David Liptak's piano music has always displayed this composer's personality as one intimately tied to the physicality of the instrument. Previously, he combined his work as a composer with that as a pianist, most often presenting new composition. The sound and feel of the piano as a contrapuntal instrument underlies his work as a composer. The two compositions of this recording are performed by pianist Eunmi Ko, whose grace and imagination as a performer is a perfect match to the music. David Liptak's music has been described as "luminous and arresting," "richly atmospheric," and having "transparent textures, incisive rhythms, shimmering lightness," and his compositions have been performed throughout the United States and abroad. In 1995, David Liptak was awarded the Elise L. Stoeger Prize, given by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in recognition of distinguished achievement in chamber music composition. He has received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, both in 2002, and he is the 2006 recipient of the Lillian Fairchild Award from the University of Rochester. Much of his music written very recently has explored the poetry and magical quality of stars and starlight, imagined and real. David Liptak is a faculty member of the Eastman School of Music, where he has been a dedicated teacher of composition students taught since 1986.