New College Alumna Makes Waves in Music Composition World

Anne LeBaron
Harpist, composer, and New College grad Anne LeBaron has been described as “an idiosyncratic visionary in the mode of George Crumb and John Zorn.”

Anne LeBaron, well-known harpist, composer, and New College alumna, was recently dubbed the “grandmaster of the hyperopera” by the Los Angeles Times. On Aug. 11, the first movement of her chamber ensemble piece “Telluris Theoria Sacra” will be performed for the first time.

The piece, which translates to mean “Sacred Theory of the Earth” will be performed at the University of California-Los Angeles by the 24-member experimental ensemble “wild Up.” It is just one of many works that has brought LeBaron acclaim in recent months. According to the Times article, a growing segment in the classical music world have been awaiting the next move in her career and her latest surge in recognition has been long overdue.

She has been described as “an idiosyncratic visionary in the mode of George Crumb and John Zorn,” two well-known contemporary classical music composers.

LeBaron will have another premiere in October, when her piano solo work “Creation of the Birds,” will take place at the Festival Internacional Cervantino in Guanajuato, Mexico. The work is inspired by a Remedios Varo painting. In November, “Floodsongs,” LeBaron’s new work for 12-part mixed chorus and live electronics, will be performed at REDCAT, the Roy and Edna Disney/Calarts Theater in Los Angeles, California.

LeBaron visited campus last August to perform with other UA faculty members as part of New College’s 40th Anniversary celebration. She is professor of music at the California Institute of the Arts, earned a doctorate at Columbia University. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, the Alpert Award in the Arts, and a Fulbright Fellowship. She graduated from The University of Alabama in 1974.