This Juilliard Alum Writes Down Nature's Symphony (ft. Alexander Liebermann)

From birdsong-inspired compositions to political monodramas, the wide-ranging music of composer Alexander Liebermann is sought after across the United States and Europe. His recent compositions include a climate-change reflecting monodrama commissioned by the Deutsche Oper Berlin, a birdsong-inspired string trio commissioned by members of the Staatskapelle Dresden, and a soundtrack for the documentary film Frozen Corpses Golden Treasures. As a nature enthusiast, Liebermann devotes much of his time to the sounds of wildlife; his original and accurate transcriptions of animal vocalizations are viral on social media and featured in the world-renowned magazine National Geographic. His first book Birdsong: A Musical Field Guide, is published by Just A Theory Press. Liebermann graduated from Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler, Juilliard, and Manhattan School of Music. For his dissertation on Erwin Schulhoff, Liebermann received the Saul Braverman Award in Music Theory. Liebermann resides in New York, where he is a music theory and ear training faculty member at Juilliard’s preparatory division Music Advancement Program. 00:00 Intro 00:30 Introducing Composer Alex Liebermann 02:10 Work/life balance and how one’s surroundings can be a conduit to it 03:55 Berlin summer music festival with Professor Sam Adler 06:00 What was it like to study with Sam Adler? 07:37 The generosity of the late Steve Stucky 10:25 Recounting composition studies at Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music 13:35 How Alex survived the pandemic as a foreign student in the USA 16:30 Why Alex loved music theory classes at Juilliard 19:00 Alex’s new book, “Birdsong: A Musical Field Guide,” inspired by his viral transcriptions from social media 24:30 How does Alex transcribe nature? 29:25 The “samba” bird 32:10 What Alex learned from doing all these transcriptions 35:45 The impossibility of a perfect transcription 37:00 Why Alex is not allowed to make money from performances of his transcriptions 39:37 Comment down below to be a part of Alex’s project! 42:05 The definition of music changes from country to country 43:27 One of Alex’s transcriptions was viewed over 3 million times 46:30 Saad’s late grandfather had a huge bird sanctuary 49:00 Alex on his new wind quintet based on Brazilian bird transcriptions 57:00 CBS Sunday Morning will feature Alex and his transcriptions! 🎫 Tour dates for wind quintet: https://alexanderliebermann.com/concerts 📚 Birdsong: A Musical Field Guide: https://www.justatheorypress.com/product/birdsong/112 Alex’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lieberliner/ Alex’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AlexanderLiebermann Alex’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.liebermann 🌐 Alex Liebermann’s website: https://alexanderliebermann.com/ 📰 MONTHLY NEWSLETTER: https://saadnhaddad.us9.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=d52b653fc543f4ca604265d53&id=70d2af18c6 👨🏻‍🏫 BOOK a consultation/lesson with me directly via this link: https://calendly.com/saadhaddad/consultation-lesson