David Serkin Ludwig’s music has been called “entrancing,” and that it “promises to speak for the sorrows of this generation,” (Philadelphia Inquirer). It has further been described as “arresting and dramatically hued” (The New York Times) and has been noted for “music supercharged with electrical energy and raw emotion” (Fanfare). The Chicago Tribune says that he “deserves his growing reputation as one of the up-and-comers of his generation.” NPR Music picked him as one of the Top 100 Composers Under Forty in the world in 2011. In 2013, Ludwig's choral work, “The New Colossus,” was selected to open the private prayer service for the 57th Presidential inauguration of Barack Obama.
Ludwig has written for many prominent artists, including soloists Jonathan Biss and Jaime Laredo, ensembles like eighth blackbird and ECCO, and orchestras including the Philadelphia, Minnesota, and National Symphonies. Residencies with arts institutions at home and abroad include Marlboro, the Gardner Museum, the Ravinia Steans Institute, MacDowell, Yaddo, and the Seoul University and Shanghai International Festival. Ludwig directs summer composition programs at the Lake Champlain Festival and the Atlantic Music Festival, and he is the artistic director of the Curtis Institute Young Artist Summer Program. He has won numerous awards and honors from nationally recognized arts organizations, including the Theodore Presser Foundation, the Independence Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Born in Bucks County, PA, Ludwig comes from a family lineage of musicians that includes his grandfather Rudolf Serkin, and great-grandfather Adolf Busch. He holds degrees from Oberlin, The Manhattan School, Curtis, and Juilliard, as well as a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Ludwig is on the composition faculty of Curtis where he serves as the dean of artistic programs and as the director of the 20/21 Ensemble.
