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The complete recording of Christophe Bertrand's instrumental works with the GrauSchumacher Piano Duo, Peter Rundel, and Brad Lubman was awarded the German Record Critics' Award 2021.
New in New York: Brad Lubman and the Reich Richter Pärt project
Brad Lubman’s official title at the Grafenegg Festival 2017 was “only” Composer-in-Residence. However, at Schloss Grafenegg, the many facets of his musical life were on display.
Each of his appearances proves that he is one of the best conductors, with a particular passion for spreading contemporary music (Resmusica)
Brad Lubman, American conductor and composer, has gained widespread recognition for his versatility, commanding technique and insightful interpretations over the course of more than two decades. He is much in demand with major orchestras in Europe and the US and has been successful in building regular partnerships with several well-known orchestras and ensembles, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. Alongside his busy schedule in Germany, he is also frequently asked to conduct some of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala, and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.
In addition, he has worked with some of the most important European and American ensembles for contemporary music, including the Ensemble Modern, London Sinfonietta, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble MusikFabrik, Ensemble intercontemporain, Ensemble Resonanz, Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, and Steve Reich and Musicians.
After recently having conducted major international orchestras such as the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Rundfunk-Sinfoieorchester Berlin, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Gothenburg Symphony, or the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the current season includes appearances with the New York Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Paris, the Radio Symphony Frankfurt, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the SWR Symphony Stuttgart and the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Musica. Brad Lubman kicked off the 2023/24 season with Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 A Space Odyssee at the Auditorio Nacional Mexico City, a multimedia project in cooperation with the Southbank Center London, which he already performed with Los Angeles Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony.
Brad Lubman is founding Co-Artistic and Music Director of the NY-based Ensemble Signal. Their recording of Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians on harmonia mundi was awarded a Diapason d’or in June 2015 and appeared on the Billboard Classical Crossover charts. In Spring 2019, he led the ensemble in the premiere of Steve Reich’s Reich/Richter as part of the Reich Richter Pärt project at the opening of New York art space The Shed.
He is also Professor of Conducting and Ensembles at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, as well as on the faculty at the Bang on a Can Summer Institute.
Brad Lubman has recorded for harmonia mundi, Nonesuch, AEON, BMG/RCA, Kairos, Mode, NEOS, and Cantaloupe. In 2017, he was Composer in Residence at the Grafenegg Festival; his compositions have been performed by acclaimed ensembles such as the Tonkünstler Orchester Austria and musicians from the Los Angeles Philharmonic. 2020 featured the premiere of a new piece written for Rudolf Buchbinder, premiered at the Vienna Musikverein, which Buchbinder also recorded for Deutsche Grammophon.
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"Brad Lubman is the perfectly uncomplicated conductor for this American programme by the Munich Philharmonic, which presents music rarely or never heard before, beginning with John Adams' instrumental choral paraphrase 'Christian Zeal', a beauty-drunk, yet slightly question of faith, followed by the Dessner piece and Philip Glass' 'Itaipú'."
Süddeutsche Zeitung, Egbert Tholl, 17/01/2025
The performances by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and the Arditti String Quartet, conducted by Brad Lubman, are of exceptional quality.
Mainichi Classic Navi (Japan), 06/09/2024
"And the best thing is how conductor Brad Lubman organizes everything. A confident pilot, a crystal-clear tactician, everyone can feel safe with him. The Isarphilharmonie is flooded with clear-cut sound. An intoxication after which no hangover threatens."
Merkur.de, Markus Thielm 16/01/2025
"Hundreds of excerpts strung together with mastery that also characterised the interventions of three reaction ensembles (the Orchestre de Paris, the Conservatoire de Paris Big Band and the Les Métaboles choir). The conductors (Brad Lubman, Léo Margue and Simon Proust respectively) rendered the work not as a brilliant collage but as a score written with genius."About Simon Steen-Andersen’s TRIO, opening concert of the ManiFeste Ircam Festival, Théâtre du Châtelet Paris
"Hundreds of excerpts strung together with mastery that also characterised the interventions of three reaction ensembles (the Orchestre de Paris, the Conservatoire de Paris Big Band and the Les Métaboles choir). The conductors (Brad Lubman, Léo Margue and Simon Proust respectively) rendered the work not as a brilliant collage but as a score written with genius."
About Simon Steen-Andersen’s TRIO, opening concert of the ManiFeste Ircam Festival, Théâtre du Châtelet Paris
Le Monde, Pierre Gervasoni, 03/06/2024
“The Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto gave us another memorable moment in the Casa da Música's relationship with the work of Emmanuel Nunes with Brad Lubman's enthusiastic, overwhelming and crystal clear interpretation of the monumental "Musivus".”
Scherzo, Paco Yáñez, 25/04/2024
"Sparing and sober to the delicate senza ritardando, strict but not abrupt, Brad Lubman's musical direction knows how to let all be said with elegance and a welcome touch of humor."
Diapason, Anne Ibos-Augé, 25/04/2023
"It was wonderful to see how the huge orchestra [SWR Symphony Orchestra], masterfully conducted by the American Brad Lubman, has always managed to move from opulence to intimacy without any loss of expression."
Badische Zeitung, Johannes Adam, 22/03/2023
"The music can handle it, it's without exception sensual, comprehensible, and intense, played by the HR Symphony Orchestra under the dedicated direction of Brad Lubman."
Tagesspiegel, Ulrich Amling, 11/05/2022
"Four orchestras have commissioned Glanert's new work, which premiered in Edinburgh in early November. Tonight, in the great hall of the Elbphilharmonie, it will be performed for the first time in Germany under the charismatic Brad Lubman, who conducts it with great mastery."
Hamburger Abendblatt, 13/12/2021
"Full credit to conductor Brad Lubman, warmly applauded by the instrumentalists, for making it all seem effortless, and of course to the London Sinfonietta for commissioning the work alongside Southbank Centre and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival."
The Arts Desk, David Nice, 06/12/2019
"With extraordinarily expressive body language and precise rhythmic ideas, Brad Lubman guided the Radio Philharmonie through the framing orchestral works assuredly and laudably: Leonard Bernstein‘s overture to Candide became a lively tour de force, a brilliant instrumental feat. … The orchestra and its conductor were finally the star of the evening. The standing ovations clamoured for an encore: “Mambo: Presto“. Just brilliant!"
Saarbrücker Zeitung, 16/04/2019
Adams's pounding opening chords [of the Harmonielehre] were crisp and decisive. Lubman's brisk tempo, clear beat and precise cuing made every instrumental stand clear. (...) Drawing high-powered playing from the large instrumental complement, Lubman generated a genuine sense of excitement.
South Florida Classical Review, 09/12/2018 (On the concert with New World Symphony.)
Lubman was also able to show himself as a conductor: The first symphony by Johannes Brahms succeeded the intermission in a soulful and intensive way, never striking and very finely played out in the details. The musicians played in top form for this - they were excellently prepared and in the best playing mood. They followed Lubman's impulsively athletic instructions with noticeably great joy until the radiant finale, which caused great audience jubilation in the Grafenegg auditorium.
Kronen Zeitung, Stefan Musil, 04/09/2017
When the lights were on, Brad Lubman conducted with invaluable clarity: sudden moments of silence were electric, his sense of pace impeccable. In light and dark alike, however, the orchestra maintained an astonishing intensity of communication. (…) An enthralling performance.
The Guardian, Flora Willson, April 2017
It is a rare CD that casts a spell over the listener with just the first two chords, as this one does. (…) Under the spirited fingers of piano duo Andreas Grau and Götz Schumacher, and with the razor-sharp attack of the orchestra under Brad Lubman, the piece [Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra] was lively, witty and cheeky.
BR-Klassik CD-Tipp, Thorsten Preuß, March 2017
One despairs that we so rarely get the chance to see Brad Lubman in France. Each of his appearances proves that he is one of the best conductors, with a particular passion for spreading contemporary music.
ResMusica, Thomas Vergracht, November 2016
Director Stanley Kubrick's space-age masterpiece 2001 was always notable for its brilliant cinematic use of music, and hearing the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus perform the score, conducted by Brad Lubman, was sublime.
The Bay Area Reporter, Roberto Friedman, October 2016
On this evening we had the chance to see [Brad Lubman] with the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto. Conducting without a baton, his gestures were expansive, expressive and clear. He succeeded in accentuating and phrasing the piece as well as in creating a good sound balance. He brought the best out of the ensemble and each individual performer and knew how to make the piece sing and breathe as well as how to bring the orchestra to its highest standard.
musicologie.org, Eusebius, September 2016
The Concertgebouw Orchestra performed rousing and rhythmic numbers, such as Honegger's Pacific 231 and Le Métro by Ibert (...) Conductor Brad Lubman kept things together with panache.
NRC, Joep Stapel, April 2016
It was astounding the way Lubman precisely carved out the different instrumental features in the second part. (…) One can hardly imagine a more intensive live experience of Grisey’s music.
klassik.com, Dr. Stefan Drees, 07/11/2015
Lubman immediately made an impression, leading a powerful rendition of an excerpt from Ligeti's "Atmospheres" prior to the film's opening sequence. And one has to admit, the "Sunrise" opening has never sounded so thrilling as when heard by a live orchestra outdoors with the unforgettable corresponding images on the big screens, validating Kubrick's original vision. (…) Lubman led it [Strauss Jr.’s “Blue Danube”] with considerable sway and grace, syncing with the footsteps of a flight attendant in the film. Same with the Adagio from Khachaturian's "Gayane," given a lovely, patient rendition, and Ligeti's "Lux Aeterna”.
Los Angeles Times, Richard S. Ginell, August 2015 (on the performance of 2001 Space Odyssee with the Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Even if more recordings are released next year to celebrate the 40th anniversary of this work, Steve Reich’s instant classic, none will likely be more sensational than this.
The New York Times, David Allen, May 2015
The superb German Radio Philharmonic had at its helm not just an expert in Brad Lubman but also an excellent conductor for newer music. Where conventional conducting techniques are bound to fail, his conducting accompanied by rational empathy was simply perfect. Bravo.
Saarbrücker Zeitung, Helmut Fackler, May 2015
He [Brad Lubman] is, in many ways, the electric Georg Solti of new music. The performance sizzled. Lubman conducted with insistent gusto and an impressive rhythmic dexterity.
Los Angeles Times, Mark Swed, January 2014
Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphonie - SWR Symphonieorchester - Brad Lubman - 12.07.2023
Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música | Maestro Brad Lubman
NTR Zaterdag Matinee | John Adams
NTR Zaterdag Matinee | Stravinsky
Hans Zender - Schuberts "Winterreise" | WDR Symphony Orchestra | Daniel Behle
Reich/Reverberations: Double Sextet and Music for 18 Musicians | Ensemble Signal | Lincoln Center
Rehearsing Reich Richter Pärt | IN THE WORKS | THE SHED
A journey through mesmerising soundscapes. In George Crumb's A Haunted Landscape, the US-American takes the genre of night music to the extreme. This work is about enigmatic "places on planet earth that are permeated by an aura of the mysterious" and tell of ancient stories that shape our consciousness to this day. It is the grandeur of landscape and natural impressions that Crumb's compatriot Augusta Read Thomas sublimely stages in her orchestral piece Words of the Sea. And Réveil des oiseaux by Frenchman Olivier Messiaen is composed, as it were, by nature itself. Orion by Claude Vivier, after all, refers with its very title to the entire universe, a perennial source of inspiration for the Canadian composer, who assumed that man's "inner spaces" are a reflection of the universe.
Harmonia Mundi - HMU 90760812 May 2015
Harmonia Mundi HMU 90767126 Aug 2016
DVD: 3757616
Tzadik - TZ 80172005