Lera Auerbach

Lera Auerbach (*21.10.1973) is a Soviet-Russian-born American classical composer and pianist. Lera Auerbach received her first musical training from her mother. She wrote her first opera at the age of twelve, which was performed in many cities of the former Soviet Union. In 1991, whilst travelling in the USA, she decided to remain in the West. She completed studies at the Juilliard School in New York in piano (with Joseph Kalichstein) and composition (with Milton Babbitt and Robert Beaser); in addition, she studied comparative literature at Columbia University and obtained a piano diploma at the Hannover Music Academy. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2002. Auerbach has meanwhile completed over 100 works. She also gives concerts as a pianist, has created numerous literary works and, most recently, has appeared in public as a visual artist. She is a regular guest at important international music festivals, and her works are performed by leading conductors and interpreters. She has been very successful in the area of ballet, in which she collaborates with the Hamburg choreographer John Neumeier, amongst others. For Lera Auerbach it is no contradiction to use classical tonality and classical formal language in order to find new paths. Upon closer listening, however, an entire cosmos of unusual sounds, colours and fantasies opens up, which characterises her unique personal style.