Recorded in Chicago, Illinois on April 11, 1988

Duffie remembers the day of the conversation: “[Libby Larsen] spent a whirlwind day in Chicago. She’d flown in, had a world premiere (which was given on a competing radio station), and then drove to my studio for this interview before jetting home once again. Much has happened since that time and her career has expanded and prospered in every way, so it’s even more fascinating to see how much she knew and how solid was her thought much earlier in her career.”

Read the transcript of this interview here.

Libby Larsen (b. 24 December 1950, Wilmington, Delaware) is one of America’s most performed living composers. She has created a catalogue of over 500 works spanning virtually every genre from intimate vocal and chamber music to massive orchestral works and over 15 operas. Grammy award-winning and widely recorded, including over 50 albums of her work, she is constantly sought after for commissions and premieres by major artists, ensembles, and orchestras around the world, and has established a permanent place for her works in the concert repertory.

As a vigorous, articulate advocate for the music and musicians of our time, in 1973 Larsen co-founded the Minnesota Composers Forum, now the American Composer’s Forum, which has become an invaluable aid for composers in a transitional time for American arts. A former holder of the Papamarkou Chair at John W. Kluge Center of the Library of Congress, Larsen has also held residencies with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Charlotte Symphony, and the Colorado Symphony. (Source: http://libbylarsen.com)