DAVID LUDWIG
Composition

Curtis Institute of Music-Composition Department; Vermont Symphony Resident Composer

Born in Bucks County, P.A., composer David Ludwig’s music has been performed worldwide by leading musicians of today in some of the most prestigious venues.

His music has been called “entrancing,” and that it “promises to speak for the sorrows of this generation,” (Philadelphia Inquirer). It has further gained recognition for its “expressive directness” (The New York Times) and has been noted for “a sense of integrity and security of craftsmanship” (New Jersey Star Ledger).

Ludwig’s music has been heard worldwide in North America, Europe, and Asia, and has been performed in venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Kimmel Center.

His awards and honors include a Theodore Presser Career Grant, an Independence Foundation Fellowship, the First Music Award, and awards from Meet The Composer, The American Music Center, and The American Composer’s Forum.

Ludwig’s recent commissions include new works for The Richmond Symphony, The Vermont Symphony, eighth blackbird, the Divertimento String Trio, Astral Artistic Services, pianist Jonathan Biss and violinist Jaime Laredo. He was the resident Young Composer of the Marlboro Music School from 1997-1999 and is a resident artist at the Gardner Art Museum, the resident composer of the New York Summer Music Festival, and is the Meet The Composer “Music Alive!” resident composer of the Vermont Symphony as well as their permanent new music advisor.

Other residencies include fellowships at the Yaddo and MacDowell artist colonies. As a conductor, Ludwig has directed performances of his own works for chorus and symphony orchestra both in the US and abroad.

Ludwig received degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory, The Manhattan School, The Curtis Institute, and Juilliard. Previous teachers have included John Corigliano, Richard Danielpour, Jennifer Higdon, and Ned Rorem. He is now the George Crumb fellow in the PhD program at the University of Pennsylvania. Ludwig joined the faculty of The Curtis Institute of Music in 2002.