David Liptak, professor of composition and chair of the composition department at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester, has been named the recipient of the Lillian Fairchild Award.
The annual award, which is administered by the Department of English at the University of Rochester, is presented to a Rochester area resident who has produced the best visual, literary, or musical work of art during the past year. Liptak is being honored for his 2005 CD from Bridge Records, Music of David Liptak, which features his compositions "Broken Cries," "Ancient Songs," "Forlane," and "Serenade for Alto Saxophone and Strings."
A member of the Eastman School's faculty since 1987, Liptak has received several awards for his compositions, including the Academy Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Elise L. Stoeger Prize from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has also received commissions from the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University and the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University.
Liptak's compositions have been performed by a number of ensembles, including the San Francisco Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony, the New York New Music Ensemble, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the Eastman Philharmonia; his music has been played at the Aspen Music Festival; and his work appears on recordings from Bridge, Albany, Gasparo, Opus One, Innova, and Centaur labels.
The Fairchild Award was established by Herman L. Fairchild of the University's Department of Geology in memory of his daughter, an accomplished designer who died of tuberculosis at age 32. The first award was given in 1924. Previous winners have included Garth Fagan, director of Garth Fagan Dance; architect Frank S. Grosso; and novelist Andrea Barrett.