Credit: Danny Sit
About Karen LeFrak
A native New Yorker, composer and author Karen LeFrak has created vibrant, moving musical scores that have been presented in prestigious concert halls across the globe. She has received wide accolades for her children’s books published by Bloomsbury, Random House, and Crown Books.
In The Press
Concert Review – Composer Spotlight at National Sawdust - Dec 6, 2024
Interview about Gratitude – Sept 14, 2021
NYC Nostalgia & a Love of Piano – Sept 21, 2021
Q&A With Karen — June 12, 2021
21 Trailblazers Who Will Crush it in 2021 – December 30, 2020
“[Sleepover at the Museum is] a fun, new piece…a wonderful composition.”
A native New Yorker, Karen LeFrak is a prolific and versatile composer and author whose vibrant, moving musical scores have been presented in prestigious concert halls around the world. Highlights of her career include 17 studio albums, a catalog of over 300 works, and worldwide performances by prominent organizations including the New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Ballet, and Mariinsky Ballet. She has also received accolades for her children’s books, which are published by Bloomsbury, Random House, and Crown Books.
Ms. LeFrak’s works have been performed by the American Ballet Theatre; the Joffrey and San Francisco Ballets; the New York University and Juilliard School Percussion Ensembles; the Miami Symphony Orchestra; Boston Chamber Symphony and Sejong Soloists with artists such as pianist Anne-Marie McDermott and flutist Eugenia Zukerman. She has received commissions from such organizations as American Ballet Theatre, the Miami Symphony Orchestra, Youth America Grand Prix, NY Theatre Ballet, the National Symphony Orchestra, NYU Percussion Ensemble, and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. Her compositions have been heard across the United States, Europe, Russia, and Asia, in venues that include David Geffen Hall and the Koch Theatre at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Moscow’s Kremlin for the 250th anniversary of the Bolshoi Ballet School, Symphony Space in New York, National Sawdust in Brooklyn, Bethel Woods Arts Center, Festival Napa Valley, and the White House.
“Windy Sand is introspective... .and altogether, creates moment after moment where you can practically hear the audience catch their breath. Pieces like this remind us why we watch ballet to begin with.”
Gathering, Ms. LeFrak’s latest recording, marks the 14th release in a series of highly successful solo piano albums. These albums were recorded by Jorn Swart, each featuring 10 short, atmospheric piano pieces that have been included in hundreds of curated playlists on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, and other streaming services, yielding over 41 million global streams. Ms. LeFrak has also recorded three notable albums of chamber music and plans more chamber, solo piano and string ensemble recording projects in 2025-2026. She recently completed sessions for her first orchestral recording, Miami Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra, with conductor Enrico Lopez-Jañez and the internationally acclaimed, Grammy-winning guitar soloist Sharon Isbin, featuring New York City’s Orchestra of St. Luke’s. It is due for release May 30, 2025.
“Yet the evening’s highlight was the impeccable Yuan Yuan Tan (in the flowing red dress), Tiit Helimets, Carlos Quenedit, and Luiz and solo pianist Ming Luke in the company premiere of “Gentle Memories”... set to Karen LeFrak’s poignant score.”
Inspired by her passion for classical piano, which began when she started playing at age 3, Ms. LeFrak launched her career as a composer around the same time she introduced young people to the worlds of music and dance with her first two acclaimed children’s books — Jake the Philharmonic Dog and Jake the Ballet Dog. Her next book, Best in Show — in which she shares her passion for raising Standard Poodles and breeding many champions — received similar high praise. Ms. LeFrak wrote a score for her fourth published book, Sleepover at the Museum, inspiring her to create a multimedia concert piece for children, which premiered with the Miami Symphony Orchestra in 2020. Its success was followed by a performance with the New York Philharmonic on its first-ever family benefit, honoring Ms. LeFrak’s dedication and contribution to the orchestra. Sleepover has been performed nearly 20 times by renowned Orchestras, including the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C., at Festival Napa Valley, Nashville and Winston-Salem Orchestras, the Missoula Symphony, and the Beijing and Shanghai Symphony Orchestras, where it was translated into Mandarin. A choreographed version was performed by A&A Ballet in Chicago, and in Guatemala City at the Bravissimo International Festival. Performances of Sleepover in 2025 are in the works with the Virginia, and Anchorage Symphony Orchestras among others.
Additional upcoming highlights of Ms. LeFrak’s 2024-25 season include live performances of her Miami Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra, with Isbin, at the Aspen Music Festival, at the Vancouver USA Arts & Music Festival, with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and by the Las Vegas, Shanghai and Indianapolis orchestras. American Promise, a new work by Ms. LeFrak that was commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, will be premiered in 2026. It will be followed by many other performances, including by the Miami Symphony Orchestra and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra.
“‘Sleepover at the Museum’ by Karen LeFrak is charming, and the music accessible and imaginative. LeFrak’s composition retained a sense of purity and simplicity that was fitting to its young target audience. She succeeded in capturing the features of each scavenger hunt clue with clever instrumentation and musical motives.”
“[Sleepover at the Museum is] a good selection to pique children’s interest in a scientific field, as well as inspire them to have their own adventures.”