John Liberatore

Biography

John Liberatore is a composer with many interests. Noted for its “beguiling playfulness” (Textura), his music seeks poignancy through levity, ambiguity through transparency, and complexity within simple textures—“to feel pulled along at varying speeds in multiple directions, but always forward” (Cleveland Classical). His distinct compositional voice combines many styles and influences, with an emphasis on instrumental color and textural clarity. In addition to his work as a composer, Liberatore is a classical and jazz pianist, narrator, educator, occasionally a writer, and one the world’s few glass harmonica players.

Over the past several years, his music has received hundreds of performances in venues around the world. He is the recipient of fellowships from MacDowell, Yaddo, Tanglewood, the Brush Creek Arts Foundation, the I-Park Artist’s Enclave, and the Millay Colony, and commissions from the Fromm and Barlow Foundations, the Chicago Center for Contemporary Music, and the American Opera Initiative, among other organizations. Through a 2012 Presser Music Award, he studied in Tokyo with Jo Kondo—a mentorship that made an indelible impression on his music.

In 2015, Liberatore commissioned glass blowers G. Finkenbeiner Inc. for a new glass harmonica, becoming one of the few exponents of this rare instrument in contemporary music. He has since collaborated as a composer and performer with Roomful of Teeth, percussionist Daniel Druckman, soprano Jamie Jordan, and several others. In 2018, Albany Records released Line Drawings, a portrait album of Liberatore’s chamber music. The album features his recording debut on the glass harmonica (alongside Druckman and Jordan), as well as pieces for The Mivos Quartet, pianist Ryan MacEvoy McCullough, Bent Frequency, and Duo Damiana. In collaboration with Zohn Collective, Liberatore released a second portrait album, Catch Somewhere, with New Focus Recordings in 2023. Additional commercial releases of his music can be found on Innova, Ravello, Neuma, Centaur, New Focus, and False Azure record labels.

Since 2023, he been performing as a narrator with the American Wild Ensemble, appearing as the titular character in his own dramatic rendering of Arnold Lobel’s beloved classic Owl at Home. Liberatore wrote about the experience for NewMusicBox, noting the importance of young listeners, and project’s emphasis on levity, accessibility, and clarity of communication.

Liberatore holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music (Ph.D., M.M.) and Syracuse University (B.M., summa cum laude). Since 2015, he has taught at the University of Notre Dame, where he serves as Associate Professor of Composition and Theory. He was appointed chair of the Department of Music in 2026.