Libby Larsen

Elizabeth Brown Larsen (born December 24, 1950) is a contemporary American classical composer. She was the third of five daughters in the family,

In 1983, Larsen was appointed one of the Minnesota Orchestra's two composers-in-residence, making her the first woman to serve as a resident composer with a major orchestra. She composed her first symphony, Water Music, for the Minnesota Orchestra, which was premiered in 1985 under Sir Neville Marriner. In 1986, her daughter Wynne was born.

In 1993, she won a Grammy Award for producer of Best Classical Vocal Performance for "The Art of Arlene Augér", featuring her song cycle Sonnets from the Portuguese. In 1996, she received Honorary Doctorates from both St. Mary's College/Notre Dame, and the University of Nebraska.

In 2010, Larsen received a George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music in America.

Larsen has never held a formal teaching position in college or university, about which she said that she "never felt the need to be attached to an academic institution", as she had been "lucky enough to have the kind of musical life [she] wanted". She has taken independent students, including composer Adam Berndt. Additionally, Larsen's own studies, research, and history have guided her to believe music education needs dramatic changes.

Influences When asked about her influences, Larsen responded, "To tell the truth, my teachers have come to me from unexpected places in my musical life. They have been poets, architects, painters and philosophers. The other way I really learn is by reading scores voraciously, from Chuck Berry to Witold Lutosławski." It is noted for its "energy, optimism, rhythmic diversity, colourful orchestration, liberated tonality without harsh dissonance, and pervading lyricism." Pieces such as Holy Roller (about a revivalist preacher's speech) and Bid Call (about auctioneering patterns) showcase this style. Larsen composes without barlines, preferring to first discover the natural flow of a line and then refine it until she finds a common meter, giving many of her compositions a feeling of free internal rhythm.

Awards 1987 Distinguished Alumni Award presented by the University of Minnesota presented by Bemidji State University 2003 Harissios Papmarkou Chair, Library of Congress presented by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2007 Inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame 2010 George Peabody Medal 2016 McKnight Distinguished Artist Award 2020 Inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame 2024 American Academy of Arts and Letters Membership 2024 Composers Now Visionary Award

Selected works

Opera Clair de Lune (1984) Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus (1990) Barnum’s Bird (2000) Dreaming Blue (2000)

Orchestral Symphony No. 1 “Water Music” (1985) Symphony No. 2 “Coming Forth Into Day” (1986) Marimba Concerto: After Hampton (1992) Ring of Fire (1995) Song-Dances to the Light (1995) Symphony No. 5: “Solo Symphony” (1999) “Still Life with Violin” (2000) “Evening in the Palace of Reason” (2008)

Band Strut (2003) An Introduction to the Moon (2005)

Choral ”Who Cannot Weep Come Learn of Me” (1985) Songs of Youth and Pleasure (1986) The Settling Years (1988) "I Just Lightning" (1994) Seven Ghosts (1995) Today This Spring (1995) "By a Departing Light" (1999) Love Songs: Five Songs on Texts by Women Poets (1999) Four Valentines: A Lover’s Journey (2000) "Jack’s Valentine" (2001) "Womanly Song of God" (2003) Western Songs (2005)

Vocal Songs From Letters (1989) Sonnets From the Portuguese (1991) Love After 1950 (2000) Try Me, Good King: Last Words of the Wives of Henry VIII (2000) This Unbearable Stillness: Songs from the Balcony (2003) Sifting Through the Ruins (2005)

Instrumental “Four on the Floor” (1984) “Dancing Solo” (1994) “Slang” (1994) Concert Piece for Tuba and Piano (1995) “Holy Roller” (1997) “Barn Dances” (2001) “Bid Call” (2002) "Yellow Jersey" (2004) “Song Concerto” (2005) "Concert Piece for Bassoon and Piano" (2008)

Multimedia Matineé: The Fantom of the Fair (2014)

Carillon

Pealing Fire (2004)

Featured discography Source: Dreaming Blue An opera by Libby Larsen, the story of a child brought by a family into a new culture. Appleton Boychoir; Attic Theater, Inc.; Children’s Ballet Theatre; Fox Cities Performing Arts Center; Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra; Lawrence Academy of Music Girl Choir; University Drumming Group; White Heron Chorale; Brian Groner, conductor I Just Lightning Las Cantantes, The University of New Mexico Women’s Chorus; Bradley Ellingboe, conductor Licorice Stick Katarina Strom-Harg, piano; Stfan Harg, clarinet; Kathleen Roland, soprano; Asa Johannon, violin Libby Larsen: Symphony no. 4 for Strings; Songs of Light and Love; Songs from Letters Benita Valenta, soprano; Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Joel Revzen, conductor Libby Larsen: Deep Summer Music; Concerto for Marimba: “After Hampton”, Symphony no. 5: “Solo Symphony” John Kinzie, marimba; Colorado Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop, conductor The Art of Arleen Augér Featuring Larsen’s Sonnets from the Portuguese, also includes music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Henry Purcell, and Robert Schumann. Arleen Augér, soprano; Minnesota Orchestra, Members of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; Joel Revzen, conductor. 1993 Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance Missa Gaia “Mass for the Earth” Koch International Classics. Also includes music of Stephen Paulus and Samuel Barber. Oregon Repertory Singers; Gilbert Seeley, conductor Grand Larsen-y: Vocal Music of Libby Larsen Albany Records Benton Hess, piano; Terry Rhodes, soprano The Eternal Feminine Koch International Classics. Featuring Larsen’s Love After 1950, also includes music of Lisbeth Alexander-Katz, Amy Beach, Lili Boulanger, Rebecca Clarke, Alma Mahler, Clara Wieck Schumann, Elinor Remick Warren Susanne Mentzer, mezzo-soprano; Craig Rutenberg, piano Journeys: Orchestral Works by American Women Leonarda Productions, LE327, 1985. Featuring Larsen’s Overture--Parachute Dancing 1984, also includes music of Nancy Van De Vate, Kay Gardner, Marga Richter, Katherine Hoover, Ursula Mamlok, Jane Brockman. Bournemouth Sinfonietta, Arioso Chamber Orchestra, Carolann Martin: Conductor