Curriculum Vitae
Fred Lerdahl

 

Education

Master of Fine Arts, Princeton University (1967)
Bachelor of Music, Lawrence University (1965)
Major: Composition
Minor: Piano

Employment

1991 -

Professor of Music
(from 1994, Fritz Reiner Professor of Musical Composition)
Columbia University

2007 (Spring)

Visiting Professor, Harvard University

2002 (fall)

Visiting Professor, Connecticut College

1985-1991

Associate Professor (1985-88) and Professor of Music (1988-91)
Departments of Music Theory and Composition
University of Michigan

1979-1985

Associate Professor of Music
Columbia University

1985 (Spring)

Visiting Professor of Music
Boston University

1981 (Spring)

Visiting Professor of Music
Yale University

1971-79

Assistant Professor (1971-77) and Associate Professor of Music (1977-79)
Harvard University

1969-71

Acting Assistant Professor of Music
University of California, Berkeley

Awards & fellowships

Member, American Academy of Arts and Letters (2010--)
Finalist, Pulitzer Prize in Music (for Third String Quartet; 2010)
Classical Recording Foundation Composer of the Year (for The Music of Fred Lerdahl, Bridge Records, vol. 2; 2009)
Maurice Abravanel Distinguished Visiting Composer, University of Utah School of Music (2009)
Mind/Brain/Behavior Faculty Fellowship, Harvard University (for 2006-07).
Wallace Berry Distinguished Book Award, Society for Music Theory (for Tonal Pitch Space; 2003).
Maurice Abravanel Distinguished Visiting Composer, Utah School of Music (2003).
ASCAP-Deems Taylor Special Recognition Award (for Tonal Pitch Space; 2002).
Finalist, Pulitzer Prize in Music (for Time after Time; 2001)
Keck Foundation/Howard Hughes Fellow, Connecticut College (2002).
Doctor of Fine Arts (honorary degree), Lawrence University (1999).
Lucia R. Briggs Distinguished Achievement Award, Lawrence University (1996).
Research Fellowship, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
(1993-94)
Fellowship, National Endowment for the Humanities (1991)
Resident composer-theorist, IRCAM (1981, 1984, 1991)
Faculty Recognition Award, University of Michigan (1990)
Creative Arts Award, Michigan Council for the Arts (1989)
Composer Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters (1971, 1988)
Rackham Publications Grant, University of Michigan (1988)
Composer-in-residence, American Academy in Rome (1987-88)
ASCAP Composer Award (1984-2008)
Martha Baird Rockefeller Recording Award (1982)
Naumburg Recording Award (1977)
Guggenheim Fellowship (1974-5)
Rome Prize, American Academy in Rome (1974-5) (declined for the Guggenheim)
Fulbright Scholarship, Freiburg, West Germany (1968-9)
Composer-in-residence, Marlboro Music Festival (1967-8)
Koussevitzky Composition Prize (1966)

Activities

Director, Fritz Reiner Center for Contemporary Music, Columbia U. (1994--)
Advisory Committee, Alice M. Ditson Fund (1994--)
Secretary (2007--)
Board of Directors, Koussevitzky Music Foundation (1979--)
Vice-President (1985--)
Artistic Advisory Committee, American Composers Orchestra (1993--)
Composer-in-residence, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (2006-07)
Composer-in-residence, Yellow Barn Music Festival (2006)
Board of Trustees, Anthology of Recorded Music (2006--)
President, Manhattan Sinfonietta (2004-08)
Board of Advisors, Sourcetone (2004--)
Awards Committee, Society for Music Theory (2004-06)
USA Co-editor, Contemporary Music Review (1986-2004)
Board of Trustees, Composers Recordings, Inc. (1994-2002)
Board of Directors, Society for Music Perception and Cognition (1994-99)
Co-director, Computer Music Center of Columbia University (1994-98)
Organizing Committee, International Computer Music Conference (1997)
Composer-in-residence, Bowdoin Music Festival (1995)
Publications Committee, Music Theory Spectrum (1989-91)
Organizing Committee, Second, Third, and Fourth International Conferences on Music Perception and Cognition (1992, 1994, 1996)
Executive Committee, U. of Michigan Institute for the Humanities (1989-1991)
Composer-in-residence, Wellesley Composers Conference (1988)
Chair, Composition Department, U. of Michigan School of Music (1988-90)
Program Committee, Symposium on Music and the Cognitive Sciences, IRCAM (1988)
Advisory Council, American chapter of the Int. Society for Contemporary Music (1986--)
Consulting Editor, Music Perception (1983--)
Consulting Editor, Musicae Scientiae (1999--)
Advisory Board, American Music Recording Institute (1982-85)
Program Committee, Fourth and Fifth Workshops on the Physical and Neuropsychological Foundations of Music, Ossiach, Austria (1983, 1985)
Member of the Faculty Seminar on Music, Linguistics, and Aesthetics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1974-77)
National Fulbright Scholarship Committee (composition) (1974-77)

Compositions (with premieres)

 

Arches (2010), for cello and large chamber ensemble. 19 min.
Commissioned by the Fromm Music Foundation. Premiered by Anssi Karttunen and the Argento Ensemble in New York City in November 2010.

There and Back Again (2010), for solo cello. 4 min.
Premiered by Anssi Karttunen in New York City in November 2010.

Three Diatonic Studies (2004-09), for solo piano. 9 min.
The first piece commissioned by the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival. Premiered by Gilbert Kalish.

Third String Quartet (2008). 22 min.
Commissioned by Chamber Music America for the Daedalus Quartet. Premiered by the Daedalus Quartet in Cleveland in December 2009.

Third String Quartet (2008). 21 min. Commissioned by Chamber Music America for the Daedalus String Quartet. To be premiered in October 2009.

The First Voices, for percussion ensemble and three singers (2007). 12 min. Commissioned by the New England Conservatory. Premiered by the New England Conservatory Percussion Ensemble in Boston in 2007.

Spirals, for chamber orchestra (2006). 18 min. Commissioned by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra with support from Music Alive. Premiered by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 2007.

Duo for Violin and Piano (2005). 19 min. Commissioned by the McKim Foundation. Premiered by Rolf Schulte and James Winn at the Library of Congress, Washington DC, in 2005.

Chasing Goldberg, for piano (2004). 3 min. Commissioned by the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival. Premiered in Kalamazoo, MI by Gilbert Kalish in 2004.

Oboe Quartet, for oboe, violin, viola, and cello (2002). 13 min. Commissioned by the Winsor Music Consortium. Premiered by La Fenice in Schenectady, NY in 2003.

Imbrications, for chamber ensemble (2001). 3 min. Written in honor of Andrew Imbrie’s 80th birthday. Premiered in Berkeley, California in 2001.

Time after Time, for chamber ensemble (2000). 19 min. Commissioned by the Washington Square Series and Collage. Premiered in New York City in 2000.

Quiet Music, for orchestra (1994). 14 min. Commissioned by the Fromm Music Foundation for the American Composers Orchestra. Premiered in New York City in 1994. (Version for two pianos, 2001.)

Without Fanfare, for winds and percussion (1994). 4 min. Commissioned by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Premiered in Cincinnati in 1995.

Marches, for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano (1992). 16 min. Commissioned by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Premiered in New York City in 1992.

Waves, for chamber orchestra (1988). 15 min. Commissioned by the Orpheus, St. Paul, and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestras with the support of a National Endowment for the Arts consortium commission. Premiered by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in 1989.

Cross-Currents, for orchestra (1987). 12 min. Written with the support of a composer fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Premiered by the Seattle Symphony Orchestra in 1989.

Fantasy Etudes, for chamber ensemble (1985). 14 min. Commissioned by Musical Elements, the Arch Ensemble, the Contemporary Chamber Players, and Alea III with the support of a National Endowment for the Arts consortium commission. Premiered by Musical Elements in 1985.

Beyond the Realm of Bird, for soprano and chamber orchestra (1981-84). 12 min. The first song (of three) commissioned by the University of Chicago. Premiered at Tanglewood in 1985.

Chords, for orchestra (1974-83). 15 min. Commissioned by the Fromm Music Foundation and the Berkshire Music Center. The revised version premiered by the New York Philharmonic in 1983.

Second String Quartet (1982; rev. 2008). 22 min. Commissioned by the Pro Arte Quartet and the National Endowment for the Arts. Premiered by the Pro Arte Quartet in 1982.

Episodes and Refrains, for wind quintet (1982). 13 min. Commissioned by the Emmanuel Wind Quintet and the Naumburg Foundation. Premiered by the Emmanuel Wind Quintet in 1982.

Waltzes, for violin, viola, cello, and bass (1981). 21 min. Commissioned by the Spoleto Festival USA. Premiered in Charleston in 1981.

First String Quartet (1978; rev. 2008). 21 min. Commissioned by the Juilliard Quartet and the Joslyn Art Museum. Premiered by the Juilliard Quartet in Omaha in 1979.

Imitations, for flute, viola, and harp (1977; rev. 2001). 15 min. Commissioned by the Orpheus Trio. Premiered by the Orpheus Trio in 1978.

Eros, for mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble (1975). 23 min. Commissioned by the Koussevitzky Music Foundation and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Premiered by the Chamber Music Society in 1977.

Aftermath, dramatic cantata for three singers and large chamber ensemble (1973). 25 min. Premiered by the Boston Symphony Chamber Players in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at a Harvard-Fromm concert in 1973.

Wake, for soprano and chamber ensemble (1968). 16 min. Premiered at the Marlboro Music Festival in 1968.

String Trio (1966). 14 min. Premiered at Tanglewood in 1966.

Piano Fantasy (1964). 7 min. Premiered by the composer at Lawrence University in 1965.

The above works, excepting Three Diatonic Studies, are published by Boelke-Bomart (ASCAP), Hillsdale, NY 12529; distributed by Jerona Music Corporation, Hackensack, NJ 07601; and represented by George Sturm, Music Associates of America, 224 King St., Englewood, NJ 07631 (tel.: 201-569-2898; email: maasturm@sprynet.com).
Boelke-Bomart’s international distributor is Universal Edition (43-1-337-23-271; leitner@universaledition.com). Three Diatonic Studies is published by C.F. Peters.

Personal representative: Becky Starobin, 200 Clinton Ave. New Rochelle, NY 10801 (914-654-9270; bridgerec@aol.com).

Recordings

The First Voices. Naxos (2010).

Cross-Currents, Duo for Violin and Piano, Waltzes, and Quiet Music. Bridge Records 9269 (2008).

Time after Time, Oboe Quartet, Marches, and Waves. Bridge Records 9191 (2006).

Fantasy Etudes. eighth blackbird. eighth blackbird album Round Nut Tool (1999).

Waves. Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. DGG (1992).

Waltzes. R. Schulte, S. Nickrenz, F. Sherry, D. Palma. CRI (1991). (Released on compact disc with re-releases of recordings of Fantasy Etudes, Eros, and Wake.)

First String Quartet. The Juilliard Quartet. CRI (1987).

Fantasy Etudes. Musical Elements, Robert Beaser conducting. CRI (1987).

Second String Quartet. The Pro Arte Quartet. Laurel (1984).

Eros. Beverly Morgan, Collage, the composer conducting. CRI (1979).

String Trio. Members of the Composers Quartet. CRI (1975).

Piano Fantasy. Robert Miller. CRI (1975).

Wake. Bethany Beardslee, Boston Symphony Chamber Players, David Epstein conducting. AR/DGG (1972).

Books

Tonal Pitch Space (2001). New York: Oxford University Press.

A Generative Theory of Tonal Music (1983; second printing, 1996). (Co-authored with Ray Jackendoff.) Cambridge: MIT Press.

Articles

Musical Tension. (Co-authored with Carol Krumhansl.) In F. Bacci & D. Melcher, eds., Art and the Senses. New York: Oxford University Press, in press.

Looking into the Eyes of a Conductor Performing Lerdahl’s Time after Time. (Co-authored with E. Bigand, et al.) Musicae Scientiae, in press.

Interview with Fred Lerdahl and Ray Jackendoff (2010). Musicae Scientiae, Discussion Forum 5, 257-267.

Genesis and Architecture of the GTTM Project (2009). Music Perception, 26.3, 187-194.

On Carter’s Influence (2008). In M. Ponthus & S. Tang, eds., Elliott Carter: A Centennial Celebration, 15-22. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press.

Foreword (2008). In George Edwards, Collected Essays on Classical and Modern Music, vii-ix. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

Response to Richard Cohn (2008). Music Theory Spectrum, 30.1, 189-192.

Reflections on Leonard Meyer (2008). Music Perception, 25, 483-484.

Modeling Tonal Tension (2007). (Co-authored with Carol Krumhansl.) Music Perception, 24.4, 329-366.

The Capacity for Music: What Is It, and What’s Special About It? (2006). (Co-authored with Ray Jackendoff). Cognition, 100.1, 33-72.

La teoría de la tensión tonal y sus consecuencias para la investigación musical (2004). (Co-authored with Carol Krumhansl.) In J. Martín Galán & C. Villar-Taboada, eds., Los últimos diez años en la investigación musical. Valladolid: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Valladolid.

Two Ways in Which Music Relates to the World (2003). Music Theory Spectrum, 25, 367-373.

Composing Notes (2002). Current Musicology, 67 & 68, 243-251.

The Sounds of Poetry Viewed as Music (2001). In R. J. Zatorre and I. Peretz, eds., The Biological Foundations of Music. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 930, 337-354. Reprinted (with revisions) in I. Peretz and R.. Zatorre, eds., The Cognitive Neuroscience of Music (pp. 413-429). New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Spatial and Psychoacoustic Factors in Atonal Prolongation (1999). Current Musicology, 63, 7-26.

Prolonging the Inevitable (1998). Revue belge de musicologie, 52, 305-309.

Prolongational Structure and Schematic Form in Tristan's "Alte Weise" (1998). Musicae Scientiae, special issue, 27-41.

Issues in Prolongational Theory: A Response to Larson (1997). Journal of Music Theory, 41.1, 141-155.

Composing and Listening: A Reply to Nattiez (1997). In I. Deliége & J. Sloboda, eds., Perception and Cognition of Music. Hove, UK: Psychology Press.

Tonality and Paranoia: A Reply to Boros (1996). Perspectives of New Music, 34.1, 242-251.

Calculating Tonal Tension (1996). Music Perception, 13.3, 319-363.

Perception of Musical Tension in Short Chord Sequences: The Influence of Harmonic Function, Sensory Dissonance, Horizontal Motion, and Musical Training (1996). (Co-authored with Emmanuel Bigand and Richard Parncutt.) Perception & Psychophysics, 58, 125-141.

Tonal and Narrative Paths in Parsifal (1994). In R. Atlas & M. Cherlin, eds., Musical Transformation and Musical Intuition: Essays in Honor of David Lewin. Roxbury, MA: Ovenbird Press.

Octatonic and Hexatonic Pitch Spaces (1994). Proceedings of the International Conference for Music Perception and Cognition.

A Generative Textsetting Model (1993). (Co-authored with John Halle.) Current Musicology, 55, 3-26.

Pitch-space Journeys in Two Chopin Preludes (1992). In M.R. Jones & S. Holleran, eds., Cognitive Bases of Musical Communication. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

A Theory of Poetry as Music and Its Exploration through a Computer Aid to Composition (1991). (Co-authored with Xavier Chabot.) Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference.

Some Lines of Poetry Viewed as Music (1991). (Co-authored with John Halle.) In J. Sundberg, L. Nord, & R. Carlson, eds., Music, Language, Speech, and Brain. Wenner-Gren International Symposium Series. London: Macmillan.

Underlying Musical Schemata (1991). In I. Cross & P. Howell, eds., Representing Musical Structure. New York: Academic.

Whither Music Theory? (1990) Indiana Theory Review, 10.

Les relations chromatiques come moyen d'extension d'une théorie générative de la musique tonale (1989). Analyse Musicale, 16, 54-60.

Atonal Prolongational Structure (1989). Contemporary Music Review, 3.2, 65-87.

Tonal Pitch Space (1988). Music Perception, 5.3, 315-350.

Cognitive Constraints on Compositional Systems (1988). In J. Sloboda, ed., Generative Processes in Music. Oxford University Press.

Timbral Hierarchies (1987). Contemporary Music Review, 2.1, 135-160.

La composition assistée par ordinateur (1986). (Co-authored with Yves Potard.) IRCAM: Rapports de recherche.

Reply to Peel and Slawson (1985). (Co-authored with Ray Jackendoff.) Journal of Music Theory, 29.1,145-160.

Théorie genérative de la musique et composition musicale (1985). In T. Machover, ed., Le Concept de Recherche Musicale. Paris: Christian Bourgois.

An Overview of Hierarchical Structure in Music (1983). (Co-authored with Ray Jackendoff.) Music Perception, 1.2.

A Grammatical Parallel between Music and Language (1982). (Co-authored with Ray Jackendoff.) In M. Clynes, ed., Music, Mind, and Brain. New York: Plenum.

On the Theory of Grouping and Meter (1981). (Co-authored with Ray Jackendoff.) Musical Quarterly, 67.4.

Generative Music Theory and Its Relation to Psychology (1981). (Co-authored with Ray Jackendoff.) Journal of Music Theory, 25.1.

Discovery Procedures vs. Rules of Musical Grammar in a Generative Music Theory (1980). (Co-authored with Ray Jackendoff.) Perspectives of New Music, 18.2, 503-510.

Toward a Formal Theory of Tonal Music (1977). (Co-authored with Ray Jackendoff.) Journal of Music Theory, 21.1, 111-171.

Charles Ives and His America (1976). Harvard Magazine.

A Guide to Contemporary Music (1975). Harvard Magazine.