Libby Larsen (born December 24, 1950 in Wilmington, Delaware) is a prolific classical music composer who resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Although she was born in Wilmington, Delaware, she grew up in Minnesota and received her education at the University of Minnesota. Among her most famous works is the opera Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus. In 1973, she became one of the founding members of the Minneso6tghgnv ],m, kl ./ta Composers Forum, later renamed the American Composers Forum. December 24 is the 358th day of the year (359th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... : Chemical Capital of the World , Corporate Capital of the World , Credit Card Capital of the World : A Place to Be Somebody United States Delaware New Castle 17. ... Nickname: City of Lakes Motto: En Avant (French: Lets go!) Location in Hennepin County and the state of Minnesota. ... : Chemical Capital of the World , Corporate Capital of the World , Credit Card Capital of the World : A Place to Be Somebody United States Delaware New Castle 17. ... Washington Avenue Bridge at night The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, almost always abbreviated U of M, and sometimes referred to as The U by locals, is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... The American Composers Forum is an American membership organization dedicated to the promotion and assistance of American composers and their music. ...

Larsen has created a catalogue of over 300 works spanning virtually every genre from intimate vocal and chamber music to massive orchestral and choral scores. Her music has been praised for its dynamic, deeply inspired, and vigorous contemporary American spirit. Constantly sought after for commissions and premieres by major artists, ensembles and orchestras around the world, Libby Larsen has established a permanent place for her works in the concert repertory.

Larsen has been hailed as “the only English-speaking composer since Benjamin Britten who matches great verse with fine music so intelligently and expressively” (USA Today); as “a composer who has made the art of symphonic writing very much her own.” (Gramophone); as “a mistress of orchestration” (Times Union); and for “assembling one of the most impressive bodies of music of our time” (Hartford Courant). Her music has been praised for its “clear textures, easily absorbed rhythms and appealing melodic contours that make singing seem the most natural expression imaginable.” (Philadelphia Inquirer) “Libby Larsen has come up with a way to make contemporary opera both musically current and accessible to the average audience.” (The Wall Street Journal). “Her ability to write memorable new music completely within the confines of traditional harmonic language is most impressive.” (Fanfare)

Libby Larsen was very close to her family. She would go to the movies with them every Friday, after school. She would always play and hug them. Sometimes she would say no to a friend just so that she could stay with or go out to eat with them. She was devastated when they died and almost stopped composing music.

Libby Larsen has received numerous awards and accolades, including a 1994 Grammy as producer of the CD: The Art of Arlene Augér, an acclaimed recording that features Larsen’s Sonnets from the Portuguese. Her opera Frankenstein, The Modern Prometheus was selected as one of the eight best classical music events of 1990 by USA Today. The first woman to serve as a resident composer with a major orchestra, she has held residencies with the California Institute of the Arts, the Arnold Schoenberg Institute, the Philadelphia School of the Arts, the Cincinnati Conservatory, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Charlotte Symphony, and the Colorado Symphony. Larsen’s many commissions and recordings are a testament to her fruitful collaborations with a long list of world-renowned artists, including The King’s Singers, Benita Valente, and Frederica von Stade, among others. Her works are widely recorded on such labels as Angel/EMI, Nonesuch, Decca, and Koch International.

Holder of the 2003-2004 Harissios Papamarkou Chair in Education at the Library of Congress and recipient of the Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Libby Larsen is a vigorous, articulate champion of the music and musicians of our time. In 1973, she co-founded (with Stephen Paulus) the Minnesota Composers Forum, now the American Composers Forum, which has been an invaluable advocate for composers in a difficult, transitional time for American arts. Consistently sought-after as a leader in the generation of millenium thinkers, Libby Larsen’s music and ideas have refreshed the concert music tradition and the composer’s role in it.

Larsen became famous when she was a teenager. She was on a television show performing one day and she became famous from there.

External links

• Larsen's Personal Website