Light and dark elements are often tightly interlaced in Raymond J. Lustig's vibrantly eclectic and expressive music. His orchestral composition UNSTUCK is the 2007 winner of the ASCAP Foundation's prestigious Rudolf Nissim Prize, as well as the 2006 Juilliard Orchestra Competition.
His works have been performed by the Juilliard Symphony, the New Juilliard Ensemble, the Da Capo Chamber Players, COUNTER)INDUCTION, Avian Orchestra, pianist Blair McMillen, violinists Curtis Macomber and Ariana Kim, and American Opera Projects, and have been presented at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall and Symphony Space in New York, New Haven's Sprague Hall, the Caramoor and Norfolk Summer Music Festivals, the European American Musical Alliance in Paris, the Bowling Green New Music and Arts Festival, the New York City Ballet's Choreographic Institute, and the 2007 Beyond the Machine Festival in New York. Avian Music has recently released its recording of his You Catching? for ensemble and narrator.
Born in Tokyo and raised in Queens, New York, Lustig received his B.A. from Holy Cross College, where his interests were divided between piano, composition, and biology. In 2003, after several years researching in molecular biology at Columbia University and Massachusetts General Hospital, he entered the Juilliard School, where he completed his Master of Music degree in composition, and where he is currently a DMA candidate. His teachers have included John Corigliano, Robert Beaser, Samuel Adler, Philip Lasser, Jonathan Kramer, Sebastian Currier, Conrad Cummings, Derek Bermel, and Shirish Korde. He lives in New York City and teaches in the Juilliard School's Evening Division.
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