Alexander Liebermann

While quarantining in Berlin during the COVID-19 pandemic, Liebermann began listening attentively to recordings of birdsongs online, transcribing them onto sheet music, and composing music that incorporates the bird calls.^[2] He describes birdsongs as "unpredictable, haunting... spine-tingling calls" that are themselves a form of music.^[2] His interest in integrating birdsongs into classical compositions began during a visit to Costa Rica in February 2020.^[2] Since beginning his musical study of birds, Lieberman has translated calls from many bird species into modern staff notation for sheet music, including the uirapuru, the common loon, the thrush nightingale, the white bellbird, the Chinese hwamei, the uguisu, the common peafowl, the oropendola, the cuckoo, and the Javan pied starling, among others.^[2]

In 2018, Liebermann was commissioned to compose a climate-themed melodrama for the Deutsche Oper Berlin.^[5] The work, titled Erwachen, turns on the experience of a young girl in the future as she reflects on her ancestors' failure to confront the threat of climate change. In 2022, he published his debut book, Birdsong: A Musical Field Guide.^[5]

When not composing his own music, Liebermann teaches at the Juilliard School.^[5]

• Official website