Lera Auerbach is a poet, writer, visual artist, composer, conductor, and concert pianist whose work has reached a global audience. She holds degrees from The Juilliard School in New York and the Hannover University for Music, Drama, and Media. Auerbach's first book in English, Excess of Being (Arch Street Press), explores the form of aphorisms. In 2021, she was awarded the Robert Creeley Memorial Poetry Prize. Auerbach's poetic style is characterized by its vivid imagery and emotional intensity. Her most recent book, A is for Oboe, written in collaboration with Marilyn Nelson, was published by Penguin Random House in 2022. The audiobook version of A is for Oboe, read by Thomas Quasthoff, received the AudioFile's Best Audiobook 2022 Award and was named an ALSC Notable Children's Recording for 2023. Lera Auerbach is a librettist and composer, whose numerous works for opera, ballet, choir, and orchestra are regularly performed throughout the world. She has collaborated with the National Geographic Society on a multidisciplinary symphonic journey, Arctica. She has also collaborated with Yad Vashem - The World Holocaust Remembrance Center - in the creation of Vessels of Light, which received its American premiere at Carnegie Hall in April 2023. In addition to her education and degrees in the arts, Lera Auerbach completed training and certification in the field of psychology. She is currently enrolled in the Master Practitioner Program in Neurolinguistics, and studies Ericksonian therapy and hypnosis. Lera Auerbach was elected as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. She is a regular contributor to the Best American Poetry Blog where some of these poems first appeared.
