David S. Lefkowitz, a native of New York City, studied music composition at The Eastman School of Music, Cornell University, and University of Pennsylvania, where his principal teachers were Joseph Schwantner, Samuel Adler, George Crumb, and Karel Husa.

As a composer, David S. Lefkowitz has won international acclaim, having works performed in Japan, China, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Canada, Israel, and Switzerland. He has won national and international Competitions, including the Fukui Harp Music Awards Competition (twice), and the American Society of Composers, Authors, & Publishers (ASCAP) Grants to Young Composers Competition.

In addition, he has won prizes and recognition from the National Association of Composers, USA (NACUSA), the Guild of Temple Musicians, Pacific Composers' Forum, Chicago Civic Orchestra, Washington International Competition, Society for New Music's Brian M. Israel Prize, the ALEA III International Competition, and the Gaudeamus Music Week. He has also been a Meet-The-Composer Composer in Residence.

Recent commissions include a solo work written for the harpist Grace Cloutier for performance at the Israel International Harp Competition, and which was performed at the World Harp Congress in Geneva, Switzerland, in July, 2002. He was commissioned by a member of the Beijing City Opera Company (China's largest and best Beijing Opera company) to write the music for a thirteen-minute solo dance-drama; the resulting Bridging Opera for small chamber orchestra has been well received by audiences and artists on both sides of the Pacific.

David S. Lefkowitz is Associate Professor of music theory and composition at University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA). His theoretical work includes analyses of music by Arnold Schoenberg, theoretical perspectives on music perception, and an upcoming textbook on tonal harmony.

Website: http://davidlefkowitz.com/