Lera Auerbach facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lera Auerbach
|
|
|---|---|
| Born | October 21, 1973 |
| Education |
|
| Occupation | Classical Composer and Conductor |
Lera Auerbach (born October 21, 1973) is a super talented musician. She is a classical composer, a conductor, and a concert pianist. She was born in the Soviet Union and is now also an Austrian-American citizen.
Contents
Early Life and Learning
Lera Auerbach was born in 1973 in Chelyabinsk, a city in the Ural Mountains. Her mom was a piano teacher, and many people in her family before her were also musicians. Lera started writing her own music when she was very young. She once said she felt like she was "born to do this."
In 1991, Lera got to visit the United States for a concert tour. Even though she didn't speak English, she decided to stay to follow her dream in music. She went to the famous Juilliard School in New York. There, she studied piano and how to compose music. She also studied at Columbia University and got a piano diploma from a music school in Germany.
Amazing Performances
Lera Auerbach first performed at Carnegie Hall in New York in 2002. She played her own music with a famous violinist named Gidon Kremer. She has played the piano by herself in many big concert halls around the world. These include places like the Moscow Conservatory, Tokyo Opera City, and Lincoln Center.
Her Musical Creations
Lera Auerbach has written many different kinds of music. Her pieces have been played by famous artists, orchestras, choirs, and ballet companies. Some of these include the Kremerata Baltica and the Royal Danish Ballet.
One of her cool projects was a ballet for The Royal Danish Ballet. It was made to celebrate the 200th birthday of Hans Christian Andersen in 2005. This ballet was a modern version of the classic fairy tale The Little Mermaid. It was first shown in April 2005 at the new Copenhagen Opera House.
She also wrote a special piece called Double Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra. It was first played in Germany in 2006. Later, it was performed in the United States in 2010.
In 2007, her Symphony No. 1 "Chimera" was played for the first time. She also wrote Symphony No. 2 "Requiem for a Poet" and A Russian Requiem that year. The Russian Requiem uses old Russian church texts and poems by famous Russian writers.
In 2011, Lera Auerbach's full opera, Gogol, was shown in Vienna. An opera is a play where most of the words are sung.
Another interesting opera she wrote is called The Blind. It was performed in New York in 2013. During this show, the whole audience wore blindfolds! Lera said the idea was to show that "we are the blind." She meant that even with all our ways to communicate, we sometimes don't truly see or connect with each other.
Some of her most well-known pieces include her 24 Preludes for piano and her music for The Little Mermaid ballet. Her piece Labyrinth from 2018 is also praised as a great piano work.
Awards and Special Recognition
Lera Auerbach has won several important awards for her music. In 2005, she received the Hindemith Prize from a big music festival in Germany. She also won the Förderpreis Deutschlandfunk and the Bremer Musikfest Prize that same year.
She is the youngest composer to have her music published by Internationale Musikverlage Hans Sikorski, a big music publisher in Germany.
In 2007, she was chosen as a member of the Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum. This group brings together young leaders from around the world.
Main Works
Lera Auerbach has written many different types of music. Here are some of her main works:
Orchestral Music
- 2007: Russian Requiem
- 2008: Fragile Solitudes, a piece for string quartet and orchestra
- 2010: Eterniday, for bass drum, celesta, and strings
- 2012: Post Silentium, for orchestra
Concertos
A concerto is a piece of music for a solo instrument (like a piano or violin) and an orchestra.
- 1997–98: Piano Concerto No. 1
- 1997: Double Concerto for violin, piano, and orchestra
- 2000 (2003): Violin Concerto No. 1
- 2002: Serenade for a Melancholic Sea, for violin, cello, piano, and string orchestra
- 2017: Violin Concerto No. 4 (NYx)
- 2021: Cello Concerto, Diary of a Madman
Symphonies
A symphony is a long piece of music for a full orchestra.
- 2006: Symphony No. 1 Chimera
- 2006: Symphony No. 2 Requiem for a Poet
- 2016: Symphony No. 3 The Infant Minstrel and His Peculiar Menagerie
Choral Music
Choral music is written for a choir (a group of singers).
- 72 Angels, for choir and saxophone quartet
- Goetia 72, in umbra lucis, for choir and string quartet
Images for kids
-
A robot for kids
See also
In Spanish: Lera Auerbach para niños
