David Ludwig(XI)
- Composer
- Music Department
David Ludwig is "a composer with something urgent to say" (Philadelphia
Inquirer). His music has been described as "arresting and dramatically
hued" (The New York Times) as well as "supercharged with electrical
energy and raw emotion" (Fanfare). In 2013 his choral work, "The New
Colossus," was selected to open the private prayer service for
President Obama and his cabinet at his second inauguration. This season
also features an extensive tour with The East Coast Chamber Orchestra
(Virtuosity), a new work for Benjamin Beilman commissioned by Carnegie
Hall (Swan Song), and the premiere of his bassoon concerto (Pictures
from the Floating World) with bassoonist Daniel Matsukawa and conductor
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra. NPR
Music selected him as one of the Top 100 Composers Under Forty in the
world in 2011.
Ludwig has received commissions and many notable performances from many of the most recognized artists and ensembles of our time. The Grammy Award-winning group eighth blackbird commissioned his work Haiku Catharsis in 2004. In 2006, Ludwig conducted a tour of his Concertino, which was one of the top ten most frequently performed orchestra works by a living composer that year, according to the League of American Orchestras. He joined the Curtis On Tour Ensemble in 2009 for a series of concerts that won critical acclaim for his song-cycle From the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayám. Past seasons have featured performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, the National Symphony, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the Dresden Music Festival with Robert Spano conducting Fanfare for Sam.
Recent commissions include Lunaire Variations for Jonathan Biss, Five Ladino Songs for Lara St. John, Josquin Microludes for the PRISM Saxophone Quartet, Seasons Lost for Jennifer Koh and Jaime Laredo, Kantigas for Hannah Khoury, Jason Vieux, and Hafez Khotein at World Café Live, and Aria Fantasy for the 25th Anniversary of the Steans Institute at Ravinia. Upcoming projects include a violin and orchestra piece commissioned by the Mobile Symphony for Bella Hristova, a new work for the Dover quartet, and piece for the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio.
Ludwig is the recipient of the First Music Award, an Independence Foundation Fellowship, and a Theodore Presser Foundation Career Grant, as well as grants from the American Composers Forum, the American Music Center, the Detroit Chamber Winds, and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia honored him as a City Cultural Leader in 2009 and released a CD of his complete works for chorus in 2012.
Ludwig was the Young Composer in residence at the Marlboro Music School for three consecutive years. In addition to Marlboro, he has been in repeated residence at the Yaddo and MacDowell artist colonies and was a resident artist at the Isabella Gardner Museum. After a three-year residency with the Vermont Symphony funded by Meet the Composer, he is now the permanent New Music Advisor for that orchestra. He is the composer-in-residence and director of composition programs at the Atlantic Music Festival, Lake Champlain Festival, the Lake George Festival, and is the Artistic Director of the Curtis Young Artist Summer Program. Additionally, he has served on the faculty of Yellow Barn and the Ravinia Festival Steans Institute. Active abroad, Ludwig was in residence at the Shanghai International Summer Music Festival in 2012, and is the resident composer for the STUDIO2021 Ensemble at Seoul National University. He is in residence for the Kingston Chamber Music Festival for their 25th Anniversary Season.
Born in Bucks County, P.A., Ludwig comes from several generations of eminent musicians. His grandfather was the pianist Rudolf Serkin and his great-grandfather, violinist Adolf Busch. His teachers include John Corigliano, Richard Danielpour, Jennifer Higdon, Richard Hoffmann, and Ned Rorem. He holds degrees from Oberlin, The Manhattan School, Curtis Institute, Juilliard School, and a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. Ludwig is on the composition faculty of the Curtis Institute where he serves as the Gie and Lisa Liem Dean of Artistic Programs and as the director of the Curtis 20/21 Contemporary Music Ensemble.
Ludwig has received commissions and many notable performances from many of the most recognized artists and ensembles of our time. The Grammy Award-winning group eighth blackbird commissioned his work Haiku Catharsis in 2004. In 2006, Ludwig conducted a tour of his Concertino, which was one of the top ten most frequently performed orchestra works by a living composer that year, according to the League of American Orchestras. He joined the Curtis On Tour Ensemble in 2009 for a series of concerts that won critical acclaim for his song-cycle From the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayám. Past seasons have featured performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, the National Symphony, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the Dresden Music Festival with Robert Spano conducting Fanfare for Sam.
Recent commissions include Lunaire Variations for Jonathan Biss, Five Ladino Songs for Lara St. John, Josquin Microludes for the PRISM Saxophone Quartet, Seasons Lost for Jennifer Koh and Jaime Laredo, Kantigas for Hannah Khoury, Jason Vieux, and Hafez Khotein at World Café Live, and Aria Fantasy for the 25th Anniversary of the Steans Institute at Ravinia. Upcoming projects include a violin and orchestra piece commissioned by the Mobile Symphony for Bella Hristova, a new work for the Dover quartet, and piece for the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio.
Ludwig is the recipient of the First Music Award, an Independence Foundation Fellowship, and a Theodore Presser Foundation Career Grant, as well as grants from the American Composers Forum, the American Music Center, the Detroit Chamber Winds, and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia honored him as a City Cultural Leader in 2009 and released a CD of his complete works for chorus in 2012.
Ludwig was the Young Composer in residence at the Marlboro Music School for three consecutive years. In addition to Marlboro, he has been in repeated residence at the Yaddo and MacDowell artist colonies and was a resident artist at the Isabella Gardner Museum. After a three-year residency with the Vermont Symphony funded by Meet the Composer, he is now the permanent New Music Advisor for that orchestra. He is the composer-in-residence and director of composition programs at the Atlantic Music Festival, Lake Champlain Festival, the Lake George Festival, and is the Artistic Director of the Curtis Young Artist Summer Program. Additionally, he has served on the faculty of Yellow Barn and the Ravinia Festival Steans Institute. Active abroad, Ludwig was in residence at the Shanghai International Summer Music Festival in 2012, and is the resident composer for the STUDIO2021 Ensemble at Seoul National University. He is in residence for the Kingston Chamber Music Festival for their 25th Anniversary Season.
Born in Bucks County, P.A., Ludwig comes from several generations of eminent musicians. His grandfather was the pianist Rudolf Serkin and his great-grandfather, violinist Adolf Busch. His teachers include John Corigliano, Richard Danielpour, Jennifer Higdon, Richard Hoffmann, and Ned Rorem. He holds degrees from Oberlin, The Manhattan School, Curtis Institute, Juilliard School, and a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. Ludwig is on the composition faculty of the Curtis Institute where he serves as the Gie and Lisa Liem Dean of Artistic Programs and as the director of the Curtis 20/21 Contemporary Music Ensemble.
