Libby Larsen has composed award-winning music performed around the world. Her works range from chamber pieces and song cycles to operas to large-scale works for orchestra and chorus. At the same time, she has advocated for living composers and new music since cofounding the American Composers Forum in 1973. Denise Von Glahn s in-depth examination of Larsen merges traditional biography with a daring scholarly foray: an ethnography of one active artist. Drawing on musical analysis, the composer s personal archive, and seven years of interviews with Larsen and those in her orbit, Von Glahn illuminates the polyphony of achievements that make up Larsen s public and private lives. In considering Larsen s musical impact, Von Glahn delves into how elements of the personal a 1950s childhood, spiritual seeking, love of nature, and status as an important woman artist inform her work. The result is a portrait of a musical pathfinder who continues to defy expectations and reject labels.

Libby Larsen has composed award-winning music performed around the world. Her works range from chamber pieces and song cycles to operas to large-scale works for orchestra and chorus. At the same time, she has advocated for living composers and new music since cofounding the American Composers Forum in 1973. Denise Von Glahn s in-depth examination of Larsen merges traditional biography with a daring scholarly foray: an ethnography of one active artist. Drawing on musical analysis, the composer s personal archive, and seven years of interviews with Larsen and those in her orbit, Von Glahn illuminates the polyphony of achievements that make up Larsen s public and private lives. In considering Larsen s musical impact, Von Glahn delves into how elements of the personal a 1950s childhood, spiritual seeking, love of nature, and status as an important woman artist inform her work. The result is a portrait of a musical pathfinder who continues to defy expectations and reject labels.