a cappella chorus

Solo non-piano music For Sydney (2011) for solo viola Toccata (2013) for organ; Commissioned by the Grand Rapids Presbyterian Church for organist Helen Hofmeister Hawley. Don’t Forget to Write (2020) for solo clarinet or piccolo

Solo piano music Piano Sonata (1992) for solo piano 5 Short Pieces (1994) for solo piano Breathing Songs (2002) for solo piano Up Up and Away (2010) for solo piano A Conversation (2015) for piano solo Rock Star (2015) for piano solo Windswept (2015) for piano solo When We Sat for Tea (2015) for piano solo Woodland Toccata (2015) for piano solo Four Sisters (2024) for solo piano

Discography

Title Year Album Record label "Aria from Viola Concerto" (Brett Duebner and the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra with violist Linus Lerner) 2024 Classical Hidden Gems, Vol.1 Naxos Records "Court Dances"(Ewa Kowalski and Anna Rutkowska-Schock) 2024 HER JOURNEY: flute and piano works by women Da Vinci Classics "Suite for Wind Quintet" (Aspen Winds) 2023 Aspen Winds 2023 Aspen Winds "Feathers and Sax"(Paul Cohen, Louis Anderson) 2022 Soprano Summit Ravello Records "Court Dances" (Julian Velasco and Winston Choi) 2022 As We Are Cedille Records "Feathers and Wax"(Julietta Curenton) 2021 Feathers and Wax Julietta Curenton "Hall of Ghosts"(Snježana Pavičević) 2020 Piccolo Solo Globe Tour Nota Bene Records "Philly Suite"(Brett Deubner and Caroline Fauchet) 2017 Deep Sky Blue Undici 07 s.a.s. di Maurizio Bignone"Amanda Harberg: Viola Concerto and Elegy - Max Wolpert: Viola Concerto No.1 “Giants”"(Brett Duebner and the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra with violist Linus Lerner) 2017 Amanda Harberg: Viola Concerto and Elegy - Max Wolpert: Viola Concerto No.1 “Giants” Naxos American Classics "Subway"(Stephen Gosling and Blair McMillen) 2015 Powerhouse Pianists II American Modern Recordings "Feathers and Wax"(Eileen Strempel and Sylvie Beaudette) 2015 Mythavian Corbus Du Toit "Tenement Rhapsody" (New York Licorice Ensemble) 2013 New American Works for Clarinet Ensemble NAR Records]l "Birding in the Palisades" (Marni Nixon with the Palisades Virtuosi) 2012 New American Masters, Vol.4 Albany Records "Midnight Songs: Memory"(Colbus Du Toit and Doreen Lee) 2009 Feathers and Wax Centaur Records