David Liptak’s *Concerto for Viola and Percussion, *for solo viola and percussion quartet, was composed for violist John Graham, who gave the first performances of the work in 2006 at the Eastman School of Music and the Aspen Music Festival.

The four movements have descriptive titles: *1. August Snow, 2. Moving, Perpetually, 3. A Song That Melts, *and *4. Speaking Your Mind.*

Review:

“David Liptak’s ‘Concerto for Viola and Four Percussion’ turned out to be

contemporary music at its level best: It was original and adventurous, but

it wore these attributes lightly and unselfconsciously. The piece used

xylophone, gong, chimes, snare drum and an array of other instrumentsthat

seemingly left no percussion sound unexplored. It was, in effect, a

sparkiling work that included some of the most ardent viola writing

imaginable.” -John Pitcher, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 4/19/06